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Hup234

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Profile Information

  • Your Drum Corps Experience
    Marching/instruction/managing: 1958-1974.
  • Your Favorite Corps
    Any non-DCI corps.
  • Your Favorite All Time Corps Performance (Any)
    All pre-1970 corps.
  • Your Favorite Drum Corps Season
    Every season throughout the Golden Age.
  • Location
    Chicagoland.

Contact Methods

  • Website URL
    http://

Hup234's Achievements

DCP Veteran

DCP Veteran (2/3)

-14

Reputation

  1. Deepest apologies for any wee bit of what you perceived as "cheese". After all, you've read poetry before.
  2. My native state's a sporting state, a top vacation spot;There's skiing when the weather's cold, and boating when it's hot.My friends are all enthusiasts of sports and games galore,But most of them had never seen a drum and bugle corps.They just don't get why I ignored the area's great features And traveled many miles to find a seat up in the bleachers.They'd never seen a corps compete, or else I'm sure they'd seeWhy competitions offered so much fun and thrills for me.And so, I guess, we're miles apart as far as interests go.I found as much in drum corps as they found in sun and snow.To me, a sunny summer day meant sitting in the standsWatching corpsmen on the starting line clasp, with nervous hands,A bugle or a drumstick, or a sabre, cymbals, flags ...And checking over uniforms, and letting nothing lag. Encouragement was whispered into fellow squadmen's earsAs starting time grew nearer, as did all the nagging fears.The Major moved to center, and he'd bark a sharp command,As silence would descend upon the crowds there in the stand.And then a sudden drumbeat signaled cheers and shouts galore!The crowds would roar approval then, as forward went the corps.Fears and nerves all vanished when the lines were clean and tight.All the months of practising were paying off that night.Bugles sounded sharply out across the summer air,Echoing from field and sky, and flags flew high and fair.As the field judges scurried midst our music strong and proud,The corps then rearranged itself facing towards the crowd.The fans would now be quieter, as concert time was here.We'd hope our new arrangements might just catch the judges' ear.And then the drumline moved into a smooth and rhythmic beat,A solo quite hypnotic, and the crowd would tap its feet.And then streamed forth a sweet barrage of old and modern tunes:Jazz, the blues, now powerful, then hushed, and ever-sweetly crooned;Old favorites and movie tunes, and Broadway hits galore.The audience could never guess the next surprise in store.When it was all over, and the cheering over too,The scores were tabulated as the crowd guessed who'd come through.To those who'd get no trophy for their efforts long and true:Sportsmanship would still prevail o'er disappointment's hue.Instead, determination to improve that evening's scoresOvershadowed bitterness, and urged on all the corps.It was ever so rewarding when our corps had thrilled the fans,And so, to all those doubtful still, I'll take this one-man stand:The Golden Age of Drum Corps, whatever the scores would be,Will always live forever within the heart of me.
  3. My native state's a sporting state, a top vacation spot; There's skiing when the weather's cold, and boating when it's hot. My friends are all enthusiasts of sports and games galore, But most of them had never seen a drum and bugle corps. They just don't get why I ignored the area's great features And traveled many miles to find a seat up in the bleachers. They'd never seen a corps compete, or else I'm sure they'd see Why competitions offered so much fun and thrills for me. And so, I guess, we're miles apart as far as interests go. I found as much in drum corps as they found in sun and snow. To me, a sunny summer day meant sitting in the stands Watching corpsmen on the starting line clasp, with nervous hands, A bugle or a drumstick, or a sabre, cymbals, flags ... And checking over uniforms, and letting nothing lag. Encourangement was whispered into fellow squadmen's ears As starting time grew nearer, as did all the nagging fears. The Major moved to center, and he'd bark a sharp command, As silence would descend upon the crowds there in the stand. And then a sudden drumbeat signaled cheers and shouts galore! The crowds would roar approval then, as forward went the corps. Fears and nerves all vanished when the lines were clean and tight. All the months of practising were paying off that night. Bugles sounded sharply out across the summer air, Echoing from field and sky, and flags flew high and fair. As the field judges scurried midst our music strong and proud, The corps then rearranged itself