gsksun4 Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Okay.....for your own minds, delete the word popular and insert whatever word works for you! I think the best example as far as bringing drum corps into the public eye would have to be The Cadets marching at the Olympic games in Atlanta, 1996. As far as exposure is concerned, there must have been a billion people watching. Unfortunately, most of the world must have thought they were watching a marching band. Especially with that mock drum major prancing out front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAvery Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Yeah, I dunno know about the "popular" thing either, but there was a moment when drum corps started becoming "respectable." I remember being in a high school library in the mid 70s and seeing The Instrumentalist magazine with a picture of some Troopers baritones on the cover, and a number of articles telling their school band director readership what was happening in drum corps. The overall tone of the issue (and I'm not making this up) was more or less "drum corps has come a long way from uneducated cavemen abusing drums and horns..."Santa Clara was predominantly featured throughout the issue as the paradigm of what 'good' drum corps was all about, which makes sense given the relative sophistication of their mid-70s shows. From that standpoint, I'd argue that SCV made drum corps 'respectable' in the 70s, with Garfield ratcheting up the idea in the early 80s. From there, it hasn't seemed that the activity needed too much help in the respect department. I would agree with that. SCV did garner drum corps a certain amount of respect with music educators, and even professional musicians. As much as I would like to include the Cavies from the 60's in that, I can't. While they were very successful, they didn't really change the perception of drum corps. The other corps from the 70’s that could be considered is BD. But other than 1976, they didn’t really bring a paradigm shift. I guess a case could be made for the Cadets of the 80’s, but they seemed more of a philosophical continuation of SCV in the 70’s. A more solid case could be made for the Cadets of the past ten years. The design element has been altered, just like SCV of the 70’s. Where SCV brought about a higher level of musicianship in the 70’s, the Cadets seem to be concerned with all the arts. The integration of differing artistic disciplines has really brought about a different way of thinking about design. That being said, I don’t think it’s as original as it appears. In the 1970’s SCV was truly in uncharted territory. The Cadets of this decade seem to get their influence from BOA and WGI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 I think the best example as far as bringing drum corps into the public eye would have to be The Cadets marching at the Olympic games in Atlanta, 1996. As far as exposure is concerned, there must have been a billion people watching. Unfortunately, most of the world must have thought they were watching a marching band. Especially with that mock drum major prancing out front. Didn't the 27th Lancers do a show at the 1980 Winter Olympics? From the "More than you want to know" department... That mock DM is actually Bill Irwin, currently appearing on Broadway in "Waiting for Godot" with Nathan Lane. He was in the recent revivial of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" where he won the best actor Tony award. And...to go from one extreme to the other...his next roll will be in "Bye Bye Birdie" on Broadway. Irwin is also a graduate of B&B Clown College, and has made it a lifetime goal to preserve the art of clowning, which totally fit into his performance at the Olympics. Don't forget, HE was the star...the Cadets were the supporting cast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsBusDriver Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 (edited) ...Of course I'm going to go way out in left field (not that I ever do that!) and say that more than any other Drum Corps in the shortest amount of time to make the general public aware of drum corps was and is Star Of Indiana. C'mon, from 10th to 1st in 8 years!? Then, like true champions, they hung up their boots and took their show to the World. Final Answer.Puppet I have to say that it depends on the area and not a specific Corps as to when Drum Corps became popular. 50s and 60s the East Coast had many more Church, American Legion and VFW sponsored Corps to keep the kids off the street than anywhere else. Most neighborhoods knew about it. The Midwest also had a strong following. Both my Grandfather and Mother were in American Legion Drum Corps in Missouri during the 30s. According to Mom, it was the "norm" back then. The Troopers brought it further West later on during the 60s. As for Star bringing the sound and sight of Drum Corps to the "World" via Blast, that can't be argued. But, I beg to differ and with respect to Star of Indianna to their 8 year achievement. SCV went from 13th place at VFW '69 to 1st place at VFW '71. A mere two years after our first Nationals appearance and only 4 years after our inception. It made people in the stands wonder "Who are these guys?". After that, the West Coast was truly