MikeD
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Posts posted by MikeD
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Mod hat here.
We often go off topic to a degree, and that is ok.
Please get back to the topic in the thread title now. This is not the thread to discuss other corps/people, nor is it a place to discuss things not related to the overall topic.-
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1 hour ago, Terri Schehr said:
Thanks! The years all blur together at this point.
You got THAT right! 👍
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2 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:
So The Sinfonians was 1971. I was trying to remember the other day when I posted on here. I liked playing it in concert band. Clifton Williams was a virtuoso French hornist so = really nice horn parts.
No, it was 72, part of the No More War show.
71 was the amazing Revolutionary War show. Ironlips was the brass arranger and primary instructor; George Tuthill the percussion guy that year. Bobby Hoffman did the drill both years.
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I had left Garfield after the 71 season, where I was a tri-tom player. The Cadets let go of George Tuthill, and as he was teaching the Cabs as well in Hawthorne, a lot of the drummers went there.
I wanted another year of junior corps, so I returned to Garfield in the winter. However, I refused to play drums for the "new guy".....Fred Sanford! 😮
So, I joined the hornline, having never played a brass instrument. I was a 3rd baritone, and our brass instructor was Don Angelica, so that kind of made up for the above/
Don was an amazing teacher. He would invite groups of us music majors to his house in Bergenfield, and he would teach us how to arrange music. He gave us assignments. Mine was to create a brass chart of "Johnny". The hornline played it, and Don critiqued it.
I had the bad habit sometimes of not stopping air, but using my tongue to stop the sound (I had not had brass class yet at college). I still recall the one time a rehearsal when Don, who was standing 50+ yards away, heard me release like that at the beginning of our opener, "Sinfonians" concert march. He stopped the entire corps, and yelled my name, and that was all he said. I knew exactly what he meant...that was my last time forcing the release that way. 😀
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2 minutes ago, fighterkit said:
The drummers I marched with in 22 gave me the most crap outta anyone.That is the primary job of the drummers! Good to see they were doing their job. (said this drummer). 😀
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6 hours ago, cixelsyd said:
Adding woodwinds would not cut costs.
(Who do you complain to when a moderator posts off-topic?)
This in response to the person who mentioned having HS bands march DCI but no WW allowed.
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2 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:
Absolutely let them compete in Soundsport.
But if on field w/ DCI Corps they need to meet instrumentation requirements. Same way winter drumline doesn’t have a brass section. Heck, let the woodwind ensemble play Star Spangled Banner, and during intermission.Better approach is to allow woodwinds in drum corps. Been saying that for decades.
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2 hours ago, Boss Anova said:
. In addition ,other Parish Corps themselves began to unilaterally move away from Church sponsorships and particularly in the late 1960’s away from sponsorships from the Veterans posts in these communities . Lots of Corps in the 1960’s either folded or were forced to merge when they had to replace their traditional sources of financing from the parish and/ or the local Veterans posts . A few successfully navigated thru this transition in traditional sponsorships in the 1960’s and early 1970’s , but the vast majority did not , and folded .
The rise of the VFW/AL era of drum corps began after WWII and later Korea. Those vets came home and had children. They joined their local posts and some of those posts started drum corps. By the late 60's, the post members were aging, as were their kids. Membership declined in the posts, as well as the corps, especially the small "mom and pop" corps that were the the parade corps or local level competitive corps, such as the Garden State Circuit in my area. I marched in a parade corps from 64-67 and then a GSC corps in 68-69, before joining Garfield.
I later taught in the GSC in the mid 70's and judged there mid 70's to 80'ish. The circuit was imploding all through that era. Corps would combine just to stay alive. I taught the Wayne Monarchs in 76, who merged with the Greenwood Lake Lakers mid season and became the King's Regiment for a couple of years. They eventually folded a few years later.
Times were changing. The gas crisis in the early/mid 70's...huge inflation late 70's...everything cost more. That drove sponsors away, and corps folded, leaving the relatively few that made it into the 80's. Kids were just not joining these local corps anymore. In NJ, the rise in corps-style marching band provided an alternative for the kids who used to join these corps.
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30 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:
Also contributing was that AL, VFW and city churches were on the decline. Just couldn’t afford to sponsor like they used to and lot of Posts and churches closed nationwide
The churches started to pull away well before DCI. Holy Name dropped the Cadets in the late 50’s as one. Newark NJ had a few church corps that did not make it to DCI, a couple of them powerhouses in the 50’s and 60’s…St Lucy’s Cadets and the Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights (my favorite corps in the 60’s). Also s GSC corps St Martin’s Troubadors who were disbanded after having an on field fight with St Andrew’s Bridgemen at 1969 GSC champs in Dover. I think Fran’s corps, the Manville Crusaders, started as Sacred Heart Crusaders. That is just a few.
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8 minutes ago, Fran Haring said:
Haven't read this whole thread, so this might have been mentioned already... but the Cadets losing that USBands revenue stream could not have been helpful.
I know... Captain Obvious here.
Yes. I said that same thing on one of the FB groups. Great minds and all that! 👍
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24 minutes ago, craiga said:
I don't dispute your figures. There were also more than 60 corps here in eastern Massachusetts.
However, of the +1500 corps you accurately reference, +1400 never had anything to do with DCI, national tours, electronics, props, huge staffs, or having 15 unit convoys. They simply went away because they DID NOT HAVE ADEQUATE REVENUE...even then.
