Cadetsnare

Band director and percussion instructor...going on 15 years.

Standing in the endzone in 1990, as they were announcing 3rd place, and it wasn't us! Star was ferocious that year, and beat the snot out of us up until the end of July. And in second place.....looooooonnnnnnggggggg pause......the Cavaaaaaaiiiiiiigggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! On top of that, they announced the high drum trophy....and we hit the double crown! I didn't think we really could have pulled it off, but it was SUCH a moment in time, that I will NEVER forget it! Then...there's the food truck breakdowns...

1990, Birmingham, Alabama (the hottest place I can remember that summer)....we were in this place nicknamed "Blood Alley". There was a big crack house right on the street, and this place was known for its drive-by shootings. 10 snares. 5 tenors, 5 basses, and 5 cymbals. 8 on a hand....LOUD! This cop rolls up and says "I would get out of here, if I were you!" IIRC, a girl from another corps was attacked there that day (the Troopers?) Anyone here recall if that was the case?

Yup! :) I'm 37 now, but I still have my drumming hands. Not my 19 year old hands, but I still practice every day at least 45 mins to 1 hour. I stopped drumming every day around 2000/2001, but it was getting veeerrrryyy ugly....so, I started to get back on track. 89 was a year that was very chop-heavy. There was a paradiddle-diddle section in the opener that was darn-near impossible....about 9 measures of paradiddle-diddles with odd accents on both left and right at 152....I still shake my head and laugh at that part...one of those sections that should never have been written and played, but it was! The section leader, Willy Higgins, was the snare tech from 1990 to 1998....just a MONSTER teacher, and a great leader. Marched 84-89 (minus 85), and epitomized the "Garfield Standard"...virtually never ticked, and was SUCH a great example! Thanks for the love, MJN!

Yeah, that's 85...black Premiers. Back to 89...if that line was put in a time machine today (with a different vis program)...would they be the "cat's a**"? I believe today, field judges are more forgiving today....I truly believe if that line was competing today, it would be lights out. Thoughts??

All I have to say about this entire situation is <**> . Completely weak. This thread should be stickied.

Is that guy on the far right of the snare line using A FLIP FOLDER??????? AAAAAIIIIIGGGGGHHHHHH!! (or do my eyes decieve me?)

I know madison would have rather been higher, but I saw them early season when I was on tour with the Colts. They were ROUGH! For them to go from where they were to now says a LOT about the kids and the staff. Good for them!

Dave, PM me your mailing address, and I'll see if I can dig that stuff out. Also, yeah, we tried to go a good distance for warmups, usually, as I recall. Don't know why! Yes, I ment Larry Cohen..my bad! I remember those glasses following him through the different corps he marched in. He was instantly recognizable! I think the only time we saw you guys in 90 was at Endicott NY before finals. Bummah! I'll go digging through my stuff today to see what other little "gems" I can find!

Yo Dave, I'm still drumming a lot...trying not to get "age-out hands" too badly! I spent some weeks on the road with the Colts this year. Tyler Dempsey's the caption head (an old student of mine from the Bluecoats, and a great guy, as well), and took some time off this summer, so I stepped in and helped out. Got my Master's in percussion and electric/acoustic bass performance, so I'm playing bass a bunch, as well. I'm also writing for the UMass marimba band. They're featured on the Vic Firth site quite often. Anyway, back to 89! Somewhere, in a box behind me (my office is built onto the garage), I have the scores to that show. If I can find it, I'd be glad to let anyone who wanted a copy have one. No computer, no Virtual Drumline....just a bunch of pages black with notes! Fun sightreading...NOT! I remember a point in the season in Bloomington at DCI-Mid America; we actually won the show, but we had 6 or 7 tenths of a penalty bacause the show was over 14 minutes long!!! We were WAAAAYYYYY overtime! The competition was stacked pretty tight, as I recall, with the top 5 corps scoring about a tenth or two apart! Anyway, we "won" the show, but ended up in 4th or 5th due to the penalty. Needless to say, the cuts were in over the next couple of days! I remember Larry Cauley (former Bridgemen, 27th, current 89 BD snare drummer) coming and watching the warmup....when was the last time before then that a guy from BD came to a Cadets lot warmup?? He was so gracious and genuine. That really stuck with me...no egos, no rivalry. Just a great-hearted guy who was very complimentary. He probably wouldn't remember, but it meant a lot to me to have him checking us out.

Oops...double post! (Gotta lay off the Chardonnay!)

Oh, and BTW...Bullethead (which I was the ORIGINAL Bullethead, thank you..) is Clark Gardner, center snare for Star 93, and long-running snare slug in the Sky Ryders....another mean mother-fu**er in the halls of DCI History!

Can you imagine today if you had Hannum, Jimmer, Donnie VanD, Sylvester, April G, Cesario, and Klesch back together again? It would be RIDICULOUS!!!! For an all-star group, you'd have to add in Gino, Float, McNutt, Crosby, Neil Larrivee, Joe Roche, and a few other characters. DCI would'nt know what hit 'em! Oh and yes...Zingali's last year was 88, but he came back a few times in 89 and 90 to consult...a GREAT memory! And for anyone that doesn't know, Dave H was a snare drummer in BD 90, as well as the Sancians from Massachusetts. A GREAT player with a killer touch, as well as SSMRR (aka Scott Clark the Mad Dog, married to Sue, who also marched 87-92, as well as the 27th Lancer Cadets), who was one of the longest running Cadet snare drummers in recent history, with a left hand like a jackhammer! Props to you guys for being parts of legendary programs! Man, there are some great folks on here!

