markdewine

Standrews- I am familiar with Puccini's "Aida" and the famous march associated with it. The St. Andrew's Bridgemen OTL in 1971 was not the same. If I recall, a former marching member from that era told me that the 1971 opener was an original composition for the corps. I have never heard any other musical group ever perform the piece I am referring to. Anyone else out there who can chime in on this question?

Yes Tom, Frank was a horn instructor in 1971-72 when I was there. Artie Nelson taught the drumline of course. He was a renowned expert on Swiss rudimental drumming. One Yankee snare drummer who went on to great success with Yamaha was Jay Wanamaker. Jay and I were schoolmates at New Hartford, and Jay's dad was QM for the corps. Artie was a great instructor, but he had quite a temper with a real short fuse.

Hey, there are still hornlines out there that have the ability to rip your face off if you stand too close.

So, pick any corps; any year...and what show would you liked to have seen them perform? O.K.....I'll bite. Velvet Knights doing Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" An entire show of music by "RUSH" ...(you pick the corps) Oh, I know...rock-n-roll doesn't "do well" in drum corps. So just use your imagination. :)

Keith...you have my condolences. My dad also exposed me to the drum corps activity. He didn't live long enough so see the great success I had with the Brigadiers, etc. , but I suspect he was looking down with a smile .

Yeah, back then the norm was one instructor for each caption. Pretty soon, there will be two staff members per corps member! :) I was always most impressed with the staff and management who stressed excellence not only on the field, but in all aspects of life.

St. Andrews Bridgemen "March Triumphant" or was it "Triumphant March"? Anyway, circa 1971 and I REALLY liked it!

Requiem for an Era was one of my all-time favorite shows,(from a list of 100 shows that I rated as "the best ever". LOL Some old-time told me that when the Yankee-Rebels played that show at the Legion Natls in Seattle (/) the standing ovation lasted an eternity. There is probably some poor soul still standing there clapping. Likely a veteran.

Tom- I'm not sure of Wayne's first year in the activity, but didn't he march SCV as a kid?

Some of the greatest talent in drum corps history came out of the Rochester area. To the list of names already posted, one could add another twenty or so! And not just performing talent, but knowledge in managing corps. My first exposure to drum corps was at Fort Ontario, Oswego, circa 1964. In addition to the Commanders, Brigs, Gauchos, Westshoremen Bonnie-Scots, Albion Grenadiers, the Crusaders were there. I still remember the "Gestapo" hats. LOL Anyway, I was smitten. I knew drum corps had to be a part of my life. Fast forward to the "Tie-breaker" in Buffalo 2001 I think. It was Brigs vs. Empire and Cadets vs. the Cavvies. Great show! The show sponsor would not let the Brigs do a victory concert on the field. So we went to a nearby tennis court, arced up the corps in concert formation and played to the Cavaliers lined up on one fence and the Cadets lined up on another. The applause those two corps gave to the Brigadiers will be remembered til my dying day. Nothing but wonderful memories for Rochester and all of it's drum corps history.

In the Marine Corps, bologna is known as "round steak." Now, regarding the concept that old retro ideas are worthless...check out the new movie, "The Artist". Black and white silent movie. Gee, that went out of style more than eighty years ago. Surely no one will go to see a movie like THAT!

...a quick comment regarding applause...since applause is okay, and fan judging is apparently not. Who gets the screaming, hollering standing ovation...and who gets the polite 'golf clap'? Corps like Madison, SCV, BD, and Cadets get the over-the-top standing O, and the small corps from Podunk, Iowa gets the latter. So, does that mean that we all must clap the same number of claps, at the same volume, with the same enthusiasm for each corps? Because that way, we wouldn't be sending a message to any corps that they were not as good as another corps. That makes sense, right? Sadly, we have become SO politically correct that we can no longer say or do ANYTHING that might hurt little Johnny's feelings...because that would mean we are heartless bullies, and that we hate Johnny and his corps. I remember being with a corps or two that was not top-notch. And when we finished poorly, and did not get a standing ovation, it sent a very clear message. That message was, "Get better! Practice more! Work harder!" Nothin' wrong with that.

Donny! Belated Happy Birthday man...I was caught up in my own birthday (selfish me) then it was the NFL playoffs, yadda yadda, excuses, excuses... Hope you had a great day Donny!!!

I'm with those who appreciate "Brass Roots", and "The Troopers are Coming". Both great documentaries! Dear to my heart is "Competitive Drum Corps". I purchased the 16mm film version in 1975 from McCormick Enterprises, and showed it at virtually every high school on Oahu, Hawaii. Suffice to say the band kids went nuts!!! That film, and a few dozen Fleetwood records were my primary recruiting tools to promote interest in "Na Koa Alii" (the King's Guard) Jr. corps I founded and directed back in the day. I can still see, in my mind's eye, the eyes getting huge, and jaws dropping...some kids on the verge of tears, at what they were witnessing on that film. I remember them asking, "Could we ever be THAT good?" My reply was, "How bad do you want it?"

