B1G-G

Also the Chicago Royal Airs got their uniforms from the old disbanded Belmont Grenadiers

The term "Mighty St Joes."" was that of St Joes of Newark. They were started in 1947 and were nicknamed the" Mighty St Joes" ,also called the "Robots"and the "Hilltoppers". In 1954 St Joes as well as St Vincents ,Holy Name ,and Blessed Sac were beating each other each weekend. Somehow Blessed Sac won Nationals (their first) but lost to St joes more times than they did beating them during the season. St Joes of Newark were pretty much gone by the mid 50"s Bativa St Joes have been arround since 1931 as a choir and a fife and drumcorps. IN 1951 they organized into a parade Drum and Bugle corps. In 1959 they became a competitive field corps. People just started to take the" Mighty St Joes" name and used it for them. To add more confusion there was also a Senior Corps arround that time in the late 50's called the "Jersey Joes" .

Sorry Mike D, I did look at your sig but thought the Livingston Corps were bands, sorry ,my ignorance. I apologize. This post was if corps could survive with local talent? My post was comparing the corps of that era (late 50's early 60's) that were mostly of local talent. Corps members represented neighborhoods,ethnic groops ,Boy Scout troops,cities,sections of cities...Members were not necessarily mobile. There were some movement of members from corps to corps but peer pressure and the need for "releases " was a stabilizing factor for most corps. The question of this whole post was that of ...LOCAL TALENT. The norm was 33 horn line, 9 men drum lines. Gas was cheap, equipment was reasonable, staffs were small,music played was quite simple, large numbers of babyboomers provided easy recruiting.... Just about anyone could put a groop like that together. ........Well ,it was" local talent"....... that era ended way before any beginings of DCI. The passion I refered to has nothing to do with the passion of todays corps. Todays corps have probably more passion than we did. I was refering to the passion that Martybuc and I still have for that style even today. You cant compare DC of that generation with the talent of todays corps...I am not trying to. I am not trying to preach to anyone about the merits of that era...... I just enjoyed it. To the question "could corps survive in todays" buisness model "of a Drum Corps with local talent? I dont thik so.

MartyBuc....you did an excellent job of expressing it . You are comparing apples to oranges. Mike cant understand because he only goes back to 1971. He would have had to be there in the early and mid 1960's to really understand what DC was really was like. (actually the 50's would be even better) Mike defines DC through his experince and cant see what the" old foges" are talking about............ I always liken the DC experince like a train ride. I guess you (and I ) have been riding the train longer. We see people (like Mike)getting on and off the train and they dont realize the the train was traveling long before they steped on. But Mike still has an opinion ....its just he will never understand your passion.

I miss the full drumcorps season in the Midwest......started on Memorial day in Kenosha WI and ended on Labor Day in Janesville WI. Regular annual contests in Cederburg, Appleton, Horricon, South Milwaukee, Plymouth, Memoninee MI, Madison, La Crosse, Stillwater Mn ,Momence Ill,Main East HS, Rockford Ill...etc ....and probably the best show of the season was the 3rd July show in Racine WI (useually the best Midwest line-up of Corps that were required to march Racines 4th of July Parade....What a great Parade .There was a contest (or two) every weekend Every once in a while we would get Garfield or Blessed Sac swing through on tour. A real treat. ...............................Ahhhh the 50's and 60's a great time to be alive!!

Sounds like a great show. Good luck this year.

I remember two corps playing the same song(Procession of the Nobels) off the line in 1968. One from the West coast(SCV) and one from the East coast (The Sunrisers ) That was a tough chart to play and both Corps played it great. I doubt either Corps knew the other was playing the same song until the season was started.

Some ones from the old drumlines: roll-off streetbeat sticking from the drills : ready line inspection line endline floaters from parades: reviewing stand

that was a great clip.....Frank shows the old time passion . unfortinuatly that era is gone. Lost is the small 30 horn 9 man drum line that was so the norm then. Lost is the PAL and the CYO and parocial schools. Lost are the ethnic neiborhoods that made up the corps membership. When I sit in the stands and try to explain how it was to DCI fans ...they look at me like I m nuts. I cant argue that the present DCI corps are so much more superior but I still love watch the alumni corps "march off the line". It can send a chill up my spine. Listening to the clip ....that drum solo sure sounded like SAC's really great!

WISH YOU GUYS (ST KEVINS) WOULD SHOW UP AT DCA AT THE ALUMNI SHOW OVER LABOR DAY. WHAT A GREAT CORPS! BUT I THINK MOST OF THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS ARE GETTING LONG IN THE TOOTH BY NOW.

I THINK THEY BOTH STARTED IN 1927. ACTUALLY IF YOU USED THE CRITERIA THE GOVERNORS USED OF TRACING THEIR BEGINING THROUGH FOUR DIFERENT DRUM CORPS . THE RACINE SCOUTS WOULD BE OLDER BECAUSE THEY STARTED AS A CONSOLIDATION OF ALL THE BOYSCOUT DRUM CORPS IN RACINE(AT LEAST 5) . I THINK THE BOYSCOUT TROUP DC FROM. ST ROSE WAS IN EXISTANCE SINCE 1922

I have been going to Drum Corps shows for over 55 years. What is sad is in the last 20 years I see a lot of very talented kids in the stands as" fans" of drum corps and not "members". They want to be in a top 10 drum corps but not in any division III corps. Its all or nothing . Maybe they dont want to make the commitment. Maybe they cant make the cut to get in. Maybe there are not enough Division I Corps to go arround. The activity has gotten so competitive and specialized that no one wants to be associated with a small corp anymore. The Division I Corps are too expensive to maintain that it is impossible for any organization to start one up compared to 50 years ago when any CYO, Boy Scout Organization,Boys and Girls,PAL...etc.could start one up and compete almost immediately. When you want to single out any Corps that shouldn't have been on the field.... I think ....well no wonder all these band kids are fans and not marching members the attitude is so critical that it would destroy thier self esteem. The activity has evolved so much that it is putting itself out of buisness. I guess I blame DCI for this.

I marched in the late 50's living in Racine WI. Loved to watch the Macy's parade ...got my fill of Eastern Corps since few made trips to the midwest shows. I remember seeing Blessed Sac.,Garfield,St Kevins, Boston Crusaders a number of times. Also Hawthorne,Skyliners and Rielly Raiders. It was a real treat. You never knew who was going to show up each year. Later in the mid 60's I also saw the 27th Lancers,Muchachos and St Joes do that parade. In 1967 or1968 the Racine Scouts did the Macy's Parade.... one of the few times a midwest corps made the trip.

Frank Vincent who played Phil Leotardo in "Sopranos" played snare drum in a jersy Corps Ed Mc Mann ....Jonny Carson' s straight man on the "Tonight Show" played Barri in Gafield in the 40's