flammaster

whoa i was just sitting here listening to Dave Brubeck's "Pick Up Sticks" from Time Out. We were talking about what size sticks jazz drummers use compared to Corps drummers etc. The subject switched to Tempo and I started clicking out the beat. All of a sudden he goes into this synchopated patern of mostly drags and triplets with some flams thrown in there. b**bs Whoa Dude! You got it!!! I was very impressed. I mean the kid has some decent chops considering we have yet to get him any lessons. I'm always on him for not practicing enough and he goes and does this. I always have something on at home Buddy Rich, Brubeck, Cobham and lots of Zappa Not to mention a Butt load of Corps stuff. RIGHT ON CONNOR!!!

hh Dude i was just listening to 1984 and I came here to the percussion forum to rave on it. and 80!!! Sweet Stuff maynard! and to top it off now I'm listening to Roy Buchanan!!! Suuuuh Wheeeet!!!

Scott Johnson himself told me that is the badest drumline ever. I got to see them a few times that year since i was in BDB and boy what a line. Scott said the other line next to them is 99 BD. 87 Garfield?? They didn't play jack S***!!!!! yea and then you have the 87 BD line who pretty much swept individuals but since they dared play music by Zappa they got robbed by Kennedy!!! don't even mention 87 Cadets. <**>

Mandarins or Pacific Crest would rank High up there! (in this poll)

This should be really Good. if Rick Odello is involved there will be plenty to learn. darn wish I didn't have to work.

go to ruff notes and look into some stuff over there. I'd get Ken Mazur's book. He's a real intense guy but knows his stuff.

Well, the first two on your sig would be nice! Wooo hooo Freelancers and Comodores..sure do miss them. I was so blown away by the 86 Suncoast Corps in Concord I inquired about joining them (even though I had aged out already) just so they would send me a newsletter. and...*sniff* *sniff* Velvet Knights :( That is the Corps I miss most of all

Emotion? you wanna talk emotion? You had to have seen it from my perspective. As a youngster learning the rudiments and being in absolute Aww of the Vanguard in 71 as a young Blue Devil. Then years later to see them in full Guard regalia (Skirts & Boots) doing the Bottle dance. Ohhh man then you really get it right there!!!! I think I have never screamed so loud at a Drum corps show as I did that night in Concord (and I scream for BD the loudest). Ooohhh what a Show! Placement? Who cares? That show is the all time up there with 87 VK and 76 BD.

Learn how to do a truckers hitch with rope. Packing tape can be torn (I know the secret) but it could get all messy so forget that. I was a Bike Messenger and in 6 years I never had a Bungie chord break. Truckers have these telescoping bars that isolate cargo try looking into that.

That sounds cool. but you can not see in that picture. I have heard that the black max heads hide the "dirt" better.

Yea they rocked!

What about the two drum Majors from Cavaliers in 86? Jeff Roblowski and Norm Djideck (sorry I know the last one is wrong). Rondo get em right though.

Get it!!! this thing is killer!!!! :o

I have the 81 album in front of me right now. yep it sure does! On the Blue Devils site they have the 1971 show (but you can't buy it). in the announcment the guy say's "And the dumb Major...uhh er Drum Major is Dave Dugan". I was at that show!!! (Los Banos, CA I think).

Most definately! I mean hey I made the BD line in 78 at the age of 15. There were a lot of locals then but it was around that tiem when Members were starting to Migrate to Corps. By the 80's it became much different.

I changed my mind. The Baddest Drumline to ever mill about is....... 1987 Blue Devils!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have noticed that you can easily spot the Traditional players in a Match girp line. Watch the left hand and you can see that the left hand usually has an akward scew to it. I know because after deciding to switch excluively to Traditional (even on set) I have the same weird wrist flop when using Match. Then the Tenor players really shine in a Match line. (I'm not saying either is better or worse just different) Match Grip has it's merrits but I chose Traditional. The reason I use it on a set is maily to keep the left hand under and out of the way when doing hi hat rides. (In match you tend to collide hands). However Match is much better for roaming around the Toms.