facing towards the crowd. The fans would now be quieter, as concert time was here. We'd hope our new arrangements might just catch the judges' ear. And then the drumline moved into a smooth and rhythmic beat, A solo quite hypnotic, and the crowd would tap its feet. And then streamed forth a sweet barrage of old and modern tunes: Jazz, the blues, now powerful, then hushed, and ever-sweetly crooned; Old favorites and movie tunes, and Broadway hits galore. The audience could never guess the next surprise in store. When it was all over, and the cheering over too, The scores were tabulated as the crowd guessed who'd come through. To those who'd get no trophy for their efforts long and true: Sportsmanship would still prevail o'er disappointment's hue. Instead, determination to improve that evening's scores Overshadowed bitterness, and urged on all the corps. It was ever so rewarding when our corps had thrilled the fans, And so, to all those doubtful still, I'll take this one-man stand: The Golden Age of Drum Corps, whatever the scores would be, Will always live forever within the heart of me.
  4. "Mr. Jones started telling me the same story Don Warren told on the Brass Roots video that came out in the 90s. At the time I did not understand why he was telling me this story. He told me that when they form "The Combine" that it was to circle the wagons and support each other and govern they're own activity that had evolved beyond the old model. To support each other..." The whole intent was to break free of the veterans' groups because of semi-secret inner grudges and ongoing resentments between the then-leading corps and the VFW/AL officials who kept bruising their leaders' egos. One thing he stressed to me was that DCI was not there to benefit a single corps or a small group of corps, but to support the activity in general. We'll never know what went on behind closed doors, but DCI was a spinoff of the elitist Combine, and one thing that did leak out from under those closed doors was that its leaders deemed those corps they interntionally were excluding as "crap corps" ... hardly anyone's idea of ecumenism. I thought that "The Combine" was fairly selective and turned away some groups at first (i.e. out of the hundreds of corps who were around during the pre-DCI era only a smallish percentage, or at the very least less than the majority, went with the Combine). I could be wrong, but I vaguely remember that being told to me. doug Posted 16 November 2012 - 04:33 PM (#54) cowtown DCP Fanatic That’s a huge part of it right up there, 60 person staff and adults trying to get rich pimping out kids as an educational experience when the kids are just marks for the top folks in the top corps to fill their pockets pushing products of DCI sponsors and their 'experience camps'. That may be the best succinct one-sentence description I've ever read of the activity as it has become. Posted 16 November 2012 - 04:34 PM (#55) Michael Boo I wrote an article once on another site that was contributed by the son of the first show promoter to stick his neck out for a Combine show. It was quite a scare time for him, as he personally was financially liable. Thankfully, that first show in Wheeling, Illinois was a huge hit. That moment may well be the turning point that led the activity to what it has become. There were reasons other corps did not entertain the thought of initially becoming involved to the best of my knowledge. Some corps were simply left out of the mix, I would ascertain, as a business decision for whatever reasons. Others had strong ties still with their local service organizations (VFW, Legion, etc.). Actually the Combine founders only invited certain corps, Michael. I remember the anger and resentments among those who were excluded. This is all to the best of my recollection, taking into consideration this was quite a while ago....and things get a little fuzzy with time. Understood, and that's why I'm responding as one who was there. The activity isn't known for propagating its earlier history.
  5. Agreed. The old justify-and validate security blanket. It's comforting. Except that "need to evolve" can't explain or excuse the 90%+ decrease in sheer numbers since the DCI evolutionists ended the Golden Age. That particular ghost isn't as easily explained with "need to evolve", and so the stalwarts ignore it, just like a kid whistling past a graveyard. (Whoops ... wrong choice of words.)
  6. "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."
