buster gazzara

drum & bugle corps died when there were no more bugles, when marching became dancing, when uniforms became costumes, when band people who were jealous of our precision and discipline and our corps spirit slowly but surely wormed their way in, when members started wearing leotards & make-up, when drumline& hornline instructors became staff, when marching and maneuvering was no longer a caption , when corps members were no longer from the town or city in the title of their corps names and we all grew up together and were/ are brothers and sisters for life, when we would defend the honor of our beloved corps both on and off the field, when judges were all over us on the field looking for the slightest mistake not just giving opinions, when a corps could start the season on the bottom and work it's way to the top and not be SLOTTED, when corps members stayed corps members for life and not jumping from one corps to another. Trumpets, tubas, now slide trombones, electronic synthesizers, props, singing, what the hell is next? look i'm not questioning the musical artistic talent of the people involved in what is loosely called drum corps. It;s simply not drum & bugle corps. and the letters D. C.I . to me do not stand for Drum Corps International. they stand for Dance Company INTERNATIONAL. And they are not Drum Corps- They are BRASS BANDS,period! You know what bothers me most is why couldn't they leave it alone and let it keep progressing along as it was? When i listen to the incredible shows that the corps like The Brassmen , The Santa Clara Vanaguard, Chicago, Garfield, The Blue Devils, and so many more put on the field i'm at a loss at why anyone would mess that up. I would put the talent of the top Drum & Bugle Corps from the 70's-80's& 90's against anything in modern so called drum-corps today. Can anyone out there remember the incredible precision of a twelve plus rifle line? The entire Guard in total perfect movement, not jumping and prancing around. Drumlines playing incredibly difficult books not just continuous 32nd note rolls and mile high double stops by 16 snares for visual effect? And the hornlines back then (all bugles) were more powerful and could go toe to toe with anything out there today! There's more that was lost with the death of Drum& Bugle Corps! probably the worst is that these kids don't hang together like we did. I was in one of the oldest Corps . Still active today. But the young folks in the corps now come from all over the country, the world actually. They don't hang together all year long like we did. They work extremely hard during the season together,, then it's off to school til next year and maybe even another Corps because it has a better chance of winning. Lastly i want to say that in no way did i mean to be insulting. my point is simply that Drum& Bugle Corps died a long time ago. And to anyone who marched in Drum& Bugle Corps back in my day,(60's-70's), the attitude was the same as a boxer about an opponent in the ring, that's how i(we) felt about the Corps we were competing against on the field. But there was always respect and the knowledge that we were part of something quite special.DRUM & BUGLE CORPS. It was an honor ! So no, Drum & Bugle Corps did not evolve,it died a long time ago!