TRacer

Wow, I don’t recall the Pacific Procession pants reveal. I thought they made us look visually cleaner which was borne out in the visual numbers at DATR. i need to check with JB; I thought he mentioned they had 6 in ‘82 and how they got stuck on the ends of the front in opener. This was during a break during RP rehearsal a million years ago. I had to play chrome DEGs in VF and they sucked from a balance perspective and in my view the silvers weren’t much better as I was battling shoulder issues since ‘82 (I had to take prescription anti inflammatories from 82-85 and hold my horn slightly clocked to keep my shoulder tendons from pinching under my collarbone.) I longed for the Ultratone I had at West Coast Express and the King I auditioned on with BD in Dec 1980 was a far superior instrument (too bad I lost my ride and didn’t have a car for monthly camps; it was a blast to play.) When I did the ‘07 Alumni gig I used my K80 euph.

As Sam knows I marched the Red Team in ‘84 that had our brass staff try something new and march only 4 lead baritones instead of the usual 6 to fatten up the bottom baritones. We went back to 6 in ‘85. Notes from that summer: — The white pants were debuted at DATR. We were already dressed “in the greens” and sequestered on the busses when GR’s voice came over the CB radio: “Change of plan— go with the white pants.” After a few seconds of stunned silence pandemonium ensued as we struggled to change in those confined quarters, but the atmosphere was one of exuberance. Contra Bob Benson (80-81 27th & 82 MBBB alum, 83 SCV) really got our bus’s juices flowing by bellowing (he was good at that) how we weren’t just going to wipe the field with Phantom, *everyone* was going down that night. Remember, all of the horses/super vets were off at Olympic Band that year, so it was “supposed” to be a down year with all the rookies (the average of the corps was just below 17.) Putting those pants 👖 on was utterly transformative, and the staff sensed it in the warmup arc. Despite taking 3rd in GE (PR was 1st in GE, then BD) and 2nd in Perc behind BD, we took Brass & Visual and the contest by 0.2. We only wore white pants at “big” shows like Whitewater and greens the rest of the time. — We marched only 4 mellophones, 2 came from the San Jose Raiders, one had marched ‘82 SCV lead sop but skipped ‘83, and the last was a 5-year lead sop/mello vet age out. All the wailing mellophone runs you hear at the end of opener on the Finals recording was written in secret by those guys who sprung it on us at a camp. — our silver DEG horns sucked. I got the same horn the next year; it became a duct tape special. We had “horn envy” every time we saw BD’s horns up close. — I mentioned we marched 4 lead baris. Unfortunately, this became a hinderance of sorts because the staff tried to stick to the original 70’s arrangement of opener that had leads doubling FH parts everywhere which wouldn’t have been a big deal for a BD lead. However, it became clear by June that only one of us could do it consistently day in/day out, so parts were changed. The next year the brilliant Mike Wessling came from Argonauts giving us two with very strong upper range, so we got the green light to double FH parts again in Festive Overture. — The Prelims Disaster: SCV gives away the title in an astounding lapse in elementary timekeeping. It was raining hard, yes. Back in those days it wasn’t uncommon to have staff carry powerful CB walkie talkies as ours did. We were standing in two lines under cover with Aussies on trying to wait out the rain, and I had the misfortune of being ten feet from a staff member with the radio. GR came on: ”Where ARE you???” Reply: ”We’re at (name of street)....over.” What followed was a banshee shriek from the radio. GR went utterly ballistic on the staff, so much so the one holding the radio turned white. We were supposed to have been at the gate 15 minutes prior, and now we were very very very late. Steve, an ‘82 baritone vet who had participated in the “Run Down the McGill University Ramp” when SCV was late to Prelims in ‘82, broke the silence: “Oh no....oh SH—!! Not AGAIN!!” A lot of us hadn’t marched SCV ‘82 but were in the stands at McGill that year and witnessed that run down the ramp, and we knew what he meant. It meant we were screwed with a capital S. We were still blocks from the gate. No white pants magic to “save” us. Everyone panicked, staff included. We “almost ran” as fast as our equipment allowed (poor contras!) to the gate and were out of breath when we got there. The gates were thrown open and in we went, all pell mell and spooked. I remember being two steps over the back sideline (baris and FHs formed the columns off the 50) when Brandt announced we had one minute. The audience could sense something was really wrong as well and the meek soprano entrance set the stage for that god awful performance. It was the worst show of the year for most of us and we lost Nationals then & there. The staff took full responsibility for the debacle and apologized to us when we got back to our housing site. Tim Salzmann brought us back from the abyss of despair with one of the best off-the-cuff motivational speeches, and we barely slept that night. “I am standing in front of the first drum corps that is going to go from 4th in Prelims to 1st at Finals,” and we believed every word. My understanding is that our last run through before Finals was considered far superior by parents and observers who were there versus our Finals run, and we kept it close. I always treasure my time in ‘84; the following year not so much.

