GregW

Hi Maggie - You'll probably get a kick out of this. We were all at camp on Sunday before MLK day, and Kurt Peterson does a double take.. he SWEARS Curt Moore found the way-back machine and decided to march one more year.. What do you think ? P.S. Is your banner a picture of the guard setting up for inspection or part of the '70 show? Funny how inspection was one of the first things DCI got rid of in '72.. lol

Ponder This Grassopper... Did you march in a corps that won it all? Did you take high Drums or Horns yet fail to win finals? Would you personally trade one for the other? While I have never been blessed to stand at finals in a corps that either won High Drums or took 1st place, I've had an opportunity to march next to individuals who have done both. So, which would mean more to you. If were one of those who were lucky enough to have won it all, or took 1st place in your particular caption, or if you had an opportunity to go back in time and march one summer, what would mean the most? If your corps won it all, yet your particular caption ended up in 4-5 place or lower. If you were in one of the amazing Argonne or Madison hornlines that were blowing people away, or the spectacular guards of 2-7, or even the most obvious example, the 1977 drumline of Etobikoke, yet the rest of the corps wasn't up to the same level. What would give you the most personal satisfaction and pride looking back on your drum corps career? At the same time, was there any outward frustration knowing that one or more sections were holding the rest of the corps back? Any Thoughts?

At the same time I'm professing much love for the '75 SCV drumline, I also have to give huge kudos for the '76 BD line. When I finally saw them in Boise on 1st tour with the North tenors, and the cool Air Force Academy looking blue short sleeve shirts, the look was very hip. This is a picture someone posted of the DATR show. What a great look, and more than anything, when corps stopped playing a concert chart where it was just about letting it all hang out, that was the start of many changes that took the soul away from the individual corps. The drumline cooked, and the plates, man you guys took it to another level during concert. West IS Best, without a doubt. We would all watch just to see if their plumes would touch the ground.. VERY cool to be that limber holding 24" and 26" cymbals. Overall one of my favorite all-time shows and drumlines.

You're right Russell.. That will teach me to post in a hurry late night when I'm half asleep.. I just didn't want to miss the 1975 page and end up on '76.. To make up for it, he's a current pic of 4 of the true SCV Ancients: Dale Lofgren, Curt Moore, Allan Kristensen and Kurt Peterson. Look at those sticks.. 35 years later, and without even thinking about it, the angles are nearly perfect.. simply amazing. I can only imagine the things that Kurt Peterson experienced during his time in SCV. If I'm not mistaken he said he was also in the original Sparks, and aged out in '74, so he was there from the beginning, all the way up through YPG. What an amazing musical body of work to have been a part of as a teen growing into a young adult. All of them were blessed to be a part of the genesis of what dc is today.

Once again, in honor of the 1975 page, may I present what many people feel (myself included) is the greatest snareline of the DCI era. There is a copy I'll post of the 1975 World Open finals drum sheet showing 1 tic (tenor). Simply the cleanest and most musical line ever put on the field. Bottom Picture:(L-R) Thomas Brown Dale Lofgren Curt Moore Steve Chorazy Paul Seibert Darryl Cox Rob Carson Not Pictured: Allan Kristensen

Hey Keith - It's funny that you mention the school in Butler. I stayed there with the Argonauts in 76 for the American Internation Open, and it was one of the few pictures I took because it was so different. Sorry about the quality, it's been sitting in a scrapbook for 30+ years, but I'll bet you this is the school you're talking about. Small world eh :)

Not really at all Garry - By the time Bobby Hoffman and Rocco pulled the plug it was way too late to go to BD. Al Murray had been talking to Rick Odello and had them buy him bus tickets to come up 2 different times, but he ended up sticking it out till the end like most of us. If I'm not mistaken, Steve Beard, the 74 bari soloist, Paula (Popp-Beard), Vicky Olsen (Vicky Kingsmen on here), and Brenda Markham are the only one's that went to BD. Everyone else, primarily the drumline went up to Freelancers on the van they sent down to pick up as many people as they could. Al ended up going back up to Canada and then Float and John Flores (Rodriguez) went up to Etobikoke after tour and the rest is drum corps history. There may have been a few other horns that ended up with BD, but to be honest, we saw them coming big time. We went up for guard shows in the winter and they were full and really, REALLY good and it was only January. 4 months later and Bobby Hoffman is standing in front of 24 horns in June trying to teach the 74 show because it was too late to do anything else, and they just pulled us into a group at the end of a weekend rehearsal and pulled the plug. BD did utilize Steve as a soloist in 75 and Brenda worked with the guard and marched her age out year up there. Some of the Freelancer people stayed with them as well, but most everyone went their separate ways after the 75 season. I think Vicky may have been the only xKingsmen to march BD in 75, and then winning in both 76 and 77. I'm sure she'll fill in the details once she sees this. Bottom line, they did it on their own for the most part. They always said that the Kingsmen with their model, so it was nice that a couple people were there to lend a hand and keep the corps' spirit alive. Everyone wishes things had turned out differently in 75 than it did, but that's a whole other story that I posted on here a long time ago, but I'm glad they were able to take a piece of what the Kingsmen started and continued it over the past 35 years. Greg

