The history of the Westshoremen

[MikeD]

The horn line, once the numbers got settled in under Dennis Dewey's leadership, got stronger and stronger....(I think we ended up with 42 horns at season's end... not huge, but we were always comfortable not having a big line), eventually right there with Westshore and Bucs at a given show later in the summer. Dennis was a great caption head.... one of the best teachers I've ever had in drum corps.

Dennis was a great guy. He and marched together in Garfield in 71 and 72. He was a great bari player; in 72 I was a lousy one!

We were both majoring in Music Ed at the time. His younger brother Mike (died waaaay too young a couple of years ago) also played bari in the corps.

[Jaminbenb]

One thing I will never forget about the '82 Westshoremen... the corps' members coming over to us after the scores were announced at Finals and shaking our hands to congratulate us.

That was a major class-act move, for sure. :thumbup:/> :worthy:/>

Up in Verdun when Sky won and you guys took second (WSM 3rd) I happened to be hanging out with a few guys from your drumline when they announced the scores and we were ALL a little shocked..but it was no big deal... I think the general consensus was that at least it wasn't the Hurricanes (although they weren't there...but they won the DCA Regional a few weeks earlier) (well and the BS from 1981 finals)

But at that point in time, Sun beating us was never a problem...I was probably one of the people that congratulated you guys as well...

The one thing that always stuck out with me about you guys was in 1984 when I was in Bucs, and we won drums at finals...a few of your drumline members came over and gave us a couple cases of beer to congratulate us (ON THE FIELD!)( I mean...WHO BRINGS A HANDTRUCK WITH BEER ON THE FIELD TO RETREAT?!?! ) Anyway... I always thought that gesture was one of the more amazing things that happened to me during my years marching! (and I still have the bottle on my shelf as a "trophy")

[Jaminbenb]

Thanks for the insight here, Ben.

It's a shame things didn't work out better in '84 for the corps.

The thing I remember most about them that summer was the "six-week corps" they put together for DCA Prelims.

Yeah, the 6 week thing was an amazing accomplishment! When I saw them at the Reading exhibition the night before finals, I was shocked that they pulled it off in such a short amount of time!

Imagine what could have happened had that group just stayed together...

[Jaminbenb]

Earlier there was a discussion with Fran about the loss of momentum. One factor was the Staff really didn't get a lot of input from the Panels early on. Everything was all positive, no negatives, and the competitors got a lot of input in comparison. The Staff- and corps membership learned just because the judges aren't griping that there shouldn't be changes and enhancements to the program if things aren't where they should be.

Not blaming the judges-- but, I did learn that when you do talk to someone way ahead of the game that you SHOULD discuss issues and future plans to continue to improve the program, Nowadays, people know better and don't sit on their laurels like we did in '82, letting everyone else catch up. I think everyone learned a tough lesson in that way.

Reading tweaks continuously throughout the season regardless of the score gap. If they didn't, my guess is that they would have dropped one or two more Championships in their streak than they did.

Yeah, we just kept cleaning what we had, and never changed anything to make it a challenge to keep progressing... it almost did feel like a "If it ain't broke don't fix it" kind of thing. But like I said in an earlier post, our staff was probably not prepared for winning, and maintaining that status...it was new to them as well!

[Fran Haring]

Yeah, the 6 week thing was an amazing accomplishment! When I saw them at the Reading exhibition the night before finals, I was shocked that they pulled it off in such a short amount of time!

Imagine what could have happened had that group just stayed together...

Totally agree. Hey, they beat four corps at Prelims... corps that had been out all summer!!!

[Jaminbenb]

Totally agree. Hey, they beat four corps at Prelims... corps that had been out all summer!!!

Yeah, I think given the circumstances, they WOULD have landed in the top 10 if everything held from the first few rehearsals...yeah, there's there's the usual attrition, but there's always people that come out during the season.

But to land where they did with 6 weeks to put a show together where probably 80% of the people playing DIDN'T come to the winter program was amazing!

[Fran Haring]

Yeah, I think given the circumstances, they WOULD have landed in the top 10 if everything held from the first few rehearsals...yeah, there's there's the usual attrition, but there's always people that come out during the season.

But to land where they did with 6 weeks to put a show together where probably 80% of the people playing DIDN'T come to the winter program was amazing!

I agree with you, if the corps had picked up where it left off in 1983, they would have been a top 5 contender or higher in '84.

[BigW]

In many ways, 1984 was an extremely happy and enjoyable season for me, even though it was only 6 weeks. I went to one winter practice, but I was busy at WCU and really didn't feel like I could commit.

