Question about scores

[Hook'emCavies]

Last night when the first scores of the season were announced I couldn't help but think how did people get up to date scores back in the 70's and 80's. We have the internet now to post live scores but how did DCI spread the word in those days? And I am not sure if this topic was ever done before (more than likely) but it's something that I don't know.

[84BDsop]

Word of mouth...DC World....the 800 score line.

We DID have communication methods back in the day.

[Super Don-O]

1 - If you knew someone who was touring they could call you using a pay phone (remember those?)

2- You could subscribe to Drum Corps World, a weekly newspaper (printed on real paper) that carried scores, reviews and articles. You could also buy back issues from a lot of corps souvie booths.

3- for a while DCI had a pay-per-call phone number with a recorded message of that night's scores

Those are what I remember from the mid-to-late-80s

In the 90's with the explosion of the internet there was RAMD (rec.arts.marching.drumcorps) a usenet group where folks would post scores, reviews, rants, and argue a lot

Dinosaurs even older than me may be able to add earlier stuff

[kaiser]

As a competitor, sometimes it was cool to not know scores form other corps, and just worry about your own! Trying to beat your score from the night before.

As a fan, it was usually a day or two later, after you called your buds that attended different shows around the region. And remember, it was very regional back then. Especially early in the season. Oh yeah, there were no cell phones then. Just CB's LOL

And yes, I am a dinosaur!!!

jk

[noneofyourbusiness]

Or you could do what is still possible today: Call the DCI judges office and ask for the scores for the next three weeks. They have them on file .

[soccerguy315]

came in the telegraph delivery at some point during the next week or via courier depending on how rested the horses were, etc

Edited June 19, 2010 by soccerguy315

[Peel Paint]

It was generally slower than today's instant coast-to-coast flash.

[Cop]

Drum Corps World... you would get an update on the first two weeks of shows.... and find out what music each drum corps had selected.....

The first year I tracked was 1980

[AlexL]

Its a little known fact that Alexander Graham bell invented the telephone to facilitate the faster spread of drum corps scores.

Years later, another man named Al Gore would follow in his footsteps, and invent the internet to speed the release of scores even further.

[BRASSO]

Last night when the first scores of the season were announced I couldn't help but think how did people get up to date scores back in the 70's and 80's. We have the internet now to post live scores but how did DCI spread the word in those days? And I am not sure if this topic was ever done before (more than likely) but it's something that I don't know.

People did a Charles Barkley like TV commercial gig :

" Momma, pick up the phone.......Momma....PICK UP THE PHONE !!! "

Edited June 19, 2010 by BRASSO