The Cadets' 3-pete

[dccorpsfan]

It's pretty much common knowledge (if you're a drum corps fan) that the Garfield Cadets had the first 3-pete of the DCI era. Now, most of you know the activity better than I do; so what was the key to the Cadets' success in 1980's, especially those three years?

[Northern Thunder]

It's rather amazing to look back at where the Cadets were in the late 1970s. They were awesome, and one of the crowd favorite corps of the '77 season, and the next year they dropped off in performance level, although they maintained their HUGE crowd appeal with such big band charts as Advance of the Sponges and Strawberry Soup. In '79 I really don't remember anything special about them, but in '80 they began their comeback. That was the year they went to the deep south to recruit, and were able to climb back into the top 12.

At the time the staff stated that they had a five-year plan for Garfield, which included winning the DCI title. I don't believe any of us hard corps drum corps fans actually believed that it would happen, but in '81 they were able to defeat the majority of DCI top 12 corps, and in '82 the Zingali visuals and outstanding brass performance emerged. By '83 you could tell they were the best corps on the field.

They simply mapped out a five-year plan, and actually succeeded in hitting their goals.

[tommytimp]

An almost perfect storm of Zingali, Twiggs, Hannum, Bartholomew, and Bernstein. They really did take the lessons they learned at 27 (Zingali and Twiggs, anyway) and ran in the "new" asymmetric direction with them. they also created a lot of new rehearsal techniques as well; I remember the fact that they spent an entire day (or maybe it was a week) cleaning one two-minute portion of their show in 1985 was newsworthy to DCW and those of us who read DCW; in effect, the entire drum corps community.

[rut-roh]

An almost perfect storm of Zingali, Twiggs, Hannum, Bartholomew, and Bernstein. They really did take the lessons they learned at 27 (Zingali and Twiggs, anyway) and ran in the "new" asymmetric direction with them. they also created a lot of new rehearsal techniques as well; I remember the fact that they spent an entire day (or maybe it was a week) cleaning one two-minute portion of their show in 1985 was newsworthy to DCW and those of us who read DCW; in effect, the entire drum corps community.

I don't know that I would put Shorty in the category with those other names, as much as I like the guy and respect what he's accomplished in drum corps. More like Zingali, Twiggs, Hannum, Prime, Klesch, and VanDoren....and oh yeah, Hopkins. :)

[Legolaus]

It is interesting now to sit back and watch 27th videos and watch some "Zingali" moves appear here to be redone, and even better later by the Cadets.

Each year of the three-pete the Cadets pushed the design and performance envelope. Each year they came out with new things and performed the heck out of them. Visually they set a new standard in the activity, but I will also remember listening to these hornlines and thinking "they are setting a new standard in how a hornline sounds". 1983's hornline was so smooth and their phrasing was like no other line in the country. Truly amazing.

The other thing I think worth mentioning was the Cadets were really the first corps to march most of their show at a 2 step interval. This allowed them to do the crazy drill moves and created an entirely different "feel" of the show.

Edited July 5, 2007 by Legolaus

[84Cadet]

Of course, we had a hall of fame staff. That's the #1 reason why the three-peat happened. People have mentioned the big names, but one that often gets left out is Michael Cesario. He played a huge part in creating the Garfield "image" in the early 80's.

But there was also another factor that lead to the corps being so good. In the 70's there were a ton of small drum corps in the NJ, NY and New England area. Lots of kids grew up marching in those corps, and sadly, they were all folding LIKE CRAZY. Heck, even the BIG corps were folding. There was a lot of talent out there looking for a place to go -- kids who actually "grew up" marching drum corps and were hungry for success. For some reason, a lot of them ended up at Garfield. At that time, most of the corps was still from the NY - NJ area. It was the very beginning of people starting to "fly in" to march, and as the corps became more and more successful, the folks flying in increased each year.

I honestly don't think that the rise of the Cadets couldn't have happened without the unfortunate demise of so many area corps.

[George82]

Of course, we had a hall of fame staff. That's the #1 reason why the three-peat happened. People have mentioned the big names, but one that often gets left out is Michael Cesario. He played a huge part in creating the Garfield "image" in the early 80's.

