1973 Madison

[fastbreak]

That 74 Blue Star show was rough around every edge. I remember seeing them in the middle of June and their score dropped in every show in a weekend from Friday to Sunday evening. They went back and cleaned the show, but still a rough show.

Interesting to read what Dan had to say about out of staters of over 50% by that time in Madison by 1977. The corps I marched in (Marquis) during the 70's went from practically total local in 1973-74 to well over 75% from out of town (Milwaukee to Manitowoc to Appleton and every point in between) by the time the corps called it quits in early 78. It was probably one of the major reasons for disbanding due to lack of local support.

At the time of disbanding, a good 20 to 25 members went on to march that season with Blue Stars, Madison, Wausau Story. Several were still marching as late as 1984.

[fleabag]

We had our first out-of-state member in '72, "endy29." He aged out in '73. The rest of the corps was local. In '73 we picked up a few more out-of-staters--about 10% was out of state in '73. '74 and '75 was about 15%-20% out-of-state. By my last year in '77, over 50% of the members were out-of-state. Quite a change! A lot of guys wanted to be Madison Scouts. The image/sound/swagger was infectious and, face it, we were just damnn good!

Dan,

Wouldn't Richard Moon be the first out of state member?

My notes show he joined in 71, the first one to come from the Cabs/Buckeyes.

( Ashby, Webb, Butterfield, Click, Tomsa, Sokel all came later, 73)

Also is "endy29" one of the Queen City Cadets (also from Ohio) from 72?

Edited May 16, 2009 by fleabag

[Northern Thunder]

And for all that, I remember two things about their show. One, the rather abrupt start to it; I felt like I woke in the middle of "Tiger Rag." Two, how they kept recycling the end of "South Rampart Street Parade" in various tunes during the show.

They took 8th in GE? I've gotta tell you, I am really surprised by that.

The Blue Stars 8th place in GE at finals is also a bit bizarre, since they were 9th in GE marching, 10th in GE drums, 10th in GE horns. It all added up to 8th though, since the other corps ahead of them in the standings (Blue Sevils, Purple Lancers and Phantom) all had major GE weaknesses. The Blue Stars were 16th in total GE at prelims that year.

[danguernsey]

Dan,

Wouldn't Richard Moon be the first out of state member?

My notes show he joined in 71, the first one to come from the Cabs/Buckeyes.

( Ashby, Webb, Butterfield, Click, Tomsa, Sokel all came later, 73)

Also is "endy29" one of the Queen City Cadets (also from Ohio) from 72?

mmmm . . . I'll have to take a look at the '73 and '75 Scouts' yearbooks, but I thought Richard Moon was a local guy. Could be wrong on that. We were virtually all local in '71 and '72. By '77, we had a very large out-of-state constituency. By the mid-late 70s, most top corps, I suspect, were going through a similar change in membership. "Endy29" is none other than Bill Robinson, lead sop player in '72 and '73 (sorry if I blew your cover Bill). If I recall, Bill helped recruit the "Ohio gang" (some of the guys you mentioned) to join the Scouts in '73.

[danguernsey]

Interesting thing about 72 Scouts is that while they were 14th and out of finals, they tied with Argonne for 1st in MA with a perfect 5.0.

The '72 corps was small and young. A fair number of vets didn't come back in '72 after the disappointing '71 season (losing US Open and taking 10th at VFW). The hornline carried the corps in '72--definitetly DCI finalist material. Killer french horn line that year--arguably the best in the country. The drum line kept us out of finals in '72. There was raw talent in the '72 corps that eventually blossumed into the '73-'75 corps.

[eclecticmn]

Madison once played a song they called "Red Army March." I loved it. When I searched for it I could not find it anywhere. I later thought maybe they just played it during parades. Decades later I learned the real name was "Let's Go", the translation of the Russian name. I could not find that Madison played that either. Maybe I was senile. Recently some guy named Gelp99 posted Madison 73 on youtube. Madison played Let's Go in 1973. Gelp99 has since deleted the video. ####!

Also, Madison 1971? played a song "Rally" (Morton Gould) off the line but later dropped it.