Sorry if anything in my post came across as a negative, it certainly wasn't intended. My comment was more based on my personal experience as to how much more time and effort goes into an alumni project than anyone ever dreamt possible. When we started the Kingsmen project, there were "serious" discussions about being able to just pass out the music, do a few camps, and it would be basically little more than a week of commitment leading up to the actual performance. We all know how ridiculous a statement that turned out to be, with MANY of us devoting the better part of 2 years putting together a 12 minute performance. Granted, the situation with Star Alumni is very different, with the corps still being active and much of the staff and alumni very involved with both Jr. and Sr. corps, so it's not like trying to get a bunch of 50 year olds in physical shape to do a show. What I really was trying to get across was a question about what happens when Madison is on the road this summer, and fighting to get back to previous performance and competition levels. I don't know if the senior staff plans on touring with the corps, of if that's left up to a group that's put together specifically for that purpose, with caption heads meeting the corps at various stages throughout the summer. It's been quite a few years since I actually rode the staff busses and back then everyone went on tour, but it's my understanding that that's not necessarily the case today. I also know how important it's going to be for Star Alumni to put out a product that is beyond expectations, and that just takes time and commitment from everyone involved. Regardless of the fact that it's a one or two time performance, the sheer task of putting the alumni corps show on the field will not be all that different from putting Madison on the field. Music still has to be written and taught, as does drill and guard work. Much of that can happen independently, but everyone has to be together in order for the drill to work and, and again, it just takes a lot more time than everyone realizes to go from an ok product to a great one. Being able to play a show is VERY different from being able to perform as an ensemble, and then as most of us know, there are many stages of performance, and those come from just being togehter and working together over an extended period. I have no doubt the talent is there, and I'm sure the commitment from everyone involved is there as well, my biggest concern is the delicate balance of time, and the fact that it's still really hard to be in two places at once, even for this dream team.

Ok, with all the positive hype going on around the whole Star team working on bringing Madison back to a top-tier corps, I haven't heard much about how they are going to split their time in order to oversee an even bigger project. Lest we forget, Star is planning on putting an alumni corps on the field at prelims this year, and they have said it would be no less than one that shows off all the things that made Star a special corps. Being part of the Kingsmen Alumni Corps for 2 years, I know the level of commitment and time required to make a project like that really work, and it was much more than a part-time commitment, for both the members and the staff. I'm sure that the participating members will be some of the best that ever marched with Star, and they certainly have a lot of talent to draw from, but I have to believe that the core staff that's overseeing this project would be many of the same people that are now involved with Madison. There will be camps and rehearsals all summer at the Star facilities that Madison is using before heading out on tour, but who will be staying behind to oversee the enormous project of the Star Alumni Corps? It will be difficult to be on the road working on getting Madison back to the desired level, and still be there to be the driving force behind the alumni project. I'm not sure if it makes a huge difference now days, and I'm sure they have spoken about it internally before they all agreed to this level of involvement again, but I know how much of a time and effort commitment it takes to do one corps at this level, let alone two. Maybe the techs handle all the day to day teaching and rehearsal scheduling now as opposed to how it was BITD, but I can't see either corps being as successful as I know they want them to be without everyone's full-time involvement from the top on down. Maybe some of the people involved in Madison or Star Alumni can chime in and share some additional information. I know a lot is going to be going on over the next 8 months, and believe me, it's a LOT smaller window of time than you think when you're in the middle of a project this encompassing.

Hey Michael - Yes, he does. I found him and hooked he and Dale up during 07. If you send him an email he should be able to pass on the info. Say hi to Vick for me

One of the things I've been able to look back on since we did our performance is that it was over WAY too soon. Yes, we spent a year and a half getting ready to do 13 minutes, but the part that is probably the most disappointing is that we only really got to perform the full show for an audience twice, the week before semis at our show, and then at semis. That's a whole lot of blood, sweat, and tears to only have the opportunity to do it all again. Some of us would probably say we got back to about 75% of where we once were, maybe a little more, maybe a little less. What would have been great to do would have been to actually spend the entire summer doing 10-10's or 10-12's just to see how good we really could have gotten again, and to what level we could really have achieved. Many of us literally took the first 6-8 months just to work off 30 years of rust. As I said, it's completely different playing at home on a pad, or even on a drum, but when you're standing next to a guy that was in what I consider the greatest snareline of all time (1975 SCV), along with the likes of four 1972 Kingsmen snares and people I grew up with both playing and admiring, it's a whole different level you want to achieve. Not to mention the excitement of actually seeing people again after 30 years that I honestly never thought I would see again. Maybe it's my mortality catching up to me, and if so, that's ok. I got to do something that few of us will ever get a chance to do again, play under the lights at DCI with people I truly care about and have touched my life in ways they don't even know. All I can say is that you should treasure the experience of playing at semis in 2010, but if nothing else sticks but this, treasure the journey getting to that place, both the frustrations that will inevitably happen, as well as the excitement and pure pleasure you'll get from being a part of something so incredibly special that will absolutely be a memory that will last you for the rest of your life.

