How many DCI titles would Star have if they were still around?

[GMichael1230]

So many bitter people love to bag on Star...big deal, they took another entertainment route. It wasnt sour grapes but an idea of alternate expression. I miss what they gave to drum corps but wished them well on their endeavors......lighten up folks.

Geoffrey

[84BDsop]

No way to tell how many titles they would have now. Probably several to be honest. T.R wouldn't have gone to BD, so that would of made a big difference considering how well BD has marched since he moved there..It probably would of hurt Crown a big deal also..Those guys would of probably stayed with Star. No reason to think they wouldn't have.

"Would have"...."would HAVE"!!!

[BRASSO]

Star threw in the towel years ago and abandoned Drum Corps, so it really doesn't matter.

Exactly. It's like asking how many more national titles would the Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights have won had they stayed around

Nobody knows. It's a fruitless exercise bound to give no insights at all. Times and circumstances change. Who knows who would have adapted and who would not have. It's like asking what would Drum Corps competitions be like today if 5 influential Corps Directors didn't leave the Veterans Organizations back in 1971.

Nobody knows if we'd have more Corps today, nor who would be on top, nor what we'd be seeing and hearing on the field today.

Edited August 23, 2008 by BRASSO

[Feathers Up]

"Would have"...."would HAVE"!!!

Yep.

[VOReason]

they took another entertainment route. It wasnt sour grapes but an idea of alternate expression.

"An idea of alternate expression"..sounds like a fancy way of saying that DCI was not going to give them enough of a return on their investment....BTW, I wonder what other marvels Edison would have invented IF he were still alive....discuss Edited August 24, 2008 by VOReason

[VKMello84]

First off i am a huge BD, SCV, PR fan . . .

Why is it that so many posts here are qualified with a statement similar to this?

It is almost like a running joke.

[DrinkinOuttaCups]

How many DCI titles would Star have if they were still around?

About 40.

[mad_scotty]

who knows how many they would have won? they left on a high note, but honsetly, they didn't have very many good shows, just had one brief period of excellence. look how many other corps have managed that and fallen right back down (bridgemen, muchachos, suncoast, etc). in reality, star was around for 9 years, won once, and should have won a second time. at the rate that program actually generated championships they would have won 1.5 more times since 93, and been screwed by the judges 1.5 more times since 93.

i think a lot more interesting question to ask would be, "what style of shows would they be playing if they were still around?" when star was in dci they played to sold out houses, but they also had madison, devs, scv and the cadets there to sell the tickets, leaving them free to experiment as much as they wanted to without eroding the audience this activity depends on for financial support. as soon as they had to go out and sell tickets on their own, well, they went from medea to maleguena pretty quick there. people look at star as the most progressive corps in dci history, but when they reinvented themselves as blast they put on a show that was music first visual second, very melodic, very fan friendly, in short, star on stage has always put out madison shows (right down to the same recycled playlist). i love blast shows, but dci judges probably would have spent the last 15 years hammering them if they had done the same stuff they, well, actually spent the last 15 years doing. and honestly, if you look at stars disney-et-circus-porgy and bess show roots, along with their rather maleguenish history as blast, in philosophical terms they are a play it to the stands cheesefest operation at heart, and the 89 to 93 period people remember them for was really a sidetrack for them.

[mfrontz]

who knows how many they would have won? they left on a high note, but honsetly, they didn't have very many good shows, just had one brief period of excellence. look how many other corps have managed that and fallen right back down (bridgemen, muchachos, suncoast, etc). in reality, star was around for 9 years, won once, and should have won a second time. at the rate that program actually generated championships they would have won 1.5 more times since 93, and been screwed by the judges 1.5 more times since 93.

