Puppet

First about the apology. Accepted. From your list (which omits about 15 to 20 Drum Corps from New York City & Long Island) I picked the Mighty St. Joe's Of Bativa who I hope you meant. They had a great organization - mind you I only saw it from the outside and as a very young 14 year old. Aside from our sister corps St. Ignatius and the Mello Dears I don't think I recognize any of the others. Even from my time at St. Joseph Patron Cadets - who I know you didn't mean when you said St. Joes. Were those other corps around during the sixties / seventies? Or were they much later on and in the now Class "A" category? Puppet

So. Either that is a lot of fertilizer or a great answer to a fundamentally mundane question. Also WOW! Puppet

Hey, not to mention Danny Thomas Invitational or the Heart Fund and even the CYO Nationals. And I'm not going to open up the VFW or American Legion can 'o worms. And OMG! There are only 20 Drum Corps left? There used to be that many in NYC alone! I thought that those Corps in the Championships every year, that they were at least the cream of the crop - you mean there is no crop? Wow! Puppet

This and all posts aside, I don't know how far ahead of the curve we may have been but our director began shooting us at rehearsals as far back as 1970. Much like Football coaches did. You can even see a bit of our shows on the St. Rita's Brassmen homepage. I think the one being featured this month is our Color Pre and was shot on a home video cam (BETA) from the yesteryear of 1971. Check it out. http://www.stritasbrassmen.org/home.html Puppet

Ahh, The Company Front OTL! When you did it right, there are no words. When you did it badly, oh the tick parade was not pretty! Do you notice however that there are virtually no pictures of really bad fronts? Like, shoot it now…no, now…wait …now, now,now! LOL Puppet

Sorry but this is just the way my mind works and because of all the changes in Drum Corps today when I read "tenors" I thought "singers." Then I said "no way!" Imagine how big the rest of the chorus was? LOL Puppet

Check this one out. 1964 Really Old School Cadet Style Uniforms! They Zipped Up The Back! This was their very first year on the field. Puppet

It's so interesting that for the longest time I thought I was the only one who had fleeting thoughts of this nature. I typically take walks along a thoroughfare we call Commercial Boulevard here in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. On some nights I can hear what sounds like a drum corp off in the southern distance and see the glow of a football field and always think: Wouldn't it be cool if there were a class "B" type contest from the old days going on. But then I hear the horns and know instantly it's a High School Band. The image pops and then I go on my way … until the next time. Weird. Puppet

And I was a 15 year old rookie in 1964 Sigh Puppet

Ahh - if we forget the past - how's that go? That person's question would probably include "OTL" & "Exit" and that's kinda sad. Puppet

Thank you guys. A picture says more than words sometimes. So here are two (I must have posted them somewhere before - the first was a typical rehearsal Friday night in the St. Rita Gym. And there's the Thursday Night Bingo we ran to raise operating expenses. And I agree: the education from learning and from teaching and from the responsibilities the Corps management placed on us to care for our own financial health was daunting but well worth it. And just another reason why I keep my teenage nickname of Puppet.

Sorry Ray, but age may be getting the best of me. What did Bucky look like? Puppet

please allow me this: Up front this is neither bashing DCI, DCA or any organization that currently causes my inbox to be filled with literally hundred of pre-season requests for money to enable youngsters to participate in what was once to me a source of pleasure, learning and personal growth. All things being equal, (which they are not!) I don't think the amount of time and energy put into today's product is equal to the sheer verve which the corps of my era displayed. The forced pageantry and beauty queen smiles of the now so called guards do not win me over. The short, seemingly one dimensional shows don't cause me to cheer. Yes, the musicality is better - all the players are now pros. Their instruments are probably better made. And yes, Jimmy drum corps today is what it is today - change is good, change is change. As a writer, I wouldn't trade in my MAC and go back to an IBM Selectric typewriter, ever. But I am respectful of the past and would like to think that my memories of what once was - the fleeting months of competition, the agonizing winters of rehearsals, the summers like 1971 or even 1965, the togetherness - that's all good stuff to me. Drum Corps didn't die in 1971 and again yes, something else was born. 30 years from now, perhaps those of you who weren't able to participate in an activity that brought together kids from all walks of life and different economic strata for free (that means no dues, no fees, no paying for your own uniform or instrument etc.) will see how folks like me hold those times so dear. Puppet

