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Puppet

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  1. Just thought I'd post this portrait. It's at the U.S. Open 1971. Can't believe how tiny we were. Puppet
  2. And speaking of cool bass drummers… He was so cool, we called him Ringo - All five feet of him behind a thunder bass. Don't know how he made it through our drill year after year. Puppet
  3. You're right, Frank. No excuse but we were so beat up by the time we got to the pre-lims it was a wonder we even made it through the inspection. Reggie, Mike, Joe Lugi and I had blistered lips from over rehearsal and it had to have been worse for the first sopranos. But the high point was that great hotel - was it the Marco Polo right on Miami Beach? Or is my memory slipping? Remember this bus? And: I got my Miami money!
  4. All right, settle down and I'll give you a little story. As you know I sign on this blog as Puppet. Reason being (and may I interject by saying that virtually all of us in St. Joe's and St. Rita's had nick names of some sort!) was that I was a very shy young man and every young woman I ever cam into contact with had a way of taking advantage of me. There was a hit song being played on the radio during the mid sixties called "I'm Your Puppet" and I got the nickname from that. I didn't like it at first, but I soon began to develop a personality around that nickname and people who don't remember me remember Puppet. I was a riot after a while. The class clown! And that's a good thing, right? And I totally agree about people liking to see themselves as they were then - those were good times, to me the best I don't think drum corps got any better - it's just different. And it was much more innocent. Thank you for even reading this thread. And help me with this thing, will you? Puppet
  5. And this could get your head chopped off! BTW the other two in the cymbal line were doing the same moves on the other side of the drum line. Of course, this was back when every corps-person marched a full show. Puppet
  6. And it begs me to ask the question again: "How the heck could those girls get their hair up under their shakos? I know a few years later with my afro it took like ten minutes to get mine on. Once it was on, it was on until the end of our show. Same ordeal before retreat. Out of uniform: On the field: Yeah, and I know these aren't the best shots in the world. But I started this thread so you could share yours, too. Sooooooooo… Puppet
  7. Oh yeah, And then there was St. Joseph Patron Cadets. A very rare photo out of uniform. I'll start down that path for a while. I think this was 1964. Puppet
  8. Joan with the Mona Lisa like smile. Alas, the folly of my youth. Had I the nerve, the brains or even a kick in the pants from my Dad, I would have asked her hand in marriage. Haven't seen her in 30+ years (sigh) Puppet
  9. Cymbals WOW! Anyway, here's my vote for absolute smallest snare line. Brassmen 1971. From left to right John Oddo, Mark Holub and Frank Nash. I know Frank is a Hall Of Famer, but John and Mark might as well be - All great drummers, teachers and more importantly mentors. Kudos from Puppet!
  10. That's just physics at work. Shorter person, shorter legs equals leg rest higher therefore drum. But what I've been waiting for is for someone to ask how we got all our hair up under our shakos. Looking over these shots and comparing them to when we were in uniform, it's amazing how uniform we looked - we cleaned up good! Hey Frank, remember the Kazoo concert we did in the Howard Johnson's parking lot on the way to that Kenosha show? Wish I had some shots of that. Glad to hear you're not smoking. And yes, I'm in great health for 55+ thank you. Puppet
  11. Hey Frank! I'm still looking for a shot of your famous self. One where you're not smoking. And did somebody say "Hippie"? We certainly had some. Even in the drum line! Glad to see you found this thread, Frank! Puppet
  12. Thank you. I've been trying to hold back a little and see what else emerges on this thread. But here's a cool one I didn't take this but it looks like it had to have been somebody really short because we used to practice this company front with a graduated horn line from sopranos down to Contra. We only had thirty two or four horns but you can't even see the Contra Bass Bells in this shot! How straight is that? Hey wait a minute - just started counting shadows - that probably just the soprano line going by. Puppet
  13. four snares, four tenors, four bass drums, four cymbals, four triple toms and four tymps. What was on Eric Perrilloux' mind!???? This was 1969.