This is some great history here. I do remember seeing the Argonauts but what year it was I can't remember. Perhaps it was closer to 80 or 83 when i saw them. They were doing things that were very different and one of the most progressive lines I had ever seen for that time period. The snare line using extra toms was the thing that really stood out in my memory. I did remember seeing a guy on the track that looked kind of out of place for a DC show (well just because he was staff) but yea he looked real friendly. I think that what Terry told about him smoking pot and taking acid was more of what people "thought" he did rather than what he was actually like. This has really turned out some intersting storys from you two guys and I'd like to learn more! I love the history of corps and my quest for more knowlege about it has just struck gold!!! Thanks guys. ^OO^

Bingo! here is some more info. this is from the email I got from Terry Shalberg. <quote> Brian, I find it fascinating that you would think to contact me to ask such a question. I was led to believe that Ken Mazur knew everything. Believe it or not there may be some truth to the story of "Ghost". Though I don't remember which year exactly (71,2 or 3) there was a guy who came out from the east coast to teach the Commodores drum line. His name was Bill Lennon but his widely used nickname was "Ghost". He was basically an old hippie. Think of someone who looked like a Charles Manson. Part of the legend may stem from the belief that he lived in a teepee, smoked a alot of pot, took alot of acid and was a rather "organic" person. Like I said, an old hippie. Supposedly he knew his #### but I have no personal knowledge. I saw him at a clinic on one occasion and his ideas and thinking weren't exactly mainstream. As I remember, he was a proponent of match grip which may have some merits but I was then and am still old school. Anyway at that clinic I think he disagreed with everything we did (we performed) and we won our first national title a few months later. So you can draw your own conclusions. I think the one thing that may contribute to this "legend" is that he played with and his history was with the Boston Crusaders who were THE DRUM LINE at a point in time. A bit of trivia is that the BD snare drum line used to wear Boston tee shirts under our uniforms. That should say something of the high esteem with which we held the Boston line. I called Scott Johnson to verify a couple of these facts and he reminded me of one other little tidbit that you may find interesting. Ghost had a dog that was with him all the time. His name was " Shadow". Only problem was that he was either white or yellow. I hope this info helps. Say hello to any and all and in particular your mom. Terry

OK yea I remember them. I think it was 77 or 78 they had these snares made by Stingray that had 3 Toms in front of them. They had a Hot drumline too. And I do remember seeing an intructor on the track there that did look real scruffy. The Tenors played the full on North drum Copys.

Ahhh so what Ken said was this guy played for Seattle Imperials. I told him how I used to play 3 camps he!! on the Wabash, the general etc. and all by the age of 9. I never learned to read properly but i learned these solo's from the Frank Arsenault Record. RAMD? No thanks.. Apparently Mr. Mazur is writing a book on the history of drumming. I can shed some light on the west coast thing but I was just a kid and ended up quitting the scene for set drumming instead around 79. Bottom line though is I think Rick Odello is a much better instructor than he was given credit for. esp the tight grip and playing into pillows etc.

I just got an email from Ken Mazur and he asked me if I knew of the person called ghost who supposedly came from the mountains of California and was supposed to be some Omnipitant drummer. I do remember hearing the story but always dismissed it as a bunch of BS. White stallion was the Sr. Corps of a bunch of BD alumni who got together a few times and always dreampt of doing the DCA scene but never followed through. I guess Renegades is the final product but I was wondering if the "Ghost" thing was for real or just a bunch of hooey.

Who did the Mello solo in Legend for BD in 78? That was and still is to this day my favorite mello solo ever. (But the Renegades solo in 2001 was just as spectacular...Chris Nalls right)?

No I didn't see it there.. guess I'll just have to buy the DVD's of 70's-80's. I have 82 and 85 but 27 isn't on the 85. I have ruff notes bookmarked. When I was in jr. high 27th was always my favorite east coast corps to watch on TV but have never seen them live. Guess that is what I get for only marching a few years instead of the 13 I could have (71-84) Man if i ever win the lotto I'd sure try to bring back 27th Lancers and VK!!!

Ohh wow you marched 83 Knights? That is one of my favorite percussion features of all time~!