elayes

I don't think I posted these before. They're from the 1977 Stillwater show program. Troopers' awsome rifle line:

Top of my list, by far, is "Legend", followed closely by "Chase the Clouds Away". As for non-Blue Devil numbers, two favorites come to mind -- Bayonne playing "Land of Make Believe" and Freelancers' "Bellavia". I still get chills thinking about Freelancers huge company front with drum major Paul Zimney facing the crowd, arms outstretched. WOW!

It used to be the norm that at the end of a full corps retreat, the corps would leave the field in reverse order of placement, trooping by the winning corps, playing a short version of one of the songs in their show. (Does anyone even do this anymore???) At DCI Finals in 1979, Troopers left the field first, probably playing "Ghost Riders In The Sky". Then Cavies left, playing "Children of Sanchez". Next was Blue Stars, playing "Children of Sanchez". And then North Star, playing -- you guessed it -- "Children of Sanchez"! As much as I LOVE Mangione (I am, after all, a Blue Devil from the '70's), I think I've had my fill of that song!

This was in the day when dropped equipment cost you .1 of a point!

Beautiful! Thanks Sue!

Wish I did. I can't find them. Yet...

I, too, suffer from CRS (Can't Remember S!*t) and enjoy the occasional off-topic discussion of events that occurred so long ago. Keep it coming!

Everytime someone posts pictures of their buttons, I kick myself for getting rid of mine. I had an AWESOME collection from the '70's! Argh!

San Jose Raiders

SCV

SCV

Cool!

Troopers

These next photos are from the 1977 Drum Beauty (Stillwater) Program, so presumably from 1976. Troopers

LOL!

I used to sit and listen to SCV's rifles on the recordings over and over... Spinning click, click, click, click, catch, toss 2, 3, catch. It was all so clear in my head...

Your comments made me curious so I dug my old rifles out of the back of the coat closet and weighed and measured them. (Hold your letch-y comments please ;-) ! ) The rifle in the picture, my drill team rifle, is 41.5" long, including the barrel, and weighs a whopping 4 lbs. 3 oz. It's got a strap, trigger guard (though no trigger) and a bolt assembly. My Blue Devil rifle from 1976, which includes the bolt assembly and a strap, weighs 3 lbs. 10 oz. and measures 37.5" long. 5.5" of that is barrel. My Blue Devil rifle from 1981, no strap, weighs 3 lbs. even and is 37" long. (All these rifles were handmade and could vary in weight; made exchanges a b*tch!) By comparison, I have a completely wooden rifle I used in a play I did in 1982 ("The Lorin Solo") that I think is closer to the rifles they use today. It's only 34" long and weighs a mere 2 lbs. 4 oz!

Speaking of legs and white boots: This was drill team, pre-Blue Devils. Short skirts and HUGE rifles! I still have this one from the picture and can barely spin it anymore!

I would have LOVED to see this show in person, being a huge "West Side Story" fan. Their show has to be one of the earliest "dramatic" breaks from standard military shows, huh? Any comments from y'all that were around during that era?

OMG, what a funny story! Good thing I hadn't just taken a sip of soda before I read this, 'cause I laughed out loud, scaring the cat at this late hour!! Thanks for sharing in this FABULOUS thread! P.S. LOVE your username, btw!

Yes, I remember Pierre as being very intertaining LOL! Locate the blond man next to the drum major/captain trio. Go up to the 5th row (the first two are both at ground level) and you should see him. (I think -- I could be TOTALLY wrong!)

Hey, I'd forgotten Pierre marched Blue Stars! He marched snare with Blue Devils in...1981 I think? CRS strikes again. I'll have to dig out the yearbooks to make sure.

Speaking of pushing vehicles, one of our buses was boxed in once, after a show I think, by a VW bug. We waited an appropriate amount of time (probably about 5 minutes) and then a bunch of baritone players got out and PICKED UP the car and moved it enough so that we could get by!

I think bus troubles are a staple of any drum corps experience. When Crossmen came out to the West Coast in 1979 or 1980, they ended up losing two busses. I remember sitting in LA, waiting while our buses went to pick up some of the stranded corps. P.S. BTW, we hit the 1,000,000 views mark. Happy Thanksgiving!

Another favorite from the 1976 Blue Devil yearbook: