Top Ten Vanguard drumlines of all time

[Alex M.]

Love it! Thanks for sharing the memories, Kevin.

As a member of three of the OP's chosen lines ('88, '91, & '92), I feel honored to have been a part of Vanguard's tremendous percussion legacy. Aside from being ridiculously talented individuals, the percussionists of the Santa Clara Vanguard tend to be exceptional people as well. This was true with those I met who marched before me, those I marched with, and those who have marched since. While many other lines have enjoyed incredible success over the years, I can't think of a percussion program whose roots, tradition, and innovation run as deep as those of SCV.

Now a few reflections:

1988 - A very different line than anyone had ever seen at that time. Ralph's beats were all about expression that year. They complemented the music book perfectly, and the one thing that sticks with me to this day about that line is a quality of sound and touch on the instruments that was a refreshing change from the norm (thank you, Glen Crosby). And no, this was NOT the first SCV line to play flam drags! :D

1991 - Great line from top to bottom-no weaknesses. That show was the perfect fit for Scott's and Lee's writing (not to mention Scotty Sells' pit book as well) and for that particular line. We were described by a friend in BD's line that year as being "stupid good".

1992 - Make no mistake about it, this line was a friggin' juggernaut. 1991 was every bit as talented, but 1992 SCV had a swagger that can't be explained. This was one of our greatest strengths and was also our Achilles' heel. This line could play tickless at will but attitudes, immaturity, and stupidity often got the better of us. Check out Walter Powell's interview on snarescience.com - he makes reference to this. However, when this line was focused it was ridiculous. I asked Scott Johnson in 1992 who he felt had the best snare line ever. His answer: "SCV 1975, hands down...until this year. We might be there."

Great years...great times!

[anonymousone]

2004!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[qwerty543]

2004!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's all admit this... 2004 was a smokin line... good writing too. Though it definitely shows the age of the people that only say 2004 :P

[SoundmanG]

Any list of this sort that doesn't even INCLUDE 1975 is invalid on its face. Are you kidding me?

I gotta agree 100% with this one.

That 75 line would hold it's own against any drum line anywhere...past, present or future.

[WestCoaster]

[quote name='tommytimp' post='2639210' date='Aug 13 2009, 10:33 PM']Any list of this sort that doesn't even INCLUDE 1975 is invalid on its face. Are you kidding me?[/quote]

Nope. I went with 74 instead because I felt it was nicely representative of the era.

75 was great too, but I felt they covered much the same stylistic ground in 81 and did it even better.

Still, a tough call.

[SomeOtherJoe]

Having marched in SCV's snareline for a few years in the early '80s, it's difficult for me to judge anything after that period. Yet, for me, ANY discussion about "best SCV line" starts and ends with '75. That line was arguably one of the best lines in the history or DC, let alone SCV.

I'd go with

75

74

73

79

78

Pick 'em.

The Sanford/Bob K. (and he gets too little credit) era was special. 73-75... special! '79's 12 snares winning drums? Special! I don't know how '78 stacks up to those that followed, but it was a helluva line for the era.

As far as your '84 call goes... that line deserves a great deal of credit for what they accomplished given the circumstances, as does Ralph for his brilliant writing utilizing the combo of what he had to work with and the new judging system in place. But to put 'em at the top of the list... no, no, no.

[SoundmanG]

...I don't know how '78 stacks up to those that followed, but it was a helluva line for the era.

Hey Jim,

The 78 line won Hi Drums that year too.

[SomeOtherJoe]

Hey Jim,

The 78 line won Hi Drums that year too.

Yup, I hear ya... and they were a great line. I just rate '79 a bit above because they were able to do it with 12, and I put 73-75 in another class. So, not having seen the later lines, I have no idea how '78 would stack up to the other SCV drum title winners (which didn't keep me from plugging 'em in there anyhow :)

So many drum titles won in a 50 mile radius, it's hard to keep track.

[WestCoaster]

So many drum titles won in a 50 mile radius, it's hard to keep track.

No doubts there, bro.

As for 84, it definitely wasn't about them being "good" chops wise or anything like that (obviously not!), but just the whole vibe of that line, to me, was the epitome of what Vanguard can accomplish (regardless of the talent level, which as with all corps can vary from year to year). Plus maybe they influenced me more than most because that was around the time I was growing up and discovering drum corps. What I found was "chops lines" like Lancers and BD (dug it), and then the "musicality lines" like Garfield and Phantom (didn't dig it), but somehow the Vanguard was just on a whole nother planet as far as approach that year (for me, anyway). Hope that makes sense.

[WestCoaster]

As far as your '84 call goes... that line deserves a great deal of credit for what they accomplished given the circumstances, as does Ralph for his brilliant writing utilizing the combo of what he had to work with and the new judging system in place. But to put 'em at the top of the list... no, no, no.

Also, they placed third in drums that year iirc.

Talk about "best of the rest", in a year where the only question was whether BD or the Lancers were gonna take the drum trophy. Vanguard definitely pulled off something special by showcasing practically a "rudiment free" show and still taking the rest of the field to school.