i think a lot more interesting question to ask would be, "what style of shows would they be playing if they were still around?" when star was in dci they played to sold out houses, but they also had madison, devs, scv and the cadets there to sell the tickets, leaving them free to experiment as much as they wanted to without eroding the audience this activity depends on for financial support. as soon as they had to go out and sell tickets on their own, well, they went from medea to maleguena pretty quick there. people look at star as the most progressive corps in dci history, but when they reinvented themselves as blast they put on a show that was music first visual second, very melodic, very fan friendly, in short, star on stage has always put out madison shows (right down to the same recycled playlist). i love blast shows, but dci judges probably would have spent the last 15 years hammering them if they had done the same stuff they, well, actually spent the last 15 years doing. and honestly, if you look at stars disney-et-circus-porgy and bess show roots, along with their rather maleguenish history as blast, in philosophical terms they are a play it to the stands cheesefest operation at heart, and the 89 to 93 period people remember them for was really a sidetrack for them.

Go further. You're on to something. Even the 89 to 92 period, while groundbreaking in terms of excellence, was not groundbreaking in terms of (at least musical) programming. 89 was vintage 2-7. 1990 and 1991 could have been great Phantom or even Cavies shows. 1992 was, to borrow your phrase, cheesefest. Vintage cheese, exquisite cheese, but cheese. So 1993 is the ONLY year in Star's history that can truly be considered a departure from the norm, a drum corps show sui generis, as it were.

But the fact that they left meant that we would always be left with 1993 Star, and assuming that 1994 Star, 95 Star, 96 Star would have been similar to 93, to the point that they would have surprised with something like that every year. Not necessarily true. They might well have played Malaguena in 1994. And then what would we all be saying about Star 93? It would have been a fascinating year, a ground-breaking year in terms of visual, but a departure from the norm musically rather than an unchanging trend.

In other words, we would know what-might-have-been.

[mchromik]

Go further. You're on to something. Even the 89 to 92 period, while groundbreaking in terms of excellence, was not groundbreaking in terms of (at least musical) programming. 89 was vintage 2-7. 1990 and 1991 could have been great Phantom or even Cavies shows. 1992 was, to borrow your phrase, cheesefest. Vintage cheese, exquisite cheese, but cheese. So 1993 is the ONLY year in Star's history that can truly be considered a departure from the norm, a drum corps show sui generis, as it were.

But the fact that they left meant that we would always be left with 1993 Star, and assuming that 1994 Star, 95 Star, 96 Star would have been similar to 93, to the point that they would have surprised with something like that every year. Not necessarily true. They might well have played Malaguena in 1994. And then what would we all be saying about Star 93? It would have been a fascinating year, a ground-breaking year in terms of visual, but a departure from the norm musically rather than an unchanging trend.

In other words, we would know what-might-have-been.

Yes. You are on the dot here. If Star had continued on the given trajectory that it was on in the early 90s, the one thing you could be guaranteed to see is change. One of the more interesting ideas laid down in the early years was the concept of a 'chameleon corps'. Unlike every other drum corps at the time, the personality of the corps was not going to be defined by a given style or genre of music, even uniform. Now of course there were limits such as the design staff's comfort zones, or even taste, but overall the corps personality was to be defined by excellence in how it performed, not what it performed.

This 'reinventing the wheel' yearly concept is not without it's pitfalls. Of course it is challenging to the membership, but also to the fans. Everyone has their favorite type of music or visual production, and base who they support on their expectation of what they will receive. But there would be guarantee of what to expect from Star from year to year, save a quality of approach. Actually I see more and more of this concept in many of today's top corps and I think it is great.

Bach on topic, who knows are really cares. I guess we are bored early this year. I dearly miss not having a home team to root for, but gave up brooding over what might have been a long time ago. What is fun to watch now is seeing all the guys and gals I marched with and who were nurtured at the bosom of the old Starhall fan out and excel on the staffs of many of today's top 12. I guess the question is if the tony awards and professional opportunities that Blast Inc. affords for today's drum corps performers is worth more or less then the drum corps shows and possible titles that might have been? I don't know.