Hey Dave, Good to hear from you over here....I try to stick to this forum as the others can get a bit.....heated. 1990 Blue Devils, goes down, as far as I'm concerned, as one of the great drumlines in history that got black-balled finals week. I'm very proud of having won drums and DCI that year; don't get me wrong. But if BD had won? I'd have had NO problem with that! I remember seeing BD for the first time ever in 90. It was the last show of the year before finals in Endicott, NY. You were staying at the show site, and we rolled up just as you guys were about to do your final run through. I remember looking at Lee Beddis, mid-run (right about the time you guys were doing the tom/cymbal thing up front), and saying. "We're toast!" That line had chops to spare, and clean, clean, clean! If all things were right in the universe, we should have taken percussion in 89, and BD in 90. B)

This situation with the San Diego show is par for the course....they still owe staff members money from 06. Completely unexcusable. I was on the phone with Crown's tour director after making about 12 calls to different principals in the San Diego/Temecula area trying to find housing for them. I'm glad it worked out for them, but why isn't this handled on the show sponsor's end? Weak sauce.

Actually, 90 WAS a very good drumline....AT THE END. We really had some crazy staging stuff in the closer that was a challenge that we never really handled well until DCSouth in Birmingham. The last couple of weeks...it was ON. It didn't have the raw insanity of 89 when we just played a BAG of notes...90 was much more subtle, with LOTS of expressive phrasing going on, and a very well crafted musical book. SSMRR was in the snareline (Scott Clark)...he can probably add a bit more insight to 90. Regarding Mike D'Angelo...he WAS completely out of position the whole show...back by the plates and behind the bass drums (who were excellent, BTW). I just remember hearing the final number we got and went, "HUH??!!??" Bradrick, Thanks for the props on that 89 ending...I think it WAS a different ending every time we went to a major show. I used to have a sig at the bottom of my profile that said "Mark Sylvester, any year..."Last ending; I PROMISE! (take 12)"!

Man, it seemed like 100 or so! The version on the video was learned on Wednesday, the day before quarters! :sshh: I legitimately think it was around 11 or so endings. We even had one where the final picture was of Cosette's (from the musical) face! We had the peace sign, one where the entire corps "boxed" the field like Suncoast '88...memory's getting fuzzy! All I know is we rehearsed on Wednesday for literally 17 hours, with VERY few breaks. I saw the Cadets rehearse in Portland....things were VERY different "back in the day" regarding rehearsals...they actually let the kids drink water now, and end rehearsal when they say they will....crazy! :P

Well, I was there. The drum book is still, without a doubt, one of the hippest drum books ever, and the numbers finals week didn't line up with the rest of the season. We were getting 14.8s and several 14.9s 2 weeks before finals, and we were simply destroying everyone in drums up to the week of finals. What happened? I don't know. W certainly played our tails off finals week, and the numbers didn't reflect it. It's okay...at least people remember that year as being a benchmark year for percussion! I can tell you that the horn score was based off of GE and emotion, and that the technical aspect of the book people hear on the video is because the book was hosed down to the nub. That was NOT a strong hornline, but they definitely did play emotionally...it came across for sure. I think it could be done, but it would have to be written in a fashion that would display more technical brilliance. I think Jay Bocook could make it work, if anyone could!

It's like one of those "happy spots" after sex....you guys know what I mean! Post-Playtime-kind-o-pic!!!! ....Oops....was that my outside voice? Uh-oh! :P

Scott and Sue, Congrats! Which daughter did this? Was it Madison or Riley? How old are they now? Once again, congrats! That is SO cool!

As of right now, they don't have a housing site! I have been in close contact with the tour director, trying to secure housing for them. I've been calling all of the high schools in the Beaverton/Hillsboro area. No one, as of now, can house them, because many of the schools in Beaverton are refinishing their gym floors, and I am waiting on calls from the Hillsboro school district. As soon as I hear something back, I'll post here.

Here's one of 91.... Here's one of the drum line and guard being "Dancin' Fools" in 1990! Here's one showing a few quads we used in 91! (15, to be exact!) Here's one of the infamous 89 Cadets drumline...love the vinyl "diner-style" covers! 89 Finals week...one pic where the judge actually WAS in position! Somewhere in the US...1989 drumline! Making noises under a tree somewhere in 89...I'm the poor schmuck who's changing his head! The ultra-blonde guy in the snareline is Willy Higgins...snare tech from 1990-1998. A BAD-A** drummer! The guy on the left is Scott Clark, who really was one of the best snare drummers in DCI ever...no exaggeration! His left hand was a trip-hammer, and totally consistent! He is the one who owns all these shots...I'm just boosting them from the YEA site! A BIG thanks to Scott and Sue Clark, who marched 87-92! (Not bad years! b**bs )

Here are a few more (courtesy of Scott and Sue Clark, via the Cadets alumni site) 1990 rehearsal for Allentown. That's Sue in the foreground, and the snare line zippin' on by in the background! And here's the Championship encore from 1987...how's THIS for a rare picture? Hopefully, more to come!

Nope...that'd be Scott Clark. He's the guy on the other side of Lee. I'm Matt....

I taught the Colts for a couple of weeks this summer, filling in for the vacationing percussion caption head. That is one classy group of kids! The corps, top to bottom, is so well run, it's unbelieveable. I really had a great time, and the rest of the drum staff kept me laughing the whole time....lots o' fun! I was there during their "change camp", and came up with the idea of the "lightning and thunder" sequence on the concert tome and bass drums right before the Batok....I only saw it a day or so before I had to go home. Anyway, looking forward to seeing it in Pasadena!