Thank you for correcting me....my eyesight is not what it used to be so when I enlarged the image I could only see his SCVC patches and dates were murky. JW was close to a GR having marched under him in their dominant years.

Yes, I noticed Jeremy’s voice & eye contact took on a decided “edge” during his emphasis on the A and Cadet corps. Besides his professional accomplishments Mr. Van Wert wrote a book chronicling his time in SCV during the GR era and how it utterly transformed his life. This is well known in SCV circles, making the final shot with his jacket on all the more appropriate. Many alums from dinos to recent were alarmed at the prior talktrack not just from an organizational / directional perspective but in general. A number of longtime alums/volunteers walked; for me personally it was his use of the pronoun “I” when referring to SCV that I found particularly troubling (“I speak for....”) You may recall when DCI formed the task force awhile back that was tasked with formulating post C-19 solutions and strategy. SCV was not asked to participate in that endeavor.

I do; it’s in a safety deposit box. I used a Walkman with a stereo mic and high end Metal cassette tape; I’ve listened to it twice.

Yes...a lot of my 85 hornline colleagues aged out in 87 but surprisingly many want 85 back. I marched with one sop player 5 straight years over two corps; he and I are still fast friends and in his words “85 hurt way worse” because that was the last year of the “giga hornline vets” from the late 70’s.

I marched that show...I was the Last Man headed for the tunnel (you can even see the recording device I wore for a split second) and in the field closeup of the two baritone players during the push in Tenderland; I’m the skinny lead bari in glasses on the left and Vince Noble (RIP) who taught Cavies & SOA for many years is the euph on the right. Both of us aged out that night. Angelica was in the judges box on Finals night as a “guest” but not on the slate, and was “quite vocal” during our run per a stunned SCV staffperson in the back who witnessed it. Brandt announced the High CG Award winner wrong, which added insult to injury. GH had already let his kids know “great job but roses go to SCV”; I was on the very left edge of the retreat block when we turned to it play to GC a few feet away and many of them couldn’t look at us. Gail took the loss very hard, so much so he had infamous “red circle slash 85” T-shirts printed up the next summer. Fast forward to Denver Finals 2004...I was walking to the souvie area while wearing my jacket when a guy wearing a Boston jacket stopped me when he saw the Madison Finals patch on my sleeve. He first asked to shake my hand, then he unexpectedly hugged me. He said “those four words” in his Bahston accent, smiled and walked away. That was huge.

Probably the most thoughtful comment I’ve seen yet on this. Tying this back into the drum corps realm, my old corps (I keep forgetting my kid qualifies as an alum there too now ) recently posted a new profile photo on their FB page of the corps shield logo drenched in black with the script “V” forming the middle letter of “LiVes”. The result was incendiary from the membership, both current and former. One longtime corps vet alum who is now a longtime LEO tried to give his very balanced perspective, and he was summarily pounced upon by the “You are not of the Body of L’Andrew; you will be AB-sorb-ed!” camp. Others wanted a more moderate message using “all”. Still others wanted the corps to stay out and focus on survival. The curtain got pulled back on a lot of ugliness, and when combined with issues related to the ED topic which won’t be resolved anytime soon I will be surprised if the airplane can still be reused when it lands.

I’m on the FB page where the discussion took place since I’m an alum and the dialogue was certainly spirited.

I was really proud to learn that my son had listened to this tape while he was on tour with Blue Stars in 2019 (trumpet & “dogsled driver”).

You are correct; much of the internal SCV vet leadership (4-5-6-7 year members) took that summer off to do the Olympics, then came back to age out the following year. Pretty much all new blood came in, and GR & staff’s expectations were that the corps *might* place 5th *if* we were lucky (we were told this after we got back to our housing site after the disaster at Prelims) as the average age of the corps was just under 17, the youngest corps SCV had ever fielded. The sop soloist in On the Town was 16. Half our euph players were tenor sax guys from Independence HS who had never picked up a euph in their lives, that sort of thing. People who had marched elsewhere— no matter where, some us had seen 44th place— were looked to lead. If there was ever a “Band of Gypsies” in DC, we qualified. I think it’s been lost to history, but SCV (through Dave & GR) had been approached to participate in the ‘84 Olympics closing ceremonies and GR had accepted. The plan was to charter fly us from Atlanta to LA the week before Finals with our uniforms, silks and horns but no percussion. Premier already had an entire brand new set of drums & front ensemble equipment in LA waiting to go so transporting all that stuff was avoided. We’d do the gig, pack up and fly back to Atlanta in time back for Prelims. At least, that was the plan...until the USSR boycotted the ‘84 Games. When they did so it resulted in the Games’ timetable being complete revamped, closing ceremonies being shortened and our participation being cancelled. The Olympic Band went on. It was a huge let down, and that did motivate us. Gail kept a 12” model of a Boeing jet painted white with the SCV stripes & logo on his desk as a reminder. Sorry for the length.