  7. 'BRASSO' says: "Right now, there are 5 users on this thread... period. So your quest for " numerous " ANY age group on this thread is sort of silly to begin with." It was you who had insisted that there are many Golden Age members here, and I posted a trivia quiz with common-knowledge questions to prove my position that there are not. The subsequent silence from people who obviously don't exist speaks volumes. "I don't do questionaires with people that have litmus tests, especially when their first few posts have been hostile towards others to begin with." Your sensitivity towards criticism that you interpret as hostility is noted. "But I know many of the answers to these questions, but your tone is divisive and dismissive of those relatively new to the activity, so I'm not interested in playing this game, but this dino wishes you a pleasant day anyway." Right, okay. Bottom line: the Golden Age corps veterans, your "dinos", aren't here, and I say they haven't been for a long time.
  8. Everyone knew the White Roses were a youth-based anti-Nazi resistance organization in WWII Germany, where a few heroic college youth did what they could against the Hitler tyranny before they were captured, tortured and executed, and this corps took their name in their honor. Elsewhere in America, similar European heroes were remembered by naming places/things for Lidice, Guernica, Normandie and others. You don't owe me an apology. I suggest you attempt to learn the history of the heroic White Roses - who had more sheer guts than I, admittedly, or you, I suspect, ever would - and then post your reactions to what you've learned about them here.
  9. History shows that most of the Catholic parish corps wound up being hurt by their host churches. (So much for the "Milk of Human Kindness", huh?) Maybe they In mid-season 1958, the Pillars Of The Church in this "Holy Name" parish decided to grab all the corps instruments and uniforms. The corps still went to AL Nationals in Chicago with makeshift uniforms, borrowing other corps' instruments, and finishing well with their deserved new slogan "The Corps That Would not Die". After that experience, this "effort to reconnect to the church" stuff sounds like a classic case of the abused child reaching out to the abusive parent.
  10. What is the activity offering to potential members today? Instructors portray themselves as 'faculty' and members as 'students'. Do kids want to get out of school for three months and get right back into "school"? Corps used to have macho NFL/NBA/sports-sounding names. How many kids want to identify with some of those PC warm/fuzzy monikers that today's units hang on themselves? Speaking of macho, whatever happened to the powerful, confident, aggressive style of marching and music that was Golden Age D&BC that kids wanted to be part of? John Wayne turned into Elton John. Speaking of kids, why has the activity forsaken recruiting/accepting rookies, once the bread-and-butter of D&BC, to favor only pretrained kids? And this after the instructors began thinking of themselves as "teachers"?
  11. "Against" here on DCP (or "for", for that matter) matters not a whit to Hup234, and my recent back-and-forth repartee with some True-Believer regulars here was a rarity that's pretty much ended. It was a kind of experiment. I enjoy involved, intelligent repartee with the Already Convinced of any ilk. Here, though, I see that some retort to one word or a phrase out of context, which changes the whole meaning of what was originally said. Maybe everyone's busy nowadays, but the phrase "short attention span" comes to mind. And I think what I say here hits a nerve and scares people. Nobody welcomes a doomsayer. DCP activists want to think their activity is ever-evolving into a brighter New Age that they're part of. I've pointed out different facts that show a darker, ominous trend, and the weak, flippant little nonrelated "replies" that the regulars post in response are very telling, while not telling at the same time. I keep pointing out that the activity today is the poorer for rejecting the Golden Age policy of inclusion for all and implementing a policy of excluding nontrained members, the great majority of American youth. No one here has addressed that; they just change the subject.
  12. On this list, Brasso insists there are numerous pre-1975 Golden Age fans present, and I say that besides myself there aren't. Let's do a '60s-'70s Golden Age common-knowledge test: What colors were worn by St. Lucy's? The Miami Vanguards had what unique symbol(s) on their blouses? What was unique about the Boys of 76's bugles? Who used the first contrabasses? (Bonus: in what year?) Which famous DCW columnist founded the Schaumburg Guardsmen? Which DCW publisher was indicted for murder? Where was the first DCI nationals, and the name of the stadium? What was St. Mary's Cardinals' famous off-the-line? When were G-F-F# bugles legalized? Name five common 1960s/1970s-era bugle makes.
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