ajlisko

Seems like a couple of names and times have to be straightened out ... Nick Adcock from Kingston is listed twice in the snare category, Jack Murray and Joe Fontana are on snare at 6:00 in the Convention Center and then at 6:07 as a duet out on Main St. - the same time posted for Kyle from Chops ... LOL ... pretty compact schedule ... best of luck to all the participants ... To Vic: don't worry - one thing Fast Frankie won't do is run over into your time slot ... HAHA ... Andy

Tom, Maybe you could partner up with the Jr. Corps from Brooklyn (Quest?) to showcase some of their I&E talent in between corps ... might give them good exposure and further the growth of drum corps in Brooklyn ... just a tought ... Andy

I can see Mario's influence on the article but, I must tip my hat to John Keays for his in-depth insight to some of the characters mentioned in the piece. I've seen several musings by John and Mario before, and the combination of both their talents sends a powerful vision in words. I've had the opportunity to meet and/or march with almost each and every character cited, enjoying close relationships with many. They were my battle field comrades ... and I would not hesitate going to war with them. In documenting Skyliner lore, my abilities lean towards poetry instead of prose. I can definitely appreciate the detail and authenticity that went into each and every word scribed by John and Mario. BRAVO! Andy "just another old Skyliner" Lisko

... Reading, Grand Prix (Clifton), Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, ALTOONA!!!!, Hershey, Carlisle, Hempstead, Amherst ... C'mon ... fill in the blanks ... :-) Andy "I was at the first Mt. Carmel show" Lisko

Here's the Link: Plymouth MA Alumni Show Andy

... and what about THOSE TWINS that played tymp? ... magnifique!!! :-)

Fear not little one ... I'll still luv ya ... no yapper comments from here ... great shots of Opti, Kevin's, et al ... :-)

Now, this is an excellent suggestion ... the original DCN articles on the formation of DCA can be found on NanciD's Historical Site and a link could be provided to the DCA Championship scoring history on corpsreps.com Wadda ya say Glen? Got time for some updates when the season is over? Andy

Right ... 1964 was the first year of competition for the original DCA members: Sky, Hurcs, Reading, Yankee Rebels, I-men, Archie and Pittsburgh Rockets. There was no Championship show in 1964 ... the slate of DCA members stayed the same for 1965 with the Championship show being held in Milford, CT with Reading the winner: Saturday September 11, 1965 Milford CT DCA Championships STADIUM: Jonathan Law Field DCA Pos Corps Score 1 Reading Buccaneers 84.500 2 Connecticut Hurricanes 84.360 3 New York Skyliners 83.160 4 Yankee Rebels 80.250 5 Interstatesmen 79.950 6 Pittsburgh Rockets 76.950 The next two years (66 & 67) saw the Championship held at Kennedy Stadium in Bridgeport, CT ... then they moved to Rochester for what seemed an eternity from 68-76 (with the exception of 72). Andy

Correct, Duke ... an anonymous fan last year donated $10,000 in prize money to be disbursed as the "Pepe Notaro Entertainment Award" ... the three top Alumni Corps vote getters and one over-all competing corps were to be awarded significant cash prizes. Bayonne, Cabs Alumni and Scout House were the Alumni winners and I can't remember what competing corps won the prize. Voting was done by submitting a ballot contained in the DCA Championship Program book ... many (including my self) felt it was a misguided effort by the donor ... I have been a part of the Alumni movement since 1994 and have to agree with all those who say that, while the competitive juices are present through one's involvement with their corps, performers care about how their corps' performance is received and not how it stacks up against someone else's show ... as far as I know, the "Pepe" Award was a one-shot deal and was actually proposed to the DCA just a short time before the Championship weekend ... let's hope that if a philanthropist wants to donate money, it's shared equally among all performers ... knowing Pepe, that really would have made him smile ... Andy

This should be a spectacular category as it has been since I&E inception ...Sky's Alumni will be well represented as well with former I&E Snare Champs: Shirley Temple, Fast Frankie and Captain Jack ... along with a slew of other top 10 finishers over the years such as Fontana, Javier, Kyle and Freddie ... should be a slam bam affair ... good luck to all the entrants!!! Andy "just a memory from the 60's I&E circuit" Lisko