here's a tidbit, though. Over 300 Corps over the years have played tunes by Leonard Bernstein. Mostly from West Side Story but oddly enough from the much better IMO musical Candide. Classical composers have also been highly represented: Beethoven and Gustav Mahler among them. We played Wagner's Ride of the Valkeries as an OTL in 1971 when we played only 7 songs but in 1969 we had a rep that was rife with all kinds of famous composers: Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo, Thunder and Blazes by J S Seredy. Billboard March (commonly known as "The Circus Song") by Klohr Chester Overture by William Schuman Promenade (from Pictures at an Exhibition) by Mussorgsky Rodeo by Aaron Copland Jim On The Move (from Mission Impossible) by Lalo Schiffrin Make Our Garden Grow (from Candide) by Leonard Bernstein When I first thought of this topic I was thinking of repertoires that included versions of songs and tunes that were over like a minute and a half long. But that's because I'm a bit of an old dog. Our shows were much longer than those of today. Medleys I think can only be counted as one. Anyway, Let's hear more! Puppet

OMG - Ok. 44 years ago this month I donned a cast off re-tailored St. Catherine Queensmen uniform as a french horn player in the Queenaires "class B" parade corps. Cream Cadet Style Jacket with Red and Black Trim. Black trousers (my first encounter with "braces" - I remember Norman Johnson our horn instructor and director saying: "Braces, these are braces, not suspenders!") with red and cream stripes. White bucks with black soles. I next wore the Powder Blue of the St. Joseph Patron Cadets - that was 1967. 1972 was my age out year. Danny Thomas Invitational, or World Open - I think we took second to the 27th Lancers in my St. Rita's Brassmen uniform. Yikes what a memory of how bad the Queenaires were. Puppet

With three buses, we hardly ever had to, but there were some members like Sullivan from our rifle section who were just too tall to sleep sitting up! Hence… And I've got a ton of people sleeping on our trips. I must have been an insomniac! Puppet

You're right on many levels, Mike. But I think the thinking at the time was perpetrated by the management of the individual corps. In our case, with so much strife over the Vietnam conflict and many of our members from the former St. Joseph Patron Cadets in uniform, there was a different mind set. When Hy and Carmen developed our Woodstock show for 1971 we juxtaposed the chaos and irreverence with The West Point Alma Mater as our CP and then played it as a reprise as our exit piece after having subdued "Those Who Would Attack Our Flag." Every audience at every show responded to that thing - it was amazing. These men were thinkers and along with our Moderator, Father Shiraldi gave us a sense of patriotism that has guided many of the members to this day. Now I'm not a flag waver of the Limbaugh stripe not by any means - I just like how it made me feel. Emotion's good, right? Puppet

Oh I don't know. discontent seems to be such a strong word. IMHO I would first of all not blame it on the corps who in their naiveté joined DCI, but on the DCI Henchmen themselves. Their blatant disrespect for the all American activity as it was practiced at the time, combined with how much money running their own shows and hand picking those who would attend those show and thereby helping to line their pockets, along with how much more difficult it was to avoid the "unit penalties" mentioned earlier helped toward the demise of the Color Presentation. Puppet

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I aged out in 1972. But I do recall that our Director, Carmen Cluna was at odds with the people of DCI as to the direction they wanted to go. He didn't see Drum Corps as a way for some over seeing body to make money off a young people's activity. He foresaw the time when Drum Corps would be populated by the wealthy kids and not the inner city youngsters of Corps like St. Rita's Brassmen. What do you know - he was right! Puppet