WoW!!! This went way deeper than I ever thought it would. I had a simple idea in mind...not rocket science. As for the argument of the crowd deciding who's the 'least favorite'... the judges alreadt do this, and they often don't come to the same conclusion as the fans in the stands. I almost get the impression that some here believe DCI and all that it does is almighty and omnipotent. And since perfection cannot be improved upon...leave things as they are. Okay....but I still like my idea.

Ya know what's nice? The human capacity for memory. Some of my most beloved musical memories of drum corps are stored in MY brain, (small though it may be) and all I have to do is call up 1974 SCV and start singing Die Gotterdamerung in my head, to myself, followed by A Young Person's Guide, etc. Or Madison's Slaughter on 10th Ave. And it's free!!! I don't have to pay any stinking fees to anyone! And while I can't remember every show I ever heard, I have enough stored in my upstairs closet to keep me occupied for a long, long time.

My wife and I were talking the other day about judging drum corps shows, etc. To get to the point, I told her if I was a billionaire, I would pay for an electronic system that could be used by the fans...one device for each ticket sold...whereby the fans could vote their favorites at a show. Think of how the audience on "America's Funniest Videos" votes for the $10,000.00 winner. Reasoning that the majority of fans in the stands know something about drum corps...ranging from novice to expert...a reasonably valid scoring would entail. I mean, the object of the competition is to impress the judges, while at the same time entertaining the crowd. So, if the crowd and the judges are one and the same...well, you see where I'm going with this. While I can't say I can accurately predict the "number" the judges currently award the corps at a show...it's usually not difficult for me to get the final placement correct, bottom to top...DCI or DCA. If a system like this were used, there might be some placements that were quite different from what we are getting from the judges we now have. Just my thoughts. What do you think?

Keith, One of my favorite drum corps trivia questions is, "Name the first corps to play a Chuck Mangione chart." Invariably, the reply is, "Blue Devils playing Legend of a One-eyed Sailor." WRONG !!!!!! Of course you know the correct answer...the Magnificent Yankees playing Hill Where the Lord Hides !

Tom...from one old Brigadier to another...my prayers are with you for a complete and speedy recovery.

Undated memorabilia is always the best, IMO. What doesn't sell this year will sell next year, etc. On a similar topic.....Why doesn't DCA offer a Championship Flag to it's champions? Seems they used to, BITD. Even if DCA won't foot the bill, I'd like to see every corps who ever won the DCA Championship title purchase a single "DCA" flag to carry in their Honor Guard. Then, attach a streamer denoting each year that corps was a champion. (In the same fashion that the military adds battle streamers to regimental flags, etc.) Of course the flag design should be standardized, so we don't have twenty different designs. This would allow each corps to "carry it's history, for all to see", so to speak.

If the Magnificent Yankees had merged with the Appleknockers, we would have had........ wait for it....... "the Magnificent Knockers"

Congrats to Allen as the new VP. I am confident he will do a fine job.

Wow...sad to hear of the difficulties. All who know me, know of my love for the Brigadier organization, so believe me when I say it is right to wait until the corps is financially stable, before taking to the field of competition. I am as anxious as anyone out there in the drum corps world to see this fine corps active again. We defied the odds once, by coming back after about twenty years of inactivity, to achieve five DCA World Championships. The chances of success are dependant on many things, but first and foremost is a sound financial base. Without that, failure would simply be a matter of time. Fortunately, the corps is inactive...it has not folded. Let's all be patient and wait for all the right "ingredients" to be in place, before we don the red & black, and return to the field. In the meantime, if you ever marched as a Brigadier, or if you would like to someday, keep your chops in shape, keep your chin up with a positive attitude, share your thoughts and feelings with the Board of Directors, and say your prayers. The Brigadiers will be back. Count on it...when the time is right.

Wow ! Amazing weekend. In no particular order... Being on the field to DM Mighty St. Joes, instead of on the podium. Helping to conduct the Bugles Across America presentation. Seeing kiltiekemo after 37 yrs. (We served together in the Marine D&B Corps) Being invited, along with my wife, to march with the Hurricanes Honor Guard for the weekend. Thanks Rich. Seeing my good friend Gary and his Empire Statesmen Honor Guard win the Harvey Olderman trophy. Well deserved. Watching Ghost Riders mini-corps performance. I thought they had it all sewn up, until.... Star United was simply incredible. Hurricanes drum line...superb in both prelims and finals. And Hurricanes Guard...girls, I would have had you in first by a landslide. Seeing tons of drum corps friends from years past...Roland G., Mark K, Scott M., Don K., Joey P., too many to mention. GREAT WEEKEND!!! Congrats to Minnesota Brass.

I completely agree with the premise that if you listened to a corps recording BITD, you could usually tell within a few seconds, which corps, and often which year. Not so much with today's corps. My sound get-up back when I was in the Marine Corps involved a 4 channel Sansui 6500 receiver, a Teac reel-to- reel with auto reverse, two Bose 901 speakers, and a set of Koss's best headphones. In the daytime, I used to use the 901's as headphones....(one on either side of my pillow). At night, I had to use the headphones. So, my wake-up usually involved the Yankee-Rebels, Troopers, Skyliners, Muchachos, .....you get the idea.