But there was also another factor that lead to the corps being so good. In the 70's there were a ton of small drum corps in the NJ, NY and New England area. Lots of kids grew up marching in those corps, and sadly, they were all folding LIKE CRAZY. Heck, even the BIG corps were folding. There was a lot of talent out there looking for a place to go -- kids who actually "grew up" marching drum corps and were hungry for success. For some reason, a lot of them ended up at Garfield. At that time, most of the corps was still from the NY - NJ area. It was the very beginning of people starting to "fly in" to march, and as the corps became more and more successful, the folks flying in increased each year.

I honestly don't think that the rise of the Cadets couldn't have happened without the unfortunate demise of so many area corps.

Pretty much everything stated so far in this thread is what lead to the 3-peat in the early 80's. First of all, credit has to go to George Hopkins, Jim Paradise and a few members for getting into a van and recruiting along the Gulf Coast in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas in 1980. What was virtually half of a drum corps in March was filled out by mid-June and managed to come in 10th place. They literally saved the Garfield Cadets from an all but certain demise.

On the strength of that 10th place finish, many of us who came in 1981 did so due to other local corps who were folding or just needed to just perform at the next level. Much of the staff was already in place. Jim Prime, Don Van Doren were already there on brass. At mid-season we were introduced to two brothers named Greg and Michael Cesario. Together they revamped some of the color scheme of the color guard and worked with Jimmer to re-arrange some of the music which gave the show a much better flow and greater audience appeal. Something happened on 2nd tour and things with the brassline began clicking. Placing in top 6 at Whitewater Finals was HUGE!!! We became believers that night. At Montreal finals we were tied by the Blue Devils for the top spot in Brass Execution.

1982. I still have the letter George sent out to us pre-season announcing Open House and the first camp. George Zingali was coming on board with US!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! Everything changed right there. Michael Cesario explained to us the new approach we were about to take from a musical standpoint. We needed to find our own niche. It was to be the music of American Composers. I vividly remember the day we were first handed "Rocky Point Holiday". When I heard the sopranos play the opening riff I was amazed. We worked so hard that year to be the best possible brassline we could be. Visually, George was trying new things. There were times at the start of the season where they were not only learning how to teach us but how to clean it as well. This was new territory...for them, for us, and for the judges. There were many nights in the beginning of the season where the staff spent a long time in critique explaining to the judges what were trying to accomplish. It was a great year. Returning to Whitewater again that August, we finished 3rd in prelims behind BD & SCV...wow, top three for the first time ever! Then there was that magical night in Huntington, WV when the SCV finished 2nd to us with about 10 days to go. This stuff was really working. I remember leaving the field in Montreal after finals firmly in the top 3 with a feeling of fulfillment yet being unfulfilled. We all knew there would be better days ahead.

September 1982. Doc Santo (the director) calls Hop for a breakfast meeting allegedly to review the year. Instead, Doc tells George that he's stepping down as director and that he would be taking his place as he hands over the corps checkbook. George steps down from his position as perc caption head and brings in Thom Hannum...the final piece. Jim Prime brings Leonard Bernstein's "Mass" to the table. The staff was young and not afraid to try new things. We were in the right place at the right time. The rest is DCI history.

[dckid80]

Having marched during that era, aged out and become a rabid fan my point of view is this.

1st listen to the horn line from 1981, then listen from 1982.

I challenge anyone to find a bigger improvement in musicianship and style anywhere else in DCI history.

2nd

I can vividly recall seeing the drill for the 1st time in 1983. My former corpsmates and I knew immediately that the activity had changed forever.

It was stunning to watch a revolution happen.

What was not stunning was that Zingali was behind it. We had been fortunate enough to see his WGI work with Quasar regularly. Once he got the whole field to play with....

[84BDsop]

Great insights!

I think another element in teh mix was, while Garfield was trying out and succeeding with many new things, the rest of teh corps world wasn't reaching out as much...and spent three years playing catchup...

[mobrien]

Short and simple, they were consistently ahead of the curve for all three of those years. When you saw Garfield in '83, you knew that you were looking at the future of the activity. Every other show that year looked and sounded positively retro by comparison.

And then it took several more years for everyone else to figure it out. As much as I respected the execution, I have to confess to being less than thrilled to see BD take it in '86, simply because, after the previous three years, it felt like a step backwards in show design.

Then Garfield got back on track in '87. :P