MiamiSun76
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Posts posted by MiamiSun76
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Now the scary part abut their visual staff in 99 was that it was mostly only three guys that toured all summer. There were some weekend warriors but for the most part it was Joey Wever, Jon Bay, and Rouland Charles teaching visual.
The big change came after 2002 when everything changed except for a few brass and visual staff. After 2002 the percussion, guard , program coordinators all left and that bought the change and was part of the reason as to why they fell out of the top 12 in 2003.
Shannon
No. The real scary part of the '99 show was the young lady on sabre who ran through the closing triangle. She looked like she really, really meant every bit of the chopping moves she did. It still scares my 11 year old when she watches the DVD. b**bs
I will always defend the 2003 program, as it's the one that finally made me hop on the booster bandwagon. I saw the show early in Allentown and several times through the season. Having friends who are pretty old school, you wouldn't believe the comments I heard. In retrospect, it probably was the culmination of the "boring" years. However, in Orlando, the kids executed it like a Swiss watch; particularly in quarterfinals. It's still my favorite show to watch even though I have to watch it on video.
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Was Linda Hoffman the DM for the 1979 Florida Vanguards?
I'm sure she'd be flattered, but I believe 1967 was her only year as DM and the year we graduated from high school :)
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I don't think there's any question that having Sal Salas back is a huge plus for the Glassmen. IMO, if the Gmen want to climb back into the fray, they need a long term commitment to developing a brassline that can play. Top 5 is pretty much out of the question anymore unless you have a top shelf brass program. Things have changed since 01. You now have corps like Crown and BK lurking out there that have solid lines too. Maybe some of the old Madison brass staff that Sal brought with him will help.
I think it's been a matter of transition to a different brass program and the maturing of the line. Last year the Robert W. Smith sound came into its own. Now let's see what they do with it.
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Blue Stars and Glassmen both in Indianapolis this weekend, eh? Maybe we can go old school and have a Memorial Day weekend season preview show.
Well, you CAN catch the GLASSMEN on Sunday afternoon at their spring Showcase at the Maumee Performing Arts Center.
The details that I have for the 500 parade is that the GLASSMEN are leading it. My local cable shows it starting on ESPN2 @ 5:30 (EDT). I'll hopefully be in Maumee by then.
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Those G-men drumlines from back then--WOW! I have a couple of in the lot audio clips from DrumlineParkingLot.net before they went down. 98 and 99 lines were amazing!
The 03 line was pretty good too. I really enjoyed watching the quarterfinals performance with the person who taught me to drum. How long was that roll anyway...................?
Other than that, I'll stay out of this due to an obvious bias, however my cat really is named Prince Igor (actually Prince Igor II).
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With the Miami Vanguards, two DMs come to mind. 1st was Rob Wessman, brother of Jo who took the Wave to great success decades later and Linda Hoffman, who was our 1st female DM and a high school classmate.
The Sunrisers had the inimitable Tom Hart.
Probably my favorite of them all, though was Bill Toomey with the Reilly alumni. Bill was raised to be a Reilly drum major, his father had been guard captain of the corps for many years and his Godfather was the master of all showmen: Bill Hooton.
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Yeah...I just finished watching them. It appeared they were having trouble hearing each other though. Could have been because the basses were on the second floor. I thought if they could have just set up in an arc, they would have been cleaner. But, like you said, they appeared to be having fun and I hope they got paid well.
Sorry I missed them. I'm looking forward to the Glassmen leading the Indy 500 parade on ESPN though.
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Boston's 1969 version tops my list, too. Jim Centerino on the soprano solo!
DCA's Sunrisers did a pretty good job with "Conquest" for their opener in 1968.
Fran
Darn, forgot all about that version. And Orus Kavnor jumps into the lead for great drum writing.
Somebody keep reminding me that there was life before "Proocession on the Nobles"
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I'm glad that's clarified. Wish I knew how to contact Jo, but I suspect she'd see it that way too.
