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Summer of '71


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It was a time when straight lines STARTED to become curved. When a subjective caption was added to scoring system and a move away from ticks (Content Analysis). When corps began to take chances with design that wasn't ordinary at the time. When California corps showed us how to tour and also that they could be so magnificent by seasons end, that we all wondered how they did it.

It was a great time for drum corps despite the war in Vietnam.

Donny

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However, what I find interesting in this historical account is the above assertion that Cavaliers (and Scouts I suppose) were merely adapting to their interpretation of what the judging community was “demanding” – a total show concept with lots of GE. To me, this implies the driving force behind the change in show design might have been outside of the corps and their organizations and more to do with a paradigm shift in the judging community.

Missed reading this part in Colts post. My question is which judging group wanted more GE in the show? NanciD has posted some of the DCN articles on her Historical DC website and IIRC the American Legion was fighting this tooth and nail. Certainly can't see the VFW (IOW Tony S) allowing this if they could help it. Outside of AL/VFW what was left outside of the local circuits?

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Missed reading this part in Colts post. My question is which judging group wanted more GE in the show? NanciD has posted some of the DCN articles on her Historical DC website and IIRC the American Legion was fighting this tooth and nail. Certainly can't see the VFW (IOW Tony S) allowing this if they could help it. Outside of AL/VFW what was left outside of the local circuits?

To some extent both AL and VFW were promoting more GE, but they were doing it in different ways.

AL was giving 30 points credit to GE (VFW was still at 10 points) when I starting marching in the Cavaliers in 1970. Our staff used to lament to us that the Troopers were "dancing" and getting too much GE credit for it. The Troopers rifle line did a short square dance after intentionally grounding (putting down) their rifles. The crowd loved it, and our staff thought the Troopers were getting too much GE scoring because of one simple square dance. In truth, the Troopers were just better than us that year, in most captions.

But with our devotion to execution above almost all else, we (the Cavaliers) felt we were going to continue to get the short end of the scoring stick if we did not start adding more GE to our shows. With AL devoting an almost unheard of 30 POINTS to GE, and with the Troopers beating us at VFW simply because the judges were giving them too much credit (outside the confines of the sheets, in the opinion of our staff) for one simple square dance, we decided to go for much more GE. We were also mad because we perceived that we were treated somewhat unfairly during VFW prelims in 1970 (a looong story).

Don Angelica, who later dominated the evolution of GE/creativity in DCI, was already extremely influential in the AL/VFW judging circles, and his personal desire to give more credit to GE and content was factoring in to the scoring, whether it was allowed for "on the sheets" or not.

So, somewhat out of spite, somewhat out of fear, and somewhat out of "Anything you can do we can do better!" we decided to go all out in 1971 and win with execution AND much more GE. Unfortunately, we had a subpar hornline and a drill that was not complex enough behind all the GE "antics" that we had in the show in 1971. So, after winning the first half of the season, our lack of horns and lack of drill complexity started to get noticed by the judges and we dropped off the map.

The next year we over-reacted again and went to a mid-60s traditional show (and had a lot of staff turnover and rookies) and got dumped even further. Add to all that the fact that we weren't yet a touring corps and by 1973 we were out of finals. Most of it was our own fault, truth be told.

Madison figured out the new reality sooner than we did with their stellar rise to power in 1973. We didn't figure it out until 1976 (somewhat) and then lost it again until the mid-80s. Only the strength of our management and alumni allowed us to survive beyond where a lot of previously dominant corps from the 60s did (Blessed Sac, Blue Rock, St. Joe's, Des Plaines, Kilts, etc.). God rest their souls . . .

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I have some stories on DCP about the famed summer of 1971, when the then traditionalists allegedly voiced their displeasure about the new direction that drum corps was headed. I marched in the 90's, so this happened way before I was born. What exactly went on that summer? What was it exactly about Garfield, Madison, and Cavaliers (am I right?) that rubbed people the wrong way?

If I could, I'd like to circle back to your original post. Although most all of what is included in this thread is well documented, many discussions seem to gravitate to the perceived negative aspects of 1971.

1971 was also the year that many musical stereotypes in drum corps were shattered. Most missed it, including many of the corps. Musically it was no longer enough to put a traditional drum corps book on the field with a "beat the sheets" approach to the activity.

Things were changing. Build up captions where being introduced. Expectations regarding musical performance where higher as a result of the few that were willing to expect more.

