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Suncoast Sound, "The Lick"


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I have to say, Robert Smith's arrangements for Suncoast during the 80's were flat out amazing - some of the best writting out there. Man do I miss Suncoast. :tongue:

Agreed :guinesssmilie:

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As I've said before, I still don't know why this show hasn't made it on the Classic Countdown.

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I always considered "the lick" to be the unison horn figure AFTER the corps starts moving again -- after the baritone solo/bass feature -- and stops. Funny, that line had always blown me away on the videos/recordings. I'm glad to know it caught other people's attention too. Good stuff.

Wasn't Robert and Frank Williams in front of that hornline those years?

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Holy Bajesus!!! I just got to listen to this! That bassline was SMOKIN'!!!! Hornline was on fire too! Compared to other shows from that year, it seems like Suncoast was a bit ahead of their time. But WOW!!! Wish I could've seen that one! The 1984 show is one of my favorites that I have on cassette tape still.

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The "Lick" was actually a few licks: the bari soloist (twice), the pit, and the basses. Topped off by the brass line blasting that chord! Gives me goose bumps just thinking about. And that's after first hearing it over 20 years ago. The bass run still blows people away when I play it for them.
No. "The Lick" was after the solo exchanges, the chord blast and the re-entry of the show's theme just before the sop duet:

bari solo (about the half-way point of the song)

pit percussion solo

bari solo

bass line soli

bari solo

full hornline chord

percussion "cha-cha" section

re-entry of the Simple Song at Sunrise theme

"The Lick"

sop duet

ending

By the way. If you go to Google's video page and search for Suncoast Sound you'll find a happy place. :guinesssmilie:

Does anyone know why "The Lick" was not played in the '89 arrangement? While still a great show I still prefer the '85 arrangement.

By the way by the way... as a long-time Suncoast fan and being that A Florida Suite is my all-time favorite show in drum corps, thanks for starting this thread Jason!

Edited by skajerk
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I always considered "the lick" to be the unison horn figure AFTER the corps starts moving again -- after the baritone solo/bass feature -- and stops. Funny, that line had always blown me away on the videos/recordings. I'm glad to know it caught other people's attention too. Good stuff.

Wasn't Robert and Frank Williams in front of that hornline those years?

That's what I remember - Robert and Frank.

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No doubt, they had some very talented brass lines over the years. Anyone else, like me, totally blown away by their 1983 opener "Time Out"? I can't believe that they were marching and playing that stuff! :guinesssmilie: Very fast syncopated licks which just keep coming at you!! :tongue: They really sounded like a big band. The first time I heard this I had to pick my jaw off the ground! The line was very tight...high level musicianship.

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O.....M....G. It's been too long. I'm so sad Suncoast isn't with us any more. Truly an innovative corps with old-school attitude. AMAZING.

I remember a few shows in 85 where we'd be packing up the pit as fast as freakin' possible to RUN back to see Suncoast. What a year!!!!

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I always considered "the lick" to be the unison horn figure AFTER the corps starts moving again -- after the baritone solo/bass feature -- and stops. Funny, that line had always blown me away on the videos/recordings. I'm glad to know it caught other people's attention too. Good stuff.

Wasn't Robert and Frank Williams in front of that hornline those years?

No. "The Lick" was after the solo exchanges, the chord blast and the re-entry of the show's theme just before the sop duet:

bari solo (about the half-way point of the song)

pit percussion solo

bari solo

bass line soli

bari solo

full hornline chord

percussion "cha-cha" section

re-entry of the Simple Song at Sunrise theme

"The Lick"

sop duet

ending

By the way. If you go to Google's video page and search for Suncoast Sound you'll find a happy place. :tongue:

Does anyone know why "The Lick" was not played in the '89 arrangement? While still a great show I still prefer the '85 arrangement.

By the way by the way... as a long-time Suncoast fan and being that A Florida Suite is my all-time favorite show in drum corps, thanks for starting this thread Jason!

Yes. Robert Smith and Frank Williams were integral to the Suncoast "SOUND" throughout the 80's. Oh, the stories that I could tell about both....

Also, you have the location of the Lick down pat. It's the unison run after the reprise and before the duet.

The bari soloist many here may know, it is Bob Barfield, who spent many years on staff at Boston.

Randy, we actually attempted to put The Lick in in the 89 show, mid tour. I can't even explain the excitement when we walked into some bandroom on tour to see the lick written on the board. We spent a good chunk of that rehearsal learning it, very slowly at first and speeding up time and again. However, when we got to the field for ensemble, it just didn't work. Don't know if it was the staging or what, but we only tried it like twice before Robert put the kaibash on it. Needless to say, we were disappointed.

As a 14 yo kid I used to spend weekends at my HS watching Suncoast camps in 85 and 86. Made recordings and everything, which of course are now lost, and that is a shame. Things like the street beat, which was a blend of Spyder and Jungle Love (yes, THAT Jungle Love), or the version of the opening fanfare that had a samba section in the middle of it. Sad that those are gone. I also used to have a judges tape of the great Dr. Bernie Baggs seeing them in Huntington, WV. He LOVED the show, especially the bari / bass soli. Also lost. :guinesssmilie:

I usually mention this when a Suncoast thread opens, but that was one corps that came out of nowhere to prominence in a VERY short time.

1979 - 40th

1980 - 30th

1981 - 21st

1982 - 13th (by .55)

1983 - 6th (actually beat the legendary Madison Scouts in prelims)

1984 - 7th

1985 - 6th

1986 - 5th (won Field Brass at finals)

1987 - 9th

1988 - 10th (still, and yes, I am biased, but the best 10th place corps, ever)

1989 - 9th

1990 - Fold

RIP Suncoast, we hardly knew ye.

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