I never meant to diminish Steve's connection with the corps, but as he said, he was establishing himself in the dog-eat-dog world of broadcast journalism at the time and the day-to-day work was done by the locals. I know that keeping that corps going was a lifelong mission for Jo, Lee Shields and many other people that I had the honor of marching with. They didn't have the glamor of a Steve Rondinaro, but they had a great deal of management savvy, as was evident in the 1987 placing. Too bad the program couldn't survive...............
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DCI's own website quotes Rondinaro:
"(And of course, there was the Florida Wave chapter, thanks too to Don Whiteley, who talked me into taking over a troubled Florida Vanguard operation.) [Editor’s note: Steve also brought that corps up to a 13th place finish at the DCI World Championships.]"
Also, Rondinaro wasn't even in South Florida in 86-87:
From his bio on WWAY in North Carolina:
“Steve continued to cover the space program upon moving to WESH-TV in Orlando, Florida in 1986. (The Kennedy Space Center was part of WESH’s primary coverage area.) As the main anchor, Steve was also the point man for the station’s live shuttle launch and landing coverage…”
FYI, about 250 miles one way.
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DCI's own website quotes Rondinaro:
"(And of course, there was the Florida Wave chapter, thanks too to Don Whiteley, who talked me into taking over a troubled Florida Vanguard operation.) [Editor’s note: Steve also brought that corps up to a 13th place finish at the DCI World Championships.]"
Far be it from me to question DCI's website. But there's the Miami Herald:
Miami Herald, The (FL)
1988-07-01
Section: AMUSEMENTS
Edition: FINAL
Page: 2C
HERE COME THE DRUMS \
Herald Staff
If you like precision marching, blaring bugles and drums, you will want to attend the Tropical Brass Drum and Bugle Corps Competition to be held at 7:30 p.m. today at the Miami-Dade Community College North Campus Stadium, Northwest 113th Street and 27th Avenue.
The program will feature five corps: The Dutch Boy of Canada; the Diplomats of Mauldin, Mass.; the Spirit of Atlanta; Suncoast Sound from Tampa Bay, and South Florida's own Florida Wave. This is the first competition the Florida Wave has sponsored, said director Jo Wessman. "It's an attempt to bring Drum corps competition back to South Florida," Wessman said. "We haven't had one here since 1983."
The Wave, now ranked 13th world-wide, is made up of 128 youths from throughout Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Their ages range from 14 to 21.
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Steve Rondinaro took over the corps when they made the transition from the Florida Vanguard to the Florida Wave. He was director during their prime years.
I wasn't around the corps during that era, so I'll leave this discussion to those who were. I'd say that the 13th place finish in 1987 was the "prime" for the corps' lineage and Jo Wessman was definitely the director that year. I lived in St. Louis at the time and DCI Midwest was held there. I ran a few minor errands for her there and later in Madison. I believe the corps' reemergence was featured in the Miami Herald.
My understanding from other alumni is that Rondinaro was there briefly, and that his contribution to Channel 10 far exceeded his contribution to the corps.
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With the Miami Vanguards, it was usually right after the Orange Bowl Parade (which begs the question of why we usually scored where we did). B)
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I'm looking for versions of Danny Boy that are your favorite out of all the hundreds of covers done, or that you feel most embody the spirit of the 27th Lancers.
My two favorites are the one by Carly Simon, from her album "My Romance" and the one by Johnny Cash, from his album "American IV - The Man Comes Around" (which I feel really embodies the spirit of the corps).
What's yours?
I have two very opposite favorites. The Carly Simon version for the sentimental Irish-American flavor, and the Black 47 version for a true Irish revolutionary statement.
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"Early 'Conquest's'":
St Vincents Cadets did a great job (Considering just WHAT they were playing on, "Back Then") on their versions of "Conquest". The late great Jim Donnelly arranged and re-arranged the tune several times for them. It can heard on many of the old Stetson Richmond tapes and records.