Although 1971 has become remembered as the year of the "total show", there was so much more going on within the activity than the negative reactions to what was being worn on the field. The activity was evolving musically at a rate the veteran's organizations and many corps did not understand, or could accept.

In my mind, it was the musical revolution that was driving change as much as anything in 1971. The formation of DCI and their scoring adaptations over the next decade would bare that out.

Please see Jeff Mitchell's The Evolution of Scoring Performance (section II - the Era of Transition) at:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.ma...32f13681d7b7c09

1971 was one of the most influential years in drum corps history. Unfortunately, many point to that summer and remember the theatrics. In doing so, they often miss the incredible advances that came from those pushing the activity musically.

Jeff Yeager

Argonne, 1967 - 1974

Kingsmen Alumni Corps, 2007

Edited by jkyeag
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It was a time when straight lines STARTED to become curved. When a subjective caption was added to scoring system and a move away from ticks (Content Analysis).

There was an album produced during that time period called "5.0." It featured the Argonne Rebels and Madison Scouts, the two corps whose brass lines had scored a perfect 5.0 in that new Content Analysis caption.

Fran

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So, somewhat out of spite, somewhat out of fear, and somewhat out of "Anything you can do we can do better!" we decided to go all out in 1971 and win with execution AND much more GE. Unfortunately, we had a subpar hornline and a drill that was not complex enough behind all the GE "antics" that we had in the show in 1971. So, after winning the first half of the season, our lack of horns and lack of drill complexity started to get noticed by the judges and we dropped off the map.

The next year we over-reacted again and went to a mid-60s traditional show (and had a lot of staff turnover and rookies) and got dumped even further. Add to all that the fact that we weren't yet a touring corps and by 1973 we were out of finals. Most of it was our own fault, truth be told.

Madison figured out the new reality sooner than we did with their stellar rise to power in 1973. We didn't figure it out until 1976 (somewhat) and then lost it again until the mid-80s. Only the strength of our management and alumni allowed us to survive beyond where a lot of previously dominant corps from the 60s did (Blessed Sac, Blue Rock, St. Joe's, Des Plaines, Kilts, etc.). God rest their souls . . .

It appears that the Scouts and Cavaliers in 1971 and 1972 paralled each other. The Scouts' '71 Alice show built on the GE "antics" of the 1970 show (second half of the show). In '71, we, like the Cavaliers, went "all out" on the GE side, and paid the price for it at VFW (10th place). In 1972, the Scouts, like the Cavaliers, went back to a traditional 1960s-type show. Interestingly, rather then the hodge-podge tune selections of the 60s, the Scouts presented a thematic show organized around various war tunes and flags from the Revolutionary War to World War II. It was basically a hybrid of the "old" 60s militarism and the "new" thematic shows of the early 70s. Paul's statement that "Madison figured out the new reality sooner than we [Cavaliers] did with their stallar rise to power in '73" points to the musical side of the Scouts' hornlines--the "Madison sound" of 1970-1975. Drums and M&M served the hornline during those years. Jeff Yeager refered to the growth of musicality in the early 70s. Interestingly, both the Scouts' and Argonne's hornlines received perfect 5.00 in Musical Analysis (content) in 1971 and 1972. During this period, SCV changed the musical face of percussion. 1971 was indeed a crucial turning point.

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  • 2 weeks later...
In the summer of 1970, the year before, Don Warren finally gave voice to some of his frustrations with the then-veterans-run youth drum corps activity in an unlikely place: the men's room at a stadium in Delevan, Wisconsin. Standing next to him at the urinals was rival corps director and good buddy Jim Jones of The Troopers. Among their concerns was sometimes scattershot judging (including a prominent judge standing and applauding at a contest), differing ageout rules among the activity's governing bodies, and a division of profits from shows that wasn't very equitable to corps. Basically, the first few places could count on prize money, but after that, you got nothing. And show sponsors pocketed the rest or did with it what they will.

So, in other words, not much has changed, right? I mean, we still have judges who are positively giddy about 'their' corps when interviewed on live satellite broadcast. Interesting...perhaps if that practice has been in place since prior to DCI's existence, drum corps is actually alive and doing well, hmm?

Ironic point considering which judge I refer to and the person's affiliation who I quoted above, no? No offense intended, Colt.

