Quadman1 Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 One more person on the lookout ain't going to hurt. We, the drumline, have beeing trying to find video, film, anything from 77 with no luck. If you happen to get lucky and come up with some, please do pm me. Regards, John Oaklands 77-80 John - By any chance, do you remember a bass drummer from Crusaders named Mark Blandford? I marched with him in Freelancers in 1982. It would be great to connect with him somehow. He was an amazingly strong rudi-bass player. Skinny little guy who hit the top bass drum harder and faster than anyone I've ever seen. He whipped our bass line into one of the best in '82. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarnia sam Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 John - By any chance, do you remember a bass drummer from Crusaders named Mark Blandford? I marched with him in Freelancers in 1982. It would be great to connect with him somehow. He was an amazingly strong rudi-bass player. Skinny little guy who hit the top bass drum harder and faster than anyone I've ever seen. He whipped our bass line into one of the best in '82. How does one forget Mark? He's one of my best friends, though I haven't seen him for 18 months. I'm in touch with his brother and I'm told he is doing fine. Mark is not one to make peace with a computer so consequently keeping in touch at a distance is difficult. He certainly was/is (he played top bass in Optimists alumni for three years) one of the best bass players ever - except when it came to wailing. I had him on that one, but then I played bottom bass in 77 and I was going to let a skinny runt out wail me. If I was going to be working with a line anywhere, he would be my first choice to work the basses. I remember when I was in Whitewater in 82, not knowing he was marching Freelancers, and realizing that only one person in the world could be playing bass #1 (this is from the top row of the stands). I went around to the back and sure enough it was Mark. At finals I again went back field and hung out with him and another guy from the drum line and watched the rest of the show from the back stands. maybe that was you. Regards and Merry Christmas, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byline Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 Neat thread. Because this came up in the BD '81 thread, I thought I would revive it. Little known piece of trivia (wish I had a video of this): Oakland's snare line spun rifles during first tour in '77. It was dropped because they couldn't get it cleaned up, but Mike Kilburn, a good friend of mine from Cavaliers, could never stop talking about it. He always told me, "I'm surprised your whole guard isn't on rifle. If your drum line had to spin rifle, then surely your whole guard would, too!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommytimp Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 Neat thread. Because this came up in the BD '81 thread, I thought I would revive it.Little known piece of trivia (wish I had a video of this): Oakland's snare line spun rifles during first tour in '77. It was dropped because they couldn't get it cleaned up, but Mike Kilburn, a good friend of mine from Cavaliers, could never stop talking about it. He always told me, "I'm surprised your whole guard isn't on rifle. If your drum line had to spin rifle, then surely your whole guard would, too!" I like the idea that that snareline had to drop a section of the show because they couldn't get it clean enough. Certainly can't say that about the book. Exposure to Error up the guz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarnia sam Posted August 27, 2010 Share Posted August 27, 2010 (edited) I like the idea that that snareline had to drop a section of the show because they couldn't get it clean enough. Certainly can't say that about the book. Exposure to Error up the guz. They did spin in one show only. It did get a tick if I remember correctly. One tick was enough for Tom to take it out. All that practice and poof. By the way, me and Mark Blandford (mentioned above in this thread) practised throwing 8s at the end of the show. We were either end of the bass line and we would unhook get handed a rifle and throw them. Never dropped them either. We never had much hope it would go into the show, and of course it didn't. (could have been the snares were jealous we could do more than just spin for one tick) Regards, John Edited August 27, 2010 by sarnia sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorcoly Posted August 27, 2010 Share Posted August 27, 2010 What's even more legit about Etobicoke winning drums in prelims is that John Blair and Paul Wojtena were the drum judges that year. You didn't sneak anything by either of those guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byline Posted August 27, 2010 Share Posted August 27, 2010 They did spin in one show only. It did get a tick if I remember correctly. One tick was enough for Tom to take it out. All that practice and poof. Cool. My friend Mike must've been at that one show, because when it came to Oakland, that's all he could ever talk about. As a guard person, it blew him away to see drummers spinning rifles. "And they were pretty good!" he said to me. Speaking of which: I never knew you and Mark were so proficient on rifle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarnia sam Posted August 27, 2010 Share Posted August 27, 2010 Cool. My friend Mike must've been at that one show, because when it came to Oakland, that's all he could ever talk about. As a guard person, it blew him away to see drummers spinning rifles. "And they were pretty good!" he said to me. I wish I could remember wher it was. I'm thinking Alton, but maybe not. Speaking of which: I never knew you and Mark were so proficient on rifle! Heh, Mutli-something-or-other, that was us. I used to play a sop too. Back in 72, in Sarnia, the thirds were me, my brother and Greg Mathieson (who went to Optimists) and believe it or not - Gronk. Regards, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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