uncle z

TY, LGE!!!!!! ^OO^ And now, as Paul Harvey says, here's "the rest of the story"............................... DCI Rules Congress was held in Chicago in the winter of 1981. Since Cavalier camp was running concurrently, uncle z was somehow lucky enough as a 1981 "new guy" to get invited to go along with some old guys to the closing ceremonies. This consisted of three slide projectors raining 1980 pictures on a screen while 1980 top 12 music was played along with the appropriate corps' music (this was HIGH TECH for 1981!!!). Of course, there was applause for the 1980 "corpsgasm" moments, but the high point for uncle z was that the show ended with Cavaliers doing "Softly, As I Leave You". Imagine my astonishment and pride as the "movers and shakers" of DCI all stood to their feet and gave that song thunderous applause. You know, the Cavaliers of 80-82 were just barely finals material, but the Seawrights, Royers, Bonfiglios, Lendmans, Kampschroers, Jones, Whitelys, Pesceones, Angelicas et al of the DCI universe were lovin' on the Cavies that night!!!!! :)

Wow! That brought back memories. I marched the Butler, PA show in 1970 and I remember the awesome view from the stadium! We were housed by the parents of the members of the General Butler Vagabonds while we were there. Sure beat sleeping on the bus or in a gym! LOL...we had to stay at a church cramped in like sardines...and we had to use the showers at the YMCA downtown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhhh....tour! Somewhere around this house uncle z has a meal pass from Slippery Rock State College from his Butler, PA days!!!!!!

TY, LGE!!!!!! ^OO^

Sad, but true!!!! Didn't you notice that the top 12 generally receive the majority of the press??

I have nothing but respect for BOTH organizations

OUCH!!! I felt that way over here in Wisconsin!!!

Well, as long as there is a climate here for reconciliation, then............ I take back anything bad I ever said about Phantom Regiment!!!!! (and yes, you guys SHOULD have won it all, and more than just in 1978) :)

Hey--this D!@# Mike is definitely taking offense to that!!!!!!!

Well, they were O.K.--but given the history of PR guard, I'm surprised they weren't spinning and tossing them!!!!! b**bs

^OO^

Yeah, R.P., that's in uncle z's memory banks, too!! (I think I was at that show) Now, can you and Dan explain to me why I seem to remember hearing "Hi De Ho" in 1978--with a LOOOOOONG sop solo at the end????

:z shakes head in consternation at self and at fellow 1970's DCPers: I can't believe we've had FOUR PAGES of thread on 1978 Madison Scouts.......... and not one single mention of "God Bless the Child"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dan and Robert, I'm SOOOOOOO disappointed!!!!!! :(

Well, here's uncle z's short but sweet take on the Madison show: First off, due to the generosity of an old friend, z was sitting second row from the top--just to the left of the fifty (good seats=good times!!!) Lake Erie Regiment: 15 h, 14 d, 9g. Z thought the drum line would definately drown out the horns, but the horn line held their own. Flag work was very pretty with double purple flags and big red flags in the closer. (Dang!! An old drummer admitting that he was watching the guard???) Marion Glory Cadets: 19h, 26d, 2g. Very nice pit work. Tymp player was playing very tastefully. Also liked the brush work by the snares. There you go--all drum line comments!!!! (Why is it that every time z hears "The Planets" he remembers 77-78 Blue Stars??) Blue Stars: It's obvious the Blue Stars have been putting time in working on the execution. Again, z just LOVED the sound of the middle voices. With the good seats, horn line was aimed mostly at me!! And the contras held their horns upright during retreat. THAT's hard corps!!!! Southwind: Z thinks the whole pit should just play tambourine, they're sooooo good at it!!! One pit guy did an awesome thumb roll on the tambourine--more, more, please :P Colts: Again, z could listen to "American Overture" over and over and over again. Can somebody please just do a whole show of "American Overture"?? Auntie Z was diggin' the flag work in "Old Man River". So was I. Colt alumnus that came to the show with us was very proud. Cavies: H%#$ yeah, the amps were up way too loud at the beginning!!! I thought someone was playing a vibra-slap right next to me!!! I gotta see this show again--there was way too much going on!!! The whistling was way kewl! :P And the flags were awesome. You know, back in the day people used to ask z why he didn't march Madison instead of Cavies. Now you know why. Hindsight is 20-20. Here's a little repartee from after retreat, when Cavies are exiting the stadium: uncle z (to bass drum line): "Hey, where's #2??" bass #1: "huh??" uncle z: (little louder) "Where's bass #2??" bass #3: "Oh, he got deported!!" uncle z: LMAO, 'cuz I was a smart-### like that when I was 20, too!!!! PR: Z thinks the whole pit should play castanets, they're soooooo good at it!!! J/K, the young lady vibe player on the right has obviously patterned her run style after uncle z, circa 79. Very tasteful playing!!! The guard work I was missing in Menasha has been filled in with some great big red mirrors. Z just LOVES that horn line sound. Madison Scouts: Z just last night noticed a little square reflective accent on the uni about mid-center of the fleur-de-lis??? Anyway, Madison was the most en fuego of all corps here tonight. The hometown crowd was most appreciative, too!!! Sometimes you just wish their whole show consisted of park and blow, but that ain't gonna happen. Z can always dream, though, right?? ^OO^ ^OO^ We cut out early, before Madison came back out. Due to VIP parking, we were on the road when gongfunker was still getting scores on his cell phone!!! Did anyone else think that the sirens from the emergency vehicles was a horrible addition to the shows?? (Think Kiltie drum solo from 1978). Later, Z

