Jim Anello Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Fleetwood's 5.0 LP has been mentioned serveral times in this thread. I have to admit that I had not heard it in many years. At the encouragement of one of my buddies, I just purchased a copy from Fleetwood at:http://www.fleetwoodsounds.com:80/catalog/...products_id=466 Most do not realize that the recordings include (what appears to be) a prepared statement from Ray Baumgardt regarding the Madison Scouts and an eight minute interview with Sandra Opie regarding Argonne and the current state of the activity. The interview was conducted between the 1971 and 1972 seasons, and was on the heels of Argonne's 19.0/5.0 brass performance at the VFW National Championship. I believe it was after the Uniformed Group Congress meeting in Indianappolis. Sandra's interview was very revealing. You can sense her frustration with the drum corps establishment. It touches most everything discussed in this thread including: - The different interprepretions of the "Total Show" concept (themed show vs. a musically integrated presentation); - Musical staging/drill design; - Corps unwillingness to put the advancement of the activity above their own betterment (the beat the sheets mentality); - The '68 and '69 Kilties; - The realization that judging would need to dramatically improve; and - The sheets would need to be modified to lift restrictions, and reward what was happening on the field. By listening to the 5.0 interview, watching the '72 DCI Championship show, and reading Jeff Mitchell's post on the Evolution of Scoring Performance (twenty+ years after the fact), you can get a pretty good feel for what was going on in the early 70's. This period was clearly THE crossroads for the activity. I'm curious - What did Sandra have to say about the Kilties, particularly the '68 Corps? They were a great example of a corps laying in the weeds that season. Good, yes. Competitive, certainly! But, I was really shocked when I heard they won Nats in '68. I thought sure it would have been Troopers or one of the Illinois powerhouses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 I'm curious - What did Sandra have to say about the Kilties, particularly the '68 Corps? They were a great example of a corps laying in the weeds that season. Good, yes. Competitive, certainly! But, I was really shocked when I heard they won Nats in '68. I thought sure it would have been Troopers or one of the Illinois powerhouses. The Kilties were on fire for the finals performance; clean as hell in all captions and everything clicking on all cylinders. The "A game" was brought to the stadium that evening and it was all about "takin' care of business"....just business, nothin' personal. A lot of jaws were hangin wide open after their performance with stunned looks on the faces of many expressing, "what the hell did I just witness...wow" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobB Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 The Kilties were on fire for the finals performance; clean as hell in all captions and everything clicking on all cylinders. The "A game" was brought to the stadium that evening and it was all about "takin' care of business"....just business, nothin' personal. A lot of jaws were hangin wide open after their performance with stunned looks on the faces of many expressing, "what the hell did I just witness...wow" Agreed. Probably the tightest finals of that era, and the Kilties did in fact come "out of the weeds" with a performance for the ages. The packed stadium went absolutely nuts multiple times during their show. My #1 drum corps memory, and still my personal benchmark for the best single performance by a drum corps. BTW, there's a great article on '68 finals by Dave Shaw (from the old Drum Corps Digest), plus some Moe Knox photos of that finals performance, on the Kilties Alumni website (kudos to George Fennell for putting the site together). Apologies for continuing the thread derail, but anyone who was part of the '71 Kilties will do anything to avoid talking about THAT year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkyeag Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 I'm curious - What did Sandra have to say about the Kilties, particularly the '68 Corps? They were a great example of a corps laying in the weeds that season. Good, yes. Competitive, certainly! But, I was really shocked when I heard they won Nats in '68. I thought sure it would have been Troopers or one of the Illinois powerhouses. Argonne's interpretation of the total show concept was different than the vast majority of corps in 1971. Sandra believed that the total show concept was about the merging of of the musical components (drums and bugles) with the visual to achieve an integrated musical presentation. It was NOT that you needed a themed show. In the 5.0 LP, Sandra held the '68 and '69 Kilties up as examples of corps with a similar approach. In the late 60s, it was generally believed on the Great Plains of Kansas that the road to the top of the brass pile went through Racine, Wisconsin. It was clear that these young men where getting instruction that others were not. They were very, very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumno5 Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 In the late 60s, it was generally believed on the Great Plains of Kansas that the road to the top of the brass pile went through Racine, Wisconsin. It was clear that these young men where getting instruction that others were not. They were very, very good. Yes, not only clean, but with a fine, musical approach to tone quality, blend and balance. Even as an ignorant young kid, I could sense that there was something special about their sound. Definitely ahead of their time. Fred O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storkysr Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Regarding the summer of '71: I refuse to answer on the grounds that it may tend to incriminate me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchyTenor Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Dude! The "Summer Of Love" was 1969. Don't you talk to your folks? Pssst...Puppet? The Summer of Love was 1967. But you know what they say. If you can remember the 60's, you weren't there! Garry in Vegas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Pssst...Puppet? The Summer of Love was 1967. But you know what they say. If you can remember the 60's, you weren't there!Garry in Vegas HAHA ... definitely 67 ... but, lasted well into 69 at Woodstock ... and even through to 72 at Watkins Glen ... used to take the meds because we wanted to ... now because we have to ... LOL ... Andy "a better life through chemistry" Lisko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 I don't believe drum corps died in 1971. I would say it went on life support in the 1980's though. It will never go back to the way it was and we all just need to come to grips with that. I think the corps that are out there, and that includes the open corps, are very good and certainly more competitive than corps were when I marched. Now before you guys get all fired up...we (BITD) had a good thing and it was a different time back then. We should appreciate what we did and we should appreciate what the kids today do. Forget the politics of DCI and focus on the kids. Drum corps didn't die, it just got better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puppet Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Pssst...Puppet? The Summer of Love was 1967. But you know what they say. If you can remember the 60's, you weren't there!Garry in Vegas I knew there was something I was missing! Maybe I was too busy polishing my bucks ... or something. HAHA ... definitely 67 ... but, lasted well into 69 at Woodstock ... and even through to 72 at Watkins Glen ... used to take the meds because we wanted to ... now because we have to ... LOL ...Andy "a better life through chemistry" Lisko Tell me about it! Puppet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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