Thanks Wendy - That's such a GREAT picture. I sent it to the entire KAC snareline yesterday along with Donnie Porter and Al. I don't have Sammy's email address but I'm sure Al will pass it along to him :) After our initial performance in 06, Sam came down with Al to see the show and come to Kamp that weekend. A few of us were hyping and wanted to do a small sectional after the regular rehearsal was over, and Al asked if we would mind if Sam sat in with us for a bit. This was one of my favorite memories from that kamp with Sammy playing next to Dale, just like they did in 74, and a few of us having the privilege of playing with them. I think they finally made us quit around 10:30 or we would have certainly kept going. One of my true disappointments is that neither Al nor Sammy found a way to free up enough time to be part of the KAC, but Al was at every gig and of course every after party. Some things never change LOL. From the left, Greg Meader, Dale Lofgren Sam Kays, Greg Wilson, Mike Pugh

Greg came out part time to do the winter guard in 78 which was the exhibition year that Charlie Groh and Merc and Derf were the main characters in The Wiz. Greg went back to Bridgemen and marched his age out year in the summer, and the most of them came out to live full time and go on tour with us in 79, the exception being Mike McCool who decided he didn't have a burning desire to ride the buses that year since the staff van got taken away after the 78 season :( If I remember right, the guard and M&M staff that year was Tim Moxley, Sharon Rikee and Greg Clarke, with Merc just being there for the winter guard.

I'm actually on the end in that shot. For the majority of the show I was one in from the end, but for the solo I slide over to the end to place the bell cymbal that is so prevalent in any of the Boston/Argo solos. that's why it looks like the line is in odd formations, we paired off in twos and with the line around just for the solo in the middle of Rite of Spring. After that we switch back. I don't remember the reason for the switch other than the other 4 guys had played together so long that they played the solo virtually tickless, so putting them together just made it the easiest way to clean it. I've for an mp3 of the '76 show so I'll try to clip out the drum solo and send it to you. I'm sure it will sound just like classic BAC to anyone who remembers the Gerry Schellmar years. Dave, what Ghost was doing with the 2 sets of North tenors was to add the middle drum voices between the 3 concert tenors and the basses. We actually had 3 and 3 at one point, but lost one of the North sets. Man we those things heavy. The funny thing is that we had 1 girl in that North section, and another in the tenor section. That was the strangest thing for me, coming from the all male Kingsmen lines, to having girls in the snare line, the tenors, and now the North tenors too. None on tymp, but only because the sport were all covered.

A question, out of curiosity. When we put the Kingsmen Alumni Corps together, as most people here know we started formally in December 05 to get ready for our show in August 07. In essence, it took us about a year and a half to get to the level we were at. Granted, the majority of the KAC membership hadn't touched an instrument in 30 years, so much of the first year was getting chops back and getting to the point that we were at least representative of what the Kingsmen were in the early 70's. Star, on the other hand, was much more recent, and probably is going to draw from membership that's still involved at some level either professionally or with one of the Star organizations. I doubt you'll have anyone that hasn't picked up a pair of sticks or a horn for 10 years, let alone 30. So, what is the schedule like for the alumni corps? Are you doing monthly rehearsals already, or doing this independently and putting it together at camps? In my case, I found out very early on it's completely different being able to play the show at home on a pad than it is when you're in a line with 15 other guys who have very different levels of chops and commitment. Is there going to be access to the alumni web site so everyone can watch the progress, or is it going to be "come to prelims in 2010 and see Star Alumni for the first time"? It was a blessing to be a part of the Kingsmen Alumni Corps, not just to be able to be on the field again after 30 years, but being with all the people that were involved. As a few of us preached from the beginning, this experience will not be remembered by the destination itself, for most everyone involved it will be about taking part in the journey to get there, and the events, and people that were a part of it with you. For those of us who have been lucky enough to be a part of drum corps again as an adult, we would love to watch your journey and growth so we can remember how it felt for us. Good luck, and I'm sure the show will be phenomenal, but the "event" will get here faster than you think, and be over WAY too soon once you are with a group of people that will become like family again.