I was dead wrong on the Norwood Debs ... there's a few shot of them on corpsreps.com from the 60's ... Oh well ... back to the searches ... :-)

Park City Pride ... combined Alumni Corps from bridgeport, CT ... PCP Website Andy

Yup ... Jack of Spades is Lucy's alright ... no clue on the others, although the all girl corps could be the Vacationland Sweethearts Andy

Okay ... 10 of Spades is the New York Kingsmen as they appeared at Symphony Hall (girls in the guard and the 2nd snare in is Whitey, who also used to march with the Woodsiders) ... the 6 of Spades is the definitely the Trumbull Troubadors - the same pic is on PCP's 'memories' page. No clue at to who the 7 of Hearts is ... the 9 of Hearts looks like the Norwood Debonnaires ... Andy

Hmmm ... the Matadors grew out of the Holy Rosary Caballeros - a Yankee Circuit corps of the 60's but, I don't think they were ever a Junior corps (the card suit he's looking at are Eastern Junior corps) ... anyway to post the pics on here so we could have a look at them? ... faded and all? Andy

Pending on what year the pics were taken, and knowing they're Eastern Junior Corps, here's some other possibilities for the "floppy" Spanish hat: 1) New York Kingsmen (66-67-68), Trumbull Troubadors (65-??) ... Andy

Elphaba, you seem to also have a rich, deep dc history ... what corps did you march with? Andy St. Raphael's/Bpt.PAL 58-68 NY Skyliners 69-81 Sky Alumni 94-06

Flag penalty would be my guess ... fairly common in those days along with sideline violations ... 1964 was the final surge of greatness for St. Kevin's ... huge staff changes made the early season painful for them ... then something kicked into high gear around the Dream and they were a force throughout all the national shows ... Boston did the exact opposite ... had only lost one show prior to the nationals (to the Bpt. PAL) ... went on an extended midwest tour and demolished the Cavies, Royal Airs, Kilties, etc ... and then never got the benefit of the doubt at nats ... kind of like Blue Rock in 70 and 71 ... unbeatable before and after nats but, not at them ... go figure ... Anyway, for my money the 60's were 'da bomb, with 66 being the pinnacle (IMO) ... each year offered a true array of competitive talent at the VFW, WO, Dream, CYO and AL nats ... even some new shows popped up like the US Open in 68 ... (I actually thought the first one was in 66 with St. Lucy's winning it but, can't find documentation anywhere) ... oh well ... it was only 40 years ago - right? Maybe it's time for a 60's National Junior Revival Reunion (ala GAS) at the next VFW Convention ... they still have those? ... if not we could do it at the Elks Parade or Jersey States in Wildwood - their Mayor is very Drum Corps friendly ... LOL ... hell ... there's certainly enough Alumni Associations out there to put a party together!!! Andy " I want to relive the 60's again" Lisko

Nope ... first saw them do an exhibition in 60 at the Buc's show in Hedges Stadium where they were simply incredible ... Winky became my instant hero ... I think the show that totally stunned me though was Sky at the 63 Carnegie Hall ... when they unveiled Miserlou, I knew exactly who I would be marching with when my Junior career was over ... like you with the Hurcs, I am a Lifetime Member of the Skyliners ... can't quit ... can't get thrown out ... Andy "I actually grew up in the North End" Lisko

Different day ... different set of judges ... different sheets for each show ... Tony Scheltka's 'favorites' ... Ray Samora's 'favorites' ... afternoon 'short' shows vs. evening 'full' shows ... it was a wild and wooly set of championship shows ... I seem to remember having to change quite a few things from the VFW to WO ... I honestly don't remember St. Joe's being a factor in the WO prelims ... not even sure when they went on ... I remember Garfield adding some 'floater' squads at the WO ... they wouldn't have even made finals at the VFW if not for an error in their M&M tabulation ... Kilties got a rude awakening in Bridgeport after their victory in Cleveland ... LOL ... Chicago was simply stunning at the WO finals ... I can still hear the strains of 'Somewhere' ... BS was no slouch either as they outpointed St. Kevin's, Royal Airs and Boston ... I actually thought Boston should have been 3rd ... St. Lucy's really took it on the chin at both VFW and WO finals ... Vasella's finest hour at the VFW prelims ... never found out why they skipped the WO ... those three years 64-65-66 created some of the best national competitions for the 60's ... despite all the inconsistencies, it really was a great time in Junior drum corps ... 'any given day' pervailed and corps beat each other back-and-forth at will ... many juniors 'made their bones' throughout that 64 season ... it was the first showing of vulnerability from the top rung corps ... I can only imagine how topsy turvy things would have been if the Queensmen, Loretto, Cambridge, St. Vinnie's and others that bowed out in 62-63 had still been around for 64 ... YEOW!!!! Andy "how'd they beat them???" Lisko