I tried to get to the one meeting where the fit hit the shan and they called all the hands on deck but I couldn't get past the first turnpike exit out of West Chester because the second fuel filter (yes the thing had a second one next to the gas tank in addition to the normal one, so no one knew it was there until they looked at a diagram) in my Opel (Actually an Isuzu Gemini for the rest of the world go figure) acted up and I kept stalling out and I had to limp the vehicle back home.

I will say right now I had FAR, FAR more fun in 1984 then I did in 1983. There were some miserable individuals on board that year, that, and the recurring frustrations and crap, especiallt what happened at Bucknell that year with the rehearsal that day, made it sheer hell for myself and not a lot of fun.

Playing in that hornline was great, though. We finally had matched horns and we did sound fantastic in sectional rehearsals, though you never really knew it in performances onfield because of the West Coast 4 step intervals Mel Stratton wrote in.

Yeah, I found 1983 to be an unhappy season. because of some of the people in the corps, the 4th place and attending frustrations with the judges, etc. were a very distant second place. Those people were gone in 84 because they were pretty much ringchasers and wouldn't have had anything to do with us after finishing only 4th anyway. Just needed to get that off my chest. I discussed this with Ron Beyer before he passed on once, he disagreed with me about those individuals, but I kindly told him he didn't know those individuals inside the corps at that time and watched how they absolutely poisoned the zen.

I will say this about Ron, God Bless him. If there ever was a guy who saw the good in people and overlooked the bad, it was Ron. In that way, I most deeply respect and like him a ton.

[Jaminbenb]

In many ways, 1984 was an extremely happy and enjoyable season for me, even though it was only 6 weeks. I went to one winter practice, but I was busy at WCU and really didn't feel like I could commit.

I tried to get to the one meeting where the fit hit the shan and they called all the hands on deck but I couldn't get past the first turnpike exit out of West Chester because the second fuel filter (yes the thing had a second one next to the gas tank in addition to the normal one, so no one knew it was there until they looked at a diagram) in my Opel (Actually an Isuzu Gemini for the rest of the world go figure) acted up and I kept stalling out and I had to limp the vehicle back home.

I will say right now I had FAR, FAR more fun in 1984 then I did in 1983. There were some miserable individuals on board that year, that, and the recurring frustrations and crap, especiallt what happened at Bucknell that year with the rehearsal that day, made it sheer hell for myself and not a lot of fun.

Playing in that hornline was great, though. We finally had matched horns and we did sound fantastic in sectional rehearsals, though you never really knew it in performances onfield because of the West Coast 4 step intervals Mel Stratton wrote in.

Yeah, I found 1983 to be an unhappy season. because of some of the people in the corps, the 4th place and attending frustrations with the judges, etc. were a very distant second place. Those people were gone in 84 because they were pretty much ringchasers and wouldn't have had anything to do with us after finishing only 4th anyway. Just needed to get that off my chest. I discussed this with Ron Beyer before he passed on once, he disagreed with me about those individuals, but I kindly told him he didn't know those individuals inside the corps at that time and watched how they absolutely poisoned the zen.

I will say this about Ron, God Bless him. If there ever was a guy who saw the good in people and overlooked the bad, it was Ron. In that way, I most deeply respect and like him a ton.

Well had we retained a good bit of people from 82, as well as NOT picked up a few select ringchasers, I think 83 WOULD have been a VERY decent year, but with some of the problems that we had...namely some drum instructor issues, we tanked, and after a strong-ish start, we just failed to stay on top...And seemingly no matter what we tried, we were destined for 4th, and a lot of us just figured "screw it" we're having fun...and we did!

But as I said for 84, I wasn't planning on marching...I needed a break, wanted to get a better job, and I started working with a few bands and all that... When I got the call that the gear was sold, I honestly wasn't going to go to the meeting because I was just ready to walk away from it for a while...83 bummed me out! My father was the one that said "you're going, I'll drive you and Craig, but you need to be there" so I reluctantly went.. Schell was the one that put me in charge of some things in order to help him out drum wise (i.e. made me drum captain...oy)...and I told him up front that I was NOT planning on staying, but I'd help and be a "warm body" He thought differently, and said "you're not leaving!" (then I ended up staying, getting the bug to march again, and went somewhere else when they "folded" because I was already INTO it, and didn't feel like NOT doing it...)

But I agree 1983 was a HUGE disappointment from a personnel standpoint..I DO think that if more people from 82 hung on, we MIGHT have ended things differently..and as we were talking about with how 83 ended...well not so much 83 ended, 84 BEGAN, I really think that the corps would have kept it's SOLID top 5 identity, and consistently fought it out with Reading, Sun, Sky, and Cabs, keeping Bush and the Hurcs at bay.