Elphaba
WWW
Didn't the Cambridge Caballeros also have a pretty hot (for the time) arrangement?
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Anytime I ever saw Florida Wave live, it was like walking on the beach on a warm summer night. Their music and uniform
projected that image quite vividly. Coconut Champagne was one of my favorite charts in both '86 and '87.
I recently wrote about Wave in my Drum Corps World column. At one time they were based in a state psychiatric hospital. I later had an e-mail from their director Steve Rondinaro who confirmed the story, and mentioned that there would often be psychiatric patients lurking around their rehearsals. Brings strange images to mind.
The State Hospital in Pembroke Pines had an incredible amount of usable land.
As you are involved in recording the past, the list of directors of GMBDBC/Vanguards/Wave on the program I received from the 2000 reunion (had to cancel at the last moment) was:
Caesar LaMonica
Ed Burke
Bill Hayes
Dick Filkins
Val Capone
Lee Shields
Jeff Bridges
Jo Wessman
Just to keep the record straight :)
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Just got some recordings of 86 and 87 Florida Wave, and I must say that they played one heck of a good arrangement of coconut champagne. It really is exciting. Shame they never made finals <**> , considering how many years they were so close.
Any thoughts/ opinions?
Nothing except to add how proud we Miami Vanguards alumni were of them. Of all of us who hung around the activity after our time had passed, Jo Wessman did more for Miami drum corps than any of us who grew up with her.
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Walt - Didn't know you were back with Reilly. I'm sure you're making your usual outstanding contribution.
On the question: '69 in Philly or '70 in Miami were both outstanding shows. I think the '69 show is on one of their souvie CD's. Hawthorne did a pretty credible job with the jazz version in '75 or '76. Interesting to compare the two geniuses Shelmer and Tuthill.
Take care.
Wayne
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Was the cake still sitting out there? In the rain?
Worst.Lyrics.Ever. ... Cool music, though. Almost as if the lyrics were intended as just a joke.
After drinking away his take from "Camelot", Sir Richard had to do something to refill the coffers. Bizarre as the lyrics were, it was a great piece and only the presence of Richard Harris' voice could add to the strangeness.
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A few days ago, the LAPD was beating up journalists in MacArthur Park.
Will it be shown on "Beat the Press"?
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Ryan,
If you've got all of D1 go a little farther down and check out the Glassmen. IMHO, one of the cleanest performances not to make finals (and a show that deserved a LOT more love).
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Fran,
Is it true that since the elimination of the tick system of judging, the winners of DCI Prelims have always won (or tied) for DCI Finals? If so, isn't that an interesting statistic? :)
Jim, that was also true of DCA for about the first 25-30 years. I recall the '78 Sunrisers coming totally unglued in prelims and then taking us all to another world in finals. Both won.
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The sole purpose of a company front is to elevate the 'wall of sound' concept to a visual level. That's why moments like SCV '89 are so memorable for most people. You equate the front with the musical equivalent happening at the same time.
Good point. As an aside, I just got the 1998 Legacy DVD and momentarily went nuts over the Glassmen's closing front in Prince Igor. Then they had an end zone shot. As the great Frank Pamper told me: "if you ever need a good dose of humility, watch your own show from the end zone".
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The Argonne Rebels' great hornlines.... particularly 1971-73.... scored very well under the "tick" system, but I think they would have fared equally as well, if not better, under a subjective system. (Not that the "tick" system wasn't subjective in its own way.... but that's a story for another day... LOL)
They had such a wide-open, full, confident, well-trained sound.... bigger and fuller than many of their competitors.... and they played some tough charts.
Fran
I'll play devil's advocate, Fran. Argonne's hornline was indeed wonderful and I was honored to have worked with Brian Pennington in Belleville. Their drum line, however, was a perpetual train wreck that unfortunately, but rightly, kept the corps in the 2nd tier. I wonder if their drum problems would have been overlooked in today's environment? I suspect they would.
The Glassmen
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
I thought you were wearing copies of Fran Haring's wardrobe.