Because a 'new name' corps rarely succeeds. Park City Pride, which I was involved with at its inception, is an exception to the rule. Originally organized as a 'one time' performance corps, they decided to go the long-term route and have found success along the way in the Alumni arena ... dubbed as 'A Combined Alumni Corps', their members represent about a dozen (or more) CT based Jr. corps of the 60's ... they even have a FL contingent that files up for shows ... the concept from the get-go was to attract as many players as possible to form a large (very large) pool of talent ... I never anticipated that the majority of them would stick around years later ... kudos to them ... they are reliving their youth and loving it ... Sky's Alumni, which I was also involved with from the get-go always had an open door policy for anyone who wanted to experience playing NY's music ... why? ... because there were so many individuals who, for one reason or another, just couldn't do it earlier in life ... this is now their opportunity to experience playing charts by Hy, Eric and Wes and experiencing first hand that special crowd reaction to Sky's music from an era they can identify with ... even with an open door policy, the first few years were VERY rough ... then things picked up steam in 98 and the current nucleus is a pretty gifted set of players ... an interesting note: Sky's Alumni was originally call 'The Grand Street Boys' - named after one of the Jr. corps that became the Skyliners after WWII ... we struggled through 94 and 95 with about 15 horns and four drums ... got permission from the Garbarina-Mazarokos Post to call ourselves the NY Slyliners Alumni in 96 and grew from there ... it's a long, arduous process ... full of expansions and contractions ... wrought with joy and stress ... we just don't have to worry about competing ... only the performance ... So ... what's in a name? ... a lot ... what's in an identity? ... a lot ... If you do get a Renegade Alumni off the ground, I wish you a lot of success ...maybe you could invite the Boston Renegades from the 70's to join your ranks ... how sweet would that be? Andy

Not necessarily ... Sky's Alumni has played tunes from the 60's, 70's and 80's over the past 10 years ... Keith Markey (sp) even wrote a special 'soft' tune from Schindler's List for us prior to his passing ... it depends on the corps' makeup for any given year ... while our main focus is on numbers arranged by Hy, consideration has been given to those written by Pearson, Kirshner and Lutz but, we just didn't have the right instrumentation (especially for numbers requiring heavy pit and tuned bass support) ... even this year's opening segment of Charlie Welsh followed by Columbia is a severe challenge to the lead line ... just as numbers like Miserlou and Aquarius would put an equal strain on the midrange voices ... to be honest, we haven't even made a dent into the wonderful portfolio of arrangements penned by Hy over his 30 years with Sky ... plus ... corps like Baltimore, St. Joe's, Archie, BS and others never made it past the 70's or early 80's ... all have studied and explored what works best for them - and a BIG part of their repertoires consist of numbers played by THEM on the field ... now ... as newer generation Alumni groups are formed, they'll have to decide what numbers from the 80's, 90's and th 00's suit their talent make up ... Andy

Fran, We've only met a few times throughout our drum corps careers but, I have come to realize the impact that you and Barbara have on this community ... the Power of Prayer being offered up by so many is indeed real and can provide the miracle you are seeking ... never give up faith ... never give up hope ... never give up ... Andy

Hey, Duke! ... there was another time we did a 'break ranks' move and it happened right on the field at retreat ... I think it was in 67 or 68 ... can't remember the show but, after all the corps had marched on for retreat, the judges realized they had put us in the wrong slot ... instead of backing out and marching around the corps next to us (I think it was Baltimore), Winky barked out a RIGHT FACE - FORWARD MARCH and we meshed right through them form one side to the other ... the crowd absolutely ate it up ... I think the rest of the corps standing there cheered us on in rowdy fashion ... too funny ... Andy