Jimbalaya Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 So, I'm walking into Franklin Field and there was this corps on the field in exhibition (meaning they, too, did not compete). While looking for my seat I watched this corps closely and noticed that they all looked jaundiced. Could it have been food poisoning and these kids were out there doin' what drum corps do??? Man I was in awe.........on completing their show, they were announced as, from Yokohama, Japan, Rising Sun Drum and Bugle Corps. My fears were allayed and I thought......geeeez, the only corps on the field where the horns are made in the USA and the people in Japan.......by the way.....they smoked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 (edited) I watched this corps closely and noticed that they all looked jaundiced. I had forgotten about the Japanese corps being there. I know the jaundice reference was meant in humor, but I think DCI officials sweated out any possibility of marching members carrying strange strains around Philly that year. Remember the Legionnaires Disease scare at '76 DCI? The outbreak had taken place one month earlier in Philadelphia, and I know many corps were gun shy about going to Philadelphia, since the cause of the outbreak had not been determined yet by the time DCI came into town. The slightest mention of a sore throat was serious business that week. Edited June 23, 2009 by Northern Thunder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wsssb Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 I don't know why VK didn't go to Philly like Argonauts and Commodores. As far as I can tell from CorpsReps.com, they went east just to compete at US Open and Key to the Sea?If Corkie sees this she can probably shed a little light on this. Garry in Vegas I don't know if Corkie can answer, but since I was sitting right next to her on the bus, I think I'll try. . . I remember the corps director, Jack Bevins, telling me that the Velvet Knights couldn't get into any of the good Eastern shows in 1976 because of VK's rather dismal 1974 and 1975 seasons. So, with money being tight and the corps on the upswing, he decided to go to U.S. Open in order to get the corps some national exposure in a rebuilding year. VK never intended to go farther than the Midwest. We had shows in places like Fort Wayne Indiana, Fond du Lac Wisconsin, Flint Michigan, Toledo Ohio's Key to the Sea and U.S. Open, then headed home. Once we got back to Anaheim we plugged about twenty of the "older" kids (their average age was about 14) from the Squires (VK's feeder corps) into the drill. We took that show up north to Washington and came in second at DCW prelims, falling back to sixth in finals. The next year, we had almost all of those ex-Squires back in the corps, were able to get into some marvelous shows with the big boys up in Canada, in upstate New York, and in Drums Along the Rockies. Then ended up with an Associate placement in Denver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 What corps switched from Open to Class "A"? Wausau? Valiant Knights? Maybe they couldn't get in. DCI only offered 48 spots for the open-class prelims. More than that number applied. Additional corps were put on standby, and invited to compete in class A instead. A few did switch to class A, a few got in due to cancellations, but the majority of the wait-listed corps just didn't compete at DCI Championships in '76. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 What corps switched from Open to Class "A"? Wausau? Valiant Knights? The Emerald Buccaneers, Emerald Knights, Pembroke Imperials and Meadowlarks all competed at DCI 'A' in '76, despite the fact that all of them competed in the big (open) class at major championships earlier in August that year. The Emerald Bucs almost made World Open finals (big class), while Pembroke and Meadowlarks also appeared at World Open big class prelims. The Emerald Knights competed at big class US Open prelims that year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff danchik Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 (edited) I was, we used to beat them by 20 to 30 points, and that was with the GB Vagabonds! Sort of like RC and the Vags But Blue gets the last laugh! Edited June 23, 2009 by jeff danchik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyfromhowardst Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 (edited) The style of balmoral you depict, sans badge, was worn by the Kiltie Kadets (feeder corps) from 1960-1982.The Kilties wore a Glengarry, the traditional headgear of pipers and bandsmen, for their first 25 years. The Glengarry is the Scottish equivalent of an overseas cap. (Service units and drumcorps have several colorful nicknames for them.) In 1960, the members held a fund-raiser and purchased plain black balmorals. The current all-age corps continues to wear the same. Actually, that style hat is a fatigue cap and not a dress item. The only other pageantry unit I know of wearing them is the kilted Hong Kong Police Band. In 1993 the newly-formed Kiltie Senior Corps purchased black military berets and added a homemade puffball. But if you ask any Kiltie or Kadet, from 1935-2008, they will tell you they were wearing a "tam". And they probably won't care what you call it. On the other hand - if you call their kilt by any other term, you probably will receive an offer to have your facial features rearranged. Tam is cool, but the kilt was cooler, especially on a windy day.... Edited July 15, 2009 by tommyfromhowardst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 What corps switched from Open to Class "A"? Wausau? Valiant Knights? From the open-class wait list, I see Gauchos, Emerald Buccaneers, Meadowlarks and Philadelphia P.A.L. Cadets. I don't want to assume too much from that, though, as like Brian points out, there were other corps that competed in open during the season only to go class A at DCI (EK and Pembroke)....and conversely, some corps opted to compete in open at DCI despite being class A during the season (Royal Knights, Floridians). We had similar mixed-class corps in other years too. Also, it seems that DCI was automatically sticking the open-class wait list into the class A lineup (even Boston Crusaders were on the class A lineup as a result). Emerald Buccaneers had the misfortune of being relegated to both wait-lists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 So, I'm walking into Franklin Field and there was this corps on the field in exhibition (meaning they, too, did not compete). While looking for my seat I watched this corps closely and noticed that they all looked jaundiced. Could it have been food poisoning and these kids were out there doin' what drum corps do??? Man I was in awe.........on completing their show, they were announced as, from Yokohama, Japan, Rising Sun Drum and Bugle Corps. My fears were allayed and I thought......geeeez, the only corps on the field where the horns are made in the USA and the people in Japan.......by the way.....they smoked. Just to avoid confusion vs. the thread title, Rising Sun's DCI appearance was in 1975. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 Gauchos were definitely "A" material that year. From the open-class wait list, I see Gauchos, Emerald Buccaneers, Meadowlarks and Philadelphia P.A.L. Cadets. I don't want to assume too much from that, though, as like Brian points out, there were other corps that competed in open during the season only to go class A at DCI (EK and Pembroke)....and conversely, some corps opted to compete in open at DCI despite being class A during the season (Royal Knights, Floridians). We had similar mixed-class corps in other years too.Also, it seems that DCI was automatically sticking the open-class wait list into the class A lineup (even Boston Crusaders were on the class A lineup as a result). Emerald Buccaneers had the misfortune of being relegated to both wait-lists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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