“From Modesto, CA....Valley Bever!!” (Fans erupt using souvenir “noise clappers” shaped like beaver tails— whapwhapwhapwhapwhap!!!) Corps yell after “Ready, front!!” command prior to stepoff: “Dam it!!”

Most of us didn’t, “...but the (corps) played on” through the tears anyway. I made direct eye contact with a spectator in Row 3 and held his gaze for 8 solid counts during that push; he just went to pieces and nearly collapsed when he saw a skinny baritone playing ** to him **. We were playing so loud, I could see condensation coming out of the horn bells, mine included. The hardest part was the decrescendo and ending chord; if you listen closely you can hear some individuals’ tone wavering due to emotional overload. That moment was both magical and utterly emotionally draining, and when Tenderland was handed out to us again the following year a lot of us ‘84 folks had our reservations about our ability to recapture that magic and rightfully so, as in my view we didn’t.

I marched this show which had the hornline on the front sideline at the start and end of drum solo. I was a few steps away from the bells at the beginning (and end, since we had grounded the horns to do all the body movement) and you could hear the vibrato produced during the hand wave. The bell player went on to become an Emmy award winning TV director & Producer and the tymp player is the incomparable Martha who played tymps for SCV 84-85-86-87.

Yep, those in the FB Parents Group where my son is contracted for 2020 are anxiously waiting; keep in mind some of the parents are totally new to the activity. I texted my kid yesterday and we are in agreement where this season is headed.

As have I.

Thanks, I will. 🤙 My degree of participation extends to the 70s in one form or another (performer, parent, instructor, etc.) and I have information pipelines to the Januals as well. There’s also a 50% chance we have the same dominant hand. This “moral high ground post” is probably the “adult” post that was merited a few pages back.

I ain’t upset; you’re just adding to the DC generational divide.

This post probably did more to cement the notion that all drum corps boomers are ******* from the perspective of CMMs than anything I’ve ever read on this board. “YoU aRe YouNg aNd PunY! ShUt Up aNd LiStEn tO Me; mY WizDuM iZ BeTteR.” I DGAF about the opening “disclaimer” that attempts to whitewash it; it’s hard to believe the moderator let hubris & disrespect of that magnitude pass. As a drum corps boomer parent watching his 2020 WC Finalist / DCI Year 7 performer (2021 age out) currently work two jobs (thankfully no cutbacks yet) to make tuition happen they are very much aware of both the risks and the reality, especially since he attended a mid-March camp back East that wasn’t cancelled. For him & his CMM buddies it’s about safety.

Hopefully getting a good chunk of the tuition I’ve already paid refunded...........

Thanks for posting the video; I was able to spot my kid on the left in the trumpet section. They sound great!

My son is a returning member in 2020 and all he will say is that “expectations are higher for the hornline” under their new CH. My understanding is that one of their new brass members is coming all the way from Scandinavia, a nice geographic reach. 😎

Yes, I remember some of those CG gals at OHS! I was in KAC as well in the lead baritone section from 2005-2007 plus that last gig we did at Disneyland; I was also one of the visual guys. My then 6-year old came to our rehearsals a lot and his mom was in the French Horn section; she stood next to Bob Powers most of the time. I agree the experience was something to behold and frankly it was much more memorable to me than my age out year at SCV.

My son is returning to Blue Stars 2020 on trumpet (he was one of the trumpet dogsled drivers last year) and he is very excited following their January camp. Remember, new brass caption head with BD background.... As for my belated Xmas gift.... ”Feathers up!!” Versus ”Dude, does my purple hair color and eyeliner look okay?” 🙄 Crocker: “On the field, performing their 2020 program ‘The Apology’, DCI is proud to present....”

On a slight tangent, my son called me today on the way to RCC rehearsal as they have another upcoming gig where they’re going to be filmed for some TV show other. This is part of the band comprised of their most experienced members, most of whom are current OC/WC performers. Quick question for Greg-OC....nice avatar! I marched with some KM alumni at OHS back in the late 70’s just after OHS won MBA with screamer trumpet J.Hester who went on to BD. Did you happen to march with KAC 2005-2007 Pasadena?