Hey Hey Hey--I remember seeing Spirit at D.C.I. Midwest in '77 and thinking "These guys are GONNA be good soon"!!! I even went out and got one of those Gundlach T-shirts!!! B)

B)

Kdaddy, uncle z hopes you realize that z is old enough to be your Dad!!! That being said, anytime you wanna fire up the 79, 81 or 82 Legacy DVD and image that uncle z is playing JUST FOR YOU (except the SPLOOIE part).............. Kdaddy is welcome to do so!!!

OMG, uncle z forgot to mention how proud he was of the mass of Blue Stars sitting together in the back stands (ala Kingsmen) and then standing and applauding as Colts took the field..... That was CLASSY!!!! Yes, drum corps still has those moments!

Well, Geez, if you would have come to talk to me at the show, I would have let you look at my show program!!!! :sshh:

Here's uncle z's $.02-- 'Canos--yeah, I gotta agree with a previous post--that bass drum line was kickin' (even if they were in step only about 2/3 of the show). Buddy of mine told me most of the drum line was from Michigan, so they need more horns to balance that sound out. It broke uncle z's heart to be by a group of obvious corps-age young ladies cheering wildly for their 'Cano friends from the stands when there were only 2 guard members in the guard--how about putting that enthusiam out on the field, gurls? Blue Stars--my daughter was diggin' the songs--go figure since she's 10 years old and probably recognizes them alot more than uncle z does :P I was on the right side 45-yard line and had the Mellos blowing right at me in the closer--nice sound there, Mellos!! Good to see my old friend Birddog in the stands!! Colts--yeah, Jim Anello--the first DCI corps uncle z ever saw was PR in 1975--so he's always had a soft spot for "American Overture". And yeah, Jim, uncle z had to tell his spouse that that song was "Old Man River" and not "The Old Grey Mare" . Lot of equipment problems in the guard--I'm sure that will be ironed out soon enough. Overall, a very seamless, cohesive show. Very nice! PR--hair went up on uncle z's arm from the hornline sound--to this day I can't figure out how the horn instructors can convince someone to tote around that euphonium all summer! Gotta be a special breed!! It'll be interesting once that show gets a little cleaner how that .75 down from Madison plays out. Comments from the stands were made about the hornline members on the sideline. And uncle z was kind of depressed at the amount of time the guard spent hunched over equipment close to the endzones. uncle z's old school--it's hard to image PR guard NOT doing a bunch of equipment work. Madison--yeah baby, that company front in "Malaga" was kickin'!!!! uncle z had both PR and Madison both scoring in the 70s and was disappointed. Overall, uncle and auntie z were impressed with the Madison visual look. Guard unis were well concieved and blended in with the rest of the corps. Typical Madison horn sound. Tears welled up in retreat for "Never Walk Alone", as usual. Great job, guys!!! Good to see Paul Schneider working the food stand--uncle z remembers him as a 14 year-old drum major for the West Bend Patriots!!! That french horn player during the national anthem--there were enough karaoke singers at the bar we went to after the show, and nobody could hook 'em up to sing the national anthem?? Later...................................

Seems to me I remember Suncoast Sound in 1979 featuring a baton twirler!! <**> I woulda jumped ship, too!!!

You can't fool uncle z--he remembers the Crimson Cadets from Norfolk!!!!!!! :)

Does that really surprise you?? After all, think of the # of corps historically within that Milwaukee-Chicago area. Then figure in the fact that a lot of the members marched for umpteen years, and some marched in multiple corps and you're gonna run into the same people quite often, IMHO. F'rinstance, Terri, you had female mallet player in the Guardsmen (can't recall the name now) who helped with Cavie mallet line in 1982. She later on went on staff of the Northmen, and was a friend of my sister's when my niece was marching in 1994!!! Small world, as they say :P

LancerLegend, you should have started this thread, not me!!!! Holy Cards for all!!!!!

TAA-DAA :) Another "old school" right-on-the-money shot!!!

10 correct for elphaba01!!!!! ^OO^