Also, as many have noted, many fell victim to changes in society, just as Catholic churches, Grange halls, boy scouts, and most other neighborhood activities.
Look, I'm now in my 60s, and there is nothing I would love more than to transport myself back to attending the World Open in Lynn, MA in 1979 and see 60 "local corps" over two days. It's just not going to happen and DCI had nothing to do with it.
I recall from RAMD days that the history of drum corps book written way back said there were 440 competing corps in 1971 just prior to DCI. i’m sure there were lots of parade corps as well. I marched in one in the mid 60’s. No idea how complete or accurate any of these numbers are.
So many corps came and went before DCI came along. Churches who ran many corps in the 50’s and 60’s were dropping out well before DCI. Heck, the Cadets are an example of that.
Today there are thousands of competitive bands that replaced the small local corps, numerically speaking.
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Mod hat here:
Posters need to stop making personal attacks and badgering other posters. We do not want to close down this thread but it is moving in that direction right now. I think everyone here has been around long enough to know the guidelines.
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1 hour ago, TheOneWhoKnows said:
It's not different than *part* of the reason why colleges and universities have souring costs. All the sudden we have VP of (insert some ridiculous title) making 6 figures plus benefits.
You may not have meant it, but I love your description of the costs! 👍
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2 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:
“Just good enough” transportation would have been an upgrade. 😂 I think there are a few people here who could back me upon this.
In 70-71 era Blue Rock had their own lousy busses. One of them had no reverse, so they had to be careful where they parked. Another one could not start unless a bunch of members got behind it and pushed it.
We (Garfield) had to get out of one of our busses on the way to Miami, as the full bus could not drive up a steep hill. We walked in front of the bus, just in case! 😀
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45 minutes ago, keystone3ply said:
Reminds me of one the stories about the inception of SOA. The story was that the ATL based Coca-Cola wanted to fully sponsor Spirit but wanted them to field a "red" uniform. But they wanted to field a blue uniform & went with a partial Delta Airlines sponsorship thus the Delta logo. Not sure of it's true or a partial truth, but I would have fielded a Coca-Cola red uniform with the vintage bottle on the sleeve. I Would have also served free Coke at the souvie trailer. 😆
Back in the 60’s there was a corps on Long Island, the Islanders, that was sponsored by 7-UP bottling. They wore green unis with orange and white trim, had the 7-UP logo on their unis, as well as a logo on the bass drum heads.
Also a senior corps sponsored by Balantine Beer, the Brewers.
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Mod hat here.
Please refrain from making derogatory comments about others who are posting. We want to keep the thread open, but personal attacks on posters goes against DCP guidelines.
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1 hour ago, Terri Schehr said:
I don’t know if this has been mentioned but isn’t 2024 the Cadets 90th anniversary?
Yes
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2 hours ago, JimF-LowBari said:
Where was the fingerprinting done. I did child safety background check years back and was paperwork only.
Of course being a DoD employee my fingerprints and security info are already on file. Kris had a cousin who worked in the FBI. We were joking around and he said “when I get back to work I’m going to check your file”. My in laws were “the FBI has a file on you?”. 😱
I know in NJ you need fingerprinting to work in a school position. I had mine done at a state site when I was becoming a substitute teacher 5 years ago. I had them taken way back (mid 90's) at our local police station when I was working with the marching band.
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1 hour ago, TOC said:
Some of the Saders mentioned in the corps newsletter from 79 are still involved with DCI.
file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/Sader%20Old%20Post%20issue%201979.pdf
That link is to a file on your own machine.
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Mod hat here…
Can we get reasonably on topic and get away from the stuff about Crown and BAC. It is verging on getting personal between posters.
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On 10/2/2023 at 9:43 AM, GUARDLING said:
Oddly enough, many of the icons of our activity , ( many still around and active ) , do not have that mentality and it's one main reason they weathered through decades and some very much relevant still.
Even for some sadly no longer with us, I can’t believe they would dislike modern drum. People like my instructors drum guy George Tuthill, drill guy Bobby Hoffman, brass people like Don Angelica.
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7 minutes ago, greg_orangecounty said:
Bobby Hatfield was sick with a cold and super nervous because he knew his mother would be in the audience. It ended up being one of the greatest performances of all time. I get why there are reaction videos to it, my favorite being from the young female opera singer.
I like the longer video where Hatfield and Medley talk with Andy Williams before the song.
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3 hours ago, Sideways said:
To be fair that live recording of Unchained Melody is otherworldly.
Check my post above. 😀
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4 hours ago, TOC said:
Liked the ones about The Righteous Brothers and Karen Carpenter.
That is two of my faves. The "Unchained Melody" performance by Bobby Hatfield in 1964 on the Andy Williams show is amazing in color video and remastered sound. Karen Carpenter another great one, esp her drumming videos.
Procul Harum with the Danish National Orchestra in 2006 is amazing, especially "A Whiter Shade of Pale". I watch as many reactions as I can to those and a bunch of others.
Cool to see young folks react to our old music.
What is wrong with US?
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
Mod hat here
i have hidden a few posts that qualified as personal attacks between posters. As everybody is aware, those types of posts are not permitted per the guidelines of DCP,
They also run a thread off the rails and cause such threads to be closed.
Please remain focused on the thread topic and not other posters.