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What were we thinking? Stuff that didn't quite work


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OK, we all know corps staff ain't perfect so once in a while something that sounded good just didn't come across or fell flat on it's face. Have two examples from the late 70s and hope others have more.

Jr side: Madison re-doing the first half(?) of their show because it didn't work. Forget details (never heard the beginning of the season show) so hope someone will fill in.

Sr side: When Star Wars came out a techo guy named Meco did a techo/disco album of SW and it went thru the roof in sales. His next album was "Time Machine" and people thought it would be gold also. 1978 Westshoremen used the title track as their after concert number thinking it would be a surprise to have a corps playing something while it was climbing the charts.

Problem was "Time Machine" bombed so bad it's not even listed on Mecos' Wiki page. (Not kidding, I just checked.) We (Westshore) played it and NO ONE knew what the Hell we were playing. Worst dreck I ever played in my 15 years. ("Just a Gigalo" is a close second).

OK... time for the peanut gallary to open up.

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OK, we all know corps staff ain't perfect so once in a while something that sounded good just didn't come across or fell flat on it's face. Have two examples from the late 70s and hope others have more.

Jr side: Madison re-doing the first half(?) of their show because it didn't work. Forget details (never heard the beginning of the season show) so hope someone will fill in.

Sr side: When Star Wars came out a techo guy named Meco did a techo/disco album of SW and it went thru the roof in sales. His next album was "Time Machine" and people thought it would be gold also. 1978 Westshoremen used the title track as their after concert number thinking it would be a surprise to have a corps playing something while it was climbing the charts.

Problem was "Time Machine" bombed so bad it's not even listed on Mecos' Wiki page. (Not kidding, I just checked.) We (Westshore) played it and NO ONE knew what the Hell we were playing. Worst dreck I ever played in my 15 years. ("Just a Gigalo" is a close second).

OK... time for the peanut gallary to open up.

I actually liked Westshores Justa Gigalo it was a memorable David Lee Roth tune for its time humala zigada bop

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2003 SoCal Dream....the last bit of drill in the show (after "Son-of-a-#####" in "Malaga")

It was SUPPOSED to be squads of 4 rotating, followed by squads of 3m then pairs, then resolving into a block that rotated...similar to something Regiment did in the first half of the 08 show.

The problems were...1) the tempo, 2) the small radius of the rotations, 3) the instantaneous direction changes at speed, and 4) the age of those trying to do it!!

About the only time I remember it coming close to working was when we first tried it on blacktop....'cause the guys had some traction. In actual performance? not so much...we almost had a mello fall at the 2nd show...amazing recovery.

One of the reasons I was glad I was up on the podium!!

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I actually liked Westshores Justa Gigalo it was a memorable David Lee Roth tune for its time humala zigada bop

Couldn't get away from the video on MTV. Funny thing was that and Dire Straights "Money For Nothing" were THE hits that summer and were satires on MTV itself. :tongue:

OK, it wasn't that bad but the opening lead Bari(?) solo just was off to me as a closing number. That and I could hear the audience chuckle when they realized what was being played. (I was in the corner of the field wiht the American Flag section so could hear the audience better than the rest of the corps.)

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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Jr side: Madison re-doing the first half(?) of their show because it didn't work. Forget details (never heard the beginning of the season show) so hope someone will fill in.

In 1976 the Scouts actually changed the entire show.

Show #1 was Shaft, Original concert piece by Ray Bamgardt that we called "concert", a pitifully slow marching version of Mac Arthur Park, Pick Up The Pieces for a drum solo (with brass) and Mahogany for a closer.

Show #2 was Stars and Stripes, Mac Arthur Park concert, Rhapsody in Blue, Ease on Down the road (drum solo) and The Way We Were for a closer.

It was a very long summer for my age out year.

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And that Shaft number featured one of my favorite drum corps memories: at one point (can't remember exactly...it was 34 years ago!) - the color guard pressed their flag poles into the ground with their feet. On first tour in Boise - at Bronco Stadium (famous for the BLUE field), they performed that move, and the SHOT that came out of that turf was amazing - it fit perfectly with the music - everything else just stopped, and that flag move happened...with sound! (but only in Bronco stadium...as most fields were grass in the 70s...)

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Hindsight being 20/20, of course.....

1979 was my third season with DCA's Sunrisers. We had won the DCA titles in 1977 and '78, and in 1979, IMO, basically tried to replicate the 1978 show design....similar visual elements, etc., ... but with different music, for the most part.

1978 opener: English Folk Song Suite... 1979 opener: Crown Imperial. 1978 production number: Farandole... 1979 production: music from "The Wiz". 1978 exit/finale: Evergreen... 1979 finale: theme from the movie "Superman." (Our concert tune was the same both years... Malaga.)

Sounded like a good idea on the drawing board.... hey, the show design/style obviously worked quite well for us in 1978.

However..... even though we still had a strong corps in '79, in retrospect, in particular compared to what the Reading Buccaneers put on the field that year, our show design ended up seeming stale. Bucs won the title that year, we finished third (with the Hawthorne Caballeros in second). It also didn't help that, quite frankly, our horn line was a bit overconfident heading into that 1979 season.... got a little full of ourselves. Again, IMO.

Edited by Fran Haring
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