Michael Boo Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Not at all. Okay, I'll illustrate Golden Age of Drum Corps in a different way. Consider the term Golden Age of Hollywood, universally accepted to refer to the era before all the movie industry's technological advances now commonplace such as nearly-universal color photography, stereophonic multi-channel sound, computer-generated animation, three-dimensional projection, even reclining theatre seats and trans-fat-free popcorn. The Golden Age of Radio ended long before stereo FM, traffic reports, instant news, "Top Forty", solid-state electronics, Ipods, satellites and all the rest. The Golden Age of Television was live and unedited on two or three black-and-white channels that signed off at 11 pm. I discount technology as a meaningful influence on what makes an era especially meaningful. As I see it, according to the above explanation, the Golden Age of Hollywood was back when theaters only played one movie at a time because there were no multi-plexes...and if one wanted to see a different movie, one had to drive to a town many miles away, the Golden Age of Radio was when everyone had to gather around a tinny speaker to listen to a broadcast and few people had radios in their cars and no one could listen yet on transistor radios that allowed listening with mobility, and Golden Age of Television was when we got to stare at test patterns all night long on television sets that had round tubes and controls for horizontal and vertical hold. Am I close? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Not at all. Okay, I'll illustrate Golden Age of Drum Corps in a different way. Consider the term Golden Age of Hollywood, universally accepted to refer to the era before all the movie industry's technological advances now commonplace such as nearly-universal color photography, stereophonic multi-channel sound, computer-generated animation, three-dimensional projection, even reclining theatre seats and trans-fat-free popcorn. The Golden Age of Radio ended long before stereo FM, traffic reports, instant news, "Top Forty", solid-state electronics, Ipods, satellites and all the rest. The Golden Age of Television was live and unedited on two or three black-and-white channels that signed off at 11 pm. I discount technology as a meaningful influence on what makes an era especially meaningful. The Golden Age of Hollywood, from the end of the silent era into the late 50's describes a time when Hollywood studios were the kings of film. It was more about the absolute control the studios exerted over every aspect of film production from start to finish to distribution. It is not tied to the idea of that era being of the highest quality ever...it was the era of maximum control by the studios, that's all. Actors were signed to contracts at a fraction of their value to the finished products, and they were not free to work elsewhere, unless the studio decided to loan them out, as one example of the power of the studios. The Golden age of Radio, from the 20's into the 50's, merely refers to the time when radio was the primary vehicle people used for their personal and family entertainment in their homes. Again, it was not based on quality as the overriding factor making it Golden. The Golden Age of Television, from the late 40's to around 60, refers to the live dramas presented during that timeframe...anthology shows like the Kraft Television theater, Studio One, The Ford Theater, and others. These were more quality-based, unlike the above Film and Radio uses of the term. So...I'm not sure what you are referring to in your assertion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RASOP1 Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I believe that even if the VFW had made some accommodation to Corps needs in 1971 it would have only resulted in a short term reprieve from the problems facing most corps. Eventually the corps would have formed DCI or a DCI like organization. There were a number of factors the drove corps to the DCI decision. These included a sea change in sponsors, change in economic conditions in the US, and change in view of military type organizations. All of these changes had very negative impacts of Corps ability to survive and compete. The key issue for most corps was just “financial survival”. In the early 1960’s, the economy in the US was stable with low inflation. At that time most corps were sponsored by local organizations: VFW, AL, Catholic Church, YMCA, private businesses. As the 1960’s progressed thru the early 1970’s, the economic situation in the US changed. The Vietnam War, and later the Oil embargo pushed inflation to over 5% by 1970 and later to 9.0% in 1973. The growing unrest in the country over the Vietnam War also had an impact on organizations that were perceived to be militaristic. Corps felt this impact. Many corps lost large numbers of their most senior members to the Draft or enlistment to avoid the draft. This conflict caused many of the creative teams to try and take corps shows away from the Militaristic style dictated by the VFW and AL. This backlash continued as VFW and AL did not welcome returning Vietnam Vets into their organizations. All of these factors combined to create a “perfect storm” that put most corps in to a “critical survival” mode. Many corps lost their sponsorships and with it their base of operations (Funding, Practice facilities, winter funds, etc.). This all translated into the need for significantly different financial model for Drum Corps. Corps tried many different approaches. We began so see corps change names, merge, and fold. So while the VFW and AL had some impact. I don’t believe that “if they had changed” would have any more than a very short term impact on Drums Corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 The Golden Age of Hollywood, from the end of the silent era into the late 50's describes a time when Hollywood studios were the kings of film. It was more about the absolute control the studios exerted over every aspect of film production from start to finish to distribution. It is not tied to the idea of that era being of the highest quality ever...it was the era of maximum control by the studios, that's all. OK. So in similar fashion, the golden age of drum corps would be.... (Sometimes, the punch lines just write themselves.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 OK. So in similar fashion, the golden age of drum corps would be.... (Sometimes, the punch lines just write themselves.) Today, when the entire junior activity is controlled by DCI, if you want to use the model of the film studios. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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