What, what? Puppet

OK - What is a "TOSP?" I'm keen to know. And as to Harlem Nocturne which version will we never hear again? The one's by these guys? Charlie Barnett, Les Brown, Larry Elgart, Les Brown, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Ray McKinley, Tito Puente. Which way is the right way? I always want to know more because to date I've only got these versions: Ernestine Anderson, Fascinating Ernestine, Mercury MG 20492/SR 60171 Georgie Auld, Manhattan with Strings, United Artists UAS 6068 Sil Austin, Great Sax, Sun CD Sid Bass, Big Piano, Big Band, Big Sound, Capitol ST-1625 Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers, Any Way You Want to Go Clebanoff Strings, Strings Afire, Mercury PPS 6019 Spencer Collingswood, Cool Sounds!, Hollywood Records LPH-16 King Curtis, Night Train, Prestige 24153 Martin Denny, Another Taste of Honey, Liberty LST-7277 Lou Donaldson, Play the Right Thing, Milestone 9190 Les Elgart, For Dancers Only, Columbia CL 753 Les and Larry Elgart, The New Elgart Touch, Columbia CL 2301 Juan Garcia Esquivel, Infinity in Sound, RCA Victor LSP-2225 Bob Freedman and Orch., Music To Strip By, Surprise Records # SUR 100 Danny Gatton, Cruising Deuces Marty Gold and his Orchestra, Soundpower!, RCA Victor LSP-2620 Joe Harnell, Hud, Kapp KL-1339 Joe Harnell, Naked City: the Sound of Midnight, Medallion ML-7517 Illinois Jacquet, Swing's the Thing, Verve MG V-8023 Quincy Jones, Got a Brand New Bag, Mercury MG21063 Wayne King, Dream a Little Dream of Me, Decca DL 75070 Herbie Mann, Latin Fever, Atlantic 1422 Mantovani, Manhattan, London PS.328 Art Martin Quartet, Harlem Nocturne, AMR Records AMR 100 Robert Maxwell, A Crowning Performance, Command RSSD 972-2 Robert Maxwell, Harpistry in Motion, Command RS 932 S Leon Merian, The Magic Horn, Decca DL 8678 Jerry Murad's Harmonicats, The Cat's Meow, Mercury MG 21036 The Naughty Ones, I Dig Your Voodoo, Continental CD 101 Strings, Strings After Dark, Somerset SF-21900 101 Strings, Swingin' Things, Alshire S-5055 Paul Phillips & his Orchestra, Naked City: The Sound of Midnight, Kapp/Medallion LP Tito Puente, Tito Puente & Buddy Morrow: Revolving Bandstand, BMG/Tropical 17448 Boots Randolph, Hip Boots, Monument MLP-8015 Willie Restum, At the Dream Lounge, Gone LP 5011 The Rumblers, Boss, Dot DLP-3509/25509 The Rumblers, Boss, DCC Compact Classics DZS-044 Spies Who Surf, Calling All Martians Sam "The Man" Taylor, Blue Mist, MGM E3292 Jim Tyler and Orchestra, Impact! Brass, Time S/2028 Various Artists, Stereo & All That Jazz, Audio Fidelity AFSD 6196 The Ventures, The Ventures, Dolton BST-8004 The Viscounts, Bell 45 Marty Wilson, Jun'gala, Warner Brothers WB-1326 Oh, did I mention that I really like this tune? BTW - I know the Skyliners played it in 1961 as did a junior corps called the Vagabonds from New Jersey that same year. I think the Blue Devils played a version about a quarter of a century ago. And IMO - nobody knocked the socks off this tune in Drum Corps History than Hy Drietzer's version as approached by SKY. Puppet

This topic came to me from another thread. I began to wonder… For instance, in 1970 the CMCC Warriors played ten songs during their show. Blue Rock that same year had I think ten and the Boston Crusaders a whopping fourteen! Of course that's when shows were up to 12 minutes long. No wonder there were ambulances on stand by during July and August. We were exhausted! Puppet

Contras wearing shakos… Looks quite natural to me Puppet

OK - 1970 Battle Hymn Of The Republic. Or 1960 or '62 or '63 through '74. I'm thinking that they let it rest for a couple of years then brought it back in '81. And don't get me started on Ghost Riders All in all though, IMO the 1970 show was one of the finest ever. And I might add that 1970 could be the best year overall for Drum Corps Reps and shows ever. Another thread, don't you think Keith? And hey! Hooray! I just noticed: I'm no longer a Rookie! Puppet

Jim - I'm so sorry I wasn't still there in '73. I certainly remember the Polish Falcons who had also come along way in a short time. But let me share this with whomever doubts that DCI or no DCI, The Brassmen had crested that year. Garfield was where? Puppet