[Jaminbenb]

I MAY have already posted this, but since we're in the vicinity of these years I'm going to put it back up:

After the run we had in 1982, I KNEW I had to some back to try for one more! I was marginal in my return in 1982, and the fact that we got SO #### CLOSE struck me, and gave me “finals fever”! Knowing that a few people would be moving on again, I thought about sliding over to the snareline, just because I hadn’t DONE it yet. I worked on my “traditional” grip, and set myself up to try out for snare. We were the recipients of new drums and horns that year, Larry splurged, so that we would have NO question in getting back into the top echelon once again. The new Pearl drums in an oyster blue pearl were pretty sweet looking, and went well with our overall look. (and they were MUCH lighter than the old Slingerlands!) Thankfully someone took the time to make marching drums that didn’t KILL you! I got the snare music and practiced like crazy….surprisingly a LOT of people left, either burnt out, or just did their time, and felt it was time to leave. It happens every year, so…. I think a decent amount of the drumline left, and the people that came in were pretty top notch. After a few weeks, it was determined that the people playing in the tom-line just weren’t cutting it, so they were “cut” to the snareline, and I was asked to “please” rejoin the tom line where I would be more effective…so I relented and went back. (No snare for me!) I’m not entirely sure when, but for some weird reason, our drum instructor seemed “less into it” than the previous year, and was skipping more rehearsals, until I think he was eventually asked to leave. (around corps camp time?!?!) They brought in Billy Kauffman as a consultant at one point, and he was made our “interim” drum instructor, and Brian Schell took a more active role as an instructor rather than a player. Between the two, we muddled through some of Robb’s arrangements, but much “stitching” was needed to make these arrangements usable, and some of it wasn’t settled until the first show or two of the season. (The concert number, “Love for Sale” was one that I remember being re-written several times to make the arrangement more cohesive with the rest of the corps. It was just THAT MUCH of a mess! I remember having two-three line slips of paper with revisions to the tom score to replace things that DIDN’T work! In fact there’s a picture on my Facebook page of the tom line in Clifton, NJ at the indoor pool of that very situation!)

One of the cool things was when Ralph Hardimon (Santa Clara Vanguards drum instructor at the time) came in and wrote and taught the parts to No More Blues! The funny story that went along with that was when he originally arranged the tom parts, he wrote them for quads, since that was what he was used to writing…when he came in to hand us the parts and saw we were playing “triples”, he taught us the phrase “Oh crap, I just ‘blew chunks’ on those parts, I wrote for FOUR drums! I’ll be right back!” and within about 15 minutes he had it sorted out and rewritten. Interesting stuff, and a fun guy to have had the pleasure of working with that weekend!

The corps had a different feel to it, and one of the things that doesn’t sit well with a lot of people I know was the fact that there were people that came in as “hangers on” to attempt to get in “while the getting was good” in order to attain a championship! In my humble opinion, I think that is what hurt the corps that year. Jumping things around, and hoping that holes get filled in…one of the things that throws this season out was that our drumline never got to the potential that it COULD have reached because of the late start we got. I honestly think that the drumline was the weakest link again that season! Listening to the recordings of finals, you can hear that the FOUR tom players out-played the EIGHT snare players, there WAS a cohesiveness to the tomline, and we were a unit that lived and breathed as one “mind” we were good, and we LIKED being good! No weak links in that tom line! We had more fun than you could imagine, and of the 8-9 years I played drum corps, I can honestly say that was the MOST FUN I EVER HAD playing toms!

I also remember the day that I talked Dan (Cruiser) into joining. He was playing in, I think Black Diamond Regiment/Pioneer Scouts, and hanging out with Cedar Crests indoor line that fall. Someone told me he was a tom player, and knowing that we were “one short” because one of the people that came for those practices left before we could get him to reach his potential, I pounced on him at an indoor show…he claimed that he wasn’t talented enough, and he had a lot of work to do…BULL! I had seen him puttering around on a set of CC’s drums, and he had enough chops to make it! (easily) I got him to come to practice and the rest was history! His BIGGEST contribution was the stick moves that we seemed to do whenever we had a tacit of more than about 2-3 notes! Everything was choreographed with our hands and feet, and we looked and sounded good! What a fun year to be in that tomline!

There were a lot of people that came to the corps that had the idea that "if they were THAT close in 82, they're going to WIN in 83" and they (IMHO) HURT our chances! (no names mentioned...please don't ask, either) I REALLY thought that 83 was going to be different, but there were too many forces working against us, and I was getting BURNT OUT! BY the time finals came along, I know a lot of people that were ready to walk away for at least a while...me being one of them!