Different thought: Doesn't this tired, old line ever get old? I mean, I've been hearing it since I entered the scene in 91 and the only reason that it hasn't gone away is...those who keep saying it simply didn't follow the rest out the gate! If you don't like it, go spend your money at Six Flags, geez.

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Different thought: Doesn't this tired, old line ever get old? I mean, I've been hearing it since I entered the scene in 91 and the only reason that it hasn't gone away is...those who keep saying it simply didn't follow the rest out the gate! If you don't like it, go spend your money at Six Flags, geez.

Wow, and I thought this has been one of the most civilized and well discussed topics/threads in a long time. I find what alot of these guys have to say about how Drum Corps changed, not really "died" that Summer of '71, very interesting. It was only my second season marching with a California Corps that year and I was totally ignorant as to what the "Old Style" of Drum Corps was before SCV became a top contender for the first time. I've seen what it was in the mean time via videos, but now the little nuances of change from that year have been pointed out very well and that is a GOOD thing. A real history lesson.

Drum Corps was dominated by East Coast/Midwest Corps with the exception of Troopers back in the 50s/60s. And since we didn't have instant access to shows of the past, I only knew of what I marched, when I marched. I really didn't understand that what SCV, Cavies, Madison and Cadets etc. were doing was something totally new (and sooo upsetting) to some of the "old" farts, er fans. Why all the fuss? :thumbup: I just thought that that was the way it was with just a few minor rule changes thrown in. But, now I do understand better and I'm very glad to have marched back in those days. It was a time of TRUE change. I thank all of you who know enough about those early eras and are able to make such excellent comparisons between them and the Summer of '71. I feel very enlightened.

Now the only thing I can suggest to you Silvertrombone is to ignore these types of threads if it upsets you so much. Let us old farts vent, rage and commiserate in our misery with others who were there and can perfectly understand what we're feeling and talking about... Don't worry though Hon, give yourself 20 more years and you can join us :biggrin::sigh: .

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I find what alot of these guys have to say about how Drum Corps changed, not really "died" that Summer of '71, very interesting. It was only my second season marching with a California Corps that year and I was totally ignorant as to what the "Old Style" of Drum Corps was before SCV became a top contender for the first time. I've seen what it was in the mean time via videos, but now the little nuances of change from that year have been pointed out very well and that is a GOOD thing. A real history lesson.

I started drum corps in 1969, albeit our corps was little but we grew every year, Jr. B champions, then competing Jr. A in 1971, all within our own circuit. When we travelled it wasn't far but saw alot of East - Midwest corps, however, we also had the Shriner's International and North American contests at that time and got to see the corps that travelled a long way, so 1971 was the beginning for me. Perhaps, the combined experiences encouraged us to get better every year since 1971. I have yet to obtain videos and must draw from memory via photos and programs, yet no sound, it's the music that I can't remember well without recording, but a montage of drum corps since 1972, with music, may assist my non drum corps friends to appreciate my past.

Edited by lindap
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I started drum corps in 1969, albeit our corps was little but we grew every year, Jr. B champions, then competing Jr. A in 1971, all within our own circuit. When we travelled it wasn't far but saw alot of East - Midwest corps, however, we also had the Shriner's International and North American contests at that time and got to see the corps that travelled a long way, so 1971 was the beginning for me. Perhaps, the combined experiences encouraged us to get better every year since 1971. I have yet to obtain videos and must draw from memory via photos and programs, yet no sound, it's the music that I can't remember well without recording, but a montage of drum corps since 1972, with music, may assist my non drum corps friends to appreciate my past.

I go back a little further - but the fact that so many corps have simply gone away still hurts

What I remember most though are those great shows like the Danny Thomas Invitational, World Open and CYO Nationals, U.S. Open and the like. that's when you would find a mixture of corps like these with scores like this - competition was fierce.

Sunday July 18, 1971

Lawrence MA Danny Thomas Invitational

1 27th Lancers 84.450

2 Santa Clara Vanguard 84.100

3 Troopers 82.300

4 Cavaliers 81.000

5 St. Rita's Brassmen 80.950

6 Boston Crusaders 80.300

7 Madison Scouts 78.300

8 Blue Stars 77.850

9 De LaSalle Oaklands 73.800

10 Blessed Sacrament 70.450

11 Argonne Rebels 69.900

12 Spectacle City Mariners 52.350

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