  14. But wait. I mentioned something about that in another thread. Why I always liked the entire corps outfitted in the same style uniforms. Of course I prefer the Cadet style. But because of the way my mind works, I would just loved to have seen ALL of SCV decked out in those hot pants! What a Hoot! Puppet
  15. Ah Ha! Here are some of the young women from St. Rita's Color Guard at a rehearsal. I also found some individual shots of them I'll post throughout this thread. I really like a lot of the photos you all have posted. Keep 'em coming. Puppet
  16. From Michael Boo "I thought St Kevin's was from the Boston area????" You know, you could be right. But they, like the short lived Queensmen were such a huge force in the early sixties, it was like they from our back yard - 'Course my memory is suffering from a severe case of C.R.A.F.T.! Puppet
  17. Back in the day, this is how we learned our rep. Hy Dreitzer would play it and we would play it back. Section by section - these are the first sopranos - this would be tedious work on Hy's part, it had to be. But he also did an amazing thing - after we'd all learned our parts for a particular piece, he would let us - one by one over the course of the winter to stand in front of the horn line so we could hear the full arrangement it always stunned me how big we sounded - especially for a horn line that was only 28 strong. It was the lush stuff he always designed for the inner voices 2nd and 3rd sopranos, French horns, Mellophones and of course we had those huge Euphoniums. 8 of those played by the right guys could double the sound of any corps. And none of us we're even 17 yet. And I'm still looking for some shots of our Color Guard out of uniform - so to speak. Puppet
  18. Did someone say "The Best Drum Major Ever?" Her name was Maria Costa! Had the coolest uniform, too! What a commanding presence she was! Puppet
  19. I think, Mike that many Roman Catholic Church sponsored corps out grew their parishes. As I said in another thread, we were asked to leave St. Joseph because too many of the corps members were from outside of the neighborhood. I may have misspoke in that earlier post about why "St. Rita's Brassmen" became simply "The Brassmen" after '72 - my age out year. I have since heard that Father Schiraldi was sent to another parish and the new Monsignor was not - let us say - 'as dedicated' to drum corps. The corps I remember from the Tri State Area of New York City: (and I'm sure there were more) St. Rocco's St. Catherine's os Sienna Queensmen Our Lady of Loretta Our Lady Of Perpetual Health Ridgemen Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights The OLC Ramblers St. Lucy's Cadets St. Joseph's of Batavia Saint Kevin's Emerald Knights. Puppet
  20. And don't forget The Heart Fund Invitational. Plus, Evening With The Corps. I know, not a competition but it was a great pre-season venue Puppet
  21. 1969 and 1971. '69 Because it was the rebirth of our corps from St. Joseph Patron Cadets to St. Rita's Brassmen. We toured the mid west that year. Kenosha and Racine Wisconsin. Wow. Saw Anaheim for the first time. Wow! '71 Well A Standing Ovation in Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum is a good memory, wouldn't you say? It was like ten minutes long and proved to me that Carmen Cluna was indeed a genius. That was our Woodstock show and after the attack on the American Flag and the pyrotechnics and running off the stage, we played the reprise of the West Point Alma Mater from the wings and as they say: The crowd went wild. On the field at the Heart Fund Invitational for our first show the crowd, the judges and even we were amazed at our 2nd place finish. Moe Knox was there. Puppet
  22. Ahh - FUNDING! We paid no dues at St. Rita's and the church wouldn't allow us to run a Bingo on Church grounds. So we rented a real "bingo hall." It was a renovated Movie theater in a place called Ridgewood Queens and seated about 1,500 people. Every Thursday night that first winter, it was packed and we used the proceeds to outfit the corps, pay for our instruments and all new equipment and of course the new uniforms. Calling Bingo was my very first announcing gig. We who worked the Bingo took the responsibility very seriously - as you can see. LOL Puppet
  23. It's amazing, but going through my archives I can only find a few shots of our Color Guard young women and girls at rehearsals or traveling. I've got one great shot of (and we weren't allowed to admit to this at the time - there was a strict "no fraternization" rule!) my girl friend Joan, but I'm going to save that for later. But here's another shot of the horn line on the practice field. It was like 10 O'clock in the morning the day of a show in Long Island. We always got to shows really early and would find High School football fields to practice the drill. Of note: on the right is Ruben Ariola, an extraordinary Baritone player currently in the Bugler's Hall Of Fame. Puppet
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