a part of the "National" Drum Corps scene. So, starting with Coast to Coast awarness in the early 70s, along with the T.V. media coverage, more age-outs from the 60s and 70s teaching HS Marching Bands the "Drum Corps" style, it just naturally became "Popular" during the decade of the '70s and grew from there. Oh, and I'm glad SCV didn't hang up THEIR Boots. Edited May 28, 2009 by MsBusDriver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsksun4 Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Didn't the 27th Lancers do a show at the 1980 Winter Olympics?From the "More than you want to know" department... That mock DM is actually Bill Irwin, currently appearing on Broadway in "Waiting for Godot" with Nathan Lane. He was in the recent revivial of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" where he won the best actor Tony award. And...to go from one extreme to the other...his next roll will be in "Bye Bye Birdie" on Broadway. Irwin is also a graduate of B&B Clown College, and has made it a lifetime goal to preserve the art of clowning, which totally fit into his performance at the Olympics. Don't forget, HE was the star...the Cadets were the supporting cast. I knew "HE" was an actor, but I must admit, whenever I get a chance to see a drum corps on the tube, my eyes will be trained on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emc2 Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Wait. It is to us, and who else matters?!To answer the question in as much as honest way I can, "popular" is all about time and region. In the Midwest it could be the Troopers - the whole state supports them. Although Cavaliers or the Kilts have enough cache to be one of the ones. That covers Illinois, and Wisconsin but leaves out Ohio, Pennsylvania, North & South Dakota, Idaho which I'm sure had their Drum Corps. In the East - especially BITD - and I mean those halcyon days of the early sixties when every hamlet and town had a drum corps - who the heck can say? St. Rocco's Cadets? Holy Name (or whichever name they've been using over the past 75 years) Cadets. All the corps who only used one name - or less? I.C., Boston, St. Kevins, 27, Loretto, Sac, or any of the hundreds of corps populating Upstate New York, New Jersey - I'm sure Trumbull Cadets had a lot to do with why kids in Connecticut loved drum corps - they couldn't have recruited 45 women to march in their guard without some popularity, you know?! Of course, that also leaves out Delaware, mostly all of the South (which I don't mean to but I like to because they are the South and would rather shoot guns than bang drums plus, they never made the 1776 poster. And out West, well you have to say it started a little later, I think but Anaheim and SCV have had their share of increasing the popularity of the activity. But I'm also sure there were a bunch of corps from Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Arizona. If you think about it at all, this is a totally unanswerable question - unless you don't think about it - but at the same time it's the perfect question for a Historical Junior Corps Discussion Thread. Of course I'm going to go way out in left field (not that I ever do that!) and say that more than any other Drum Corps in the shortest amount of time to make the general public aware of drum corps was and is Star Of Indiana. C'mon, from 10th to 1st in 8 years!? Then, like true champions, they hung up their boots and took their show to the World. Final Answer. Puppet I agree I will also add if you look at north east nj NY midwest and PA were it all started drum corp history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob J Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 On a personal level... As a high school band geek in the late '70s/early '80s... BD and SCV. The respected rivalry between those two made the activity "popular" for a lot of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamparadiddlediddle Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 It wasn't just one or two corps corps that suddenly caused a popularity explosion. There were several throughout the years. Some are not with us anymore. Some are still here, thank goodness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kansan Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 The Bridgemen and Spirit of Atlanta were the two Corps I 1st saw on Video Tape that got me interested and seeing Crossmen and Sky Ryders live in my home town in '83 finish the sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scerpella Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 (edited) If I'm limiting my answer to DCI era drum corps, SCV was the early break out corps in the first couple years. Madison swooped in starting in 73 and was replaced in 76 by Blue Devils who have been a constant standard bearer for the activity since then. Cadets came in the 80s and established themselves followed by Cavaliers. And thus it has been since. Between SCV, Cavaliers, Blue Devils, and Garfield you have the lions share of championships. Toss in 2 for Scouts, 2 for Phantom, 1 for Star and 1 for Anaheim and thats it. Edited May 29, 2009 by Scerpella Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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