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I judged in the Garden State Circuit in the mid-late 70's to around 80. There were a few timpani sections that used to crank like crazy..but they weren't hooked up to anything, so the pitches never changed! :tongue:

Whe I'd call them on it at retreat the instructor would tell me most of the judges couldn't tell the difference, and they'd receive great PA marks and comments about their marvelous timpani lines. :blink:

I was a fly on the wall during a couple of conversations that Eric and Hy had before we purchased our first two tymps. They were rather heated because Eric was not liking the idea of adding instrumentation that was not "drum corps". Once it was settled though, it was all about the music. And if you didn't have an ear, you were not in the section no matter how well you played in the section you were transitioning from.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Chicago Royal-Airs played the Paul Anka hit song "Diana" for a number of years in the very early 1960's. Although in 1965 we were the first and only drum corps to ever win the Triple crown of the drum corps nationals (CYO, VFW & American Legion) in the same year we didn't have a Contra Bass to march with until 1966. In 1967 we marched with 59 players in the horn line. We were the first corps to start using various multi-pitched base drums in 1966 and we marched with tympani's in 1968.

Nobody but the Royal Airs ever referred to the CYO, VFW and AL Nats as some sort of triple crown. I always felt that the World Open was much more of a significant title to win than the CYO, so if there ever was such a thing as a triple crown, in my mind it would have included the World Open and not the CYO which was initially only for catholic corps and usually drew a lesser slate of top corps. Besides, winning the World Open in 1965 probably was more of an achievement than even winning AL Nats, let alone comparing it to the CYO.

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Nobody but the Royal Airs ever referred to the CYO, VFW and AL Nats as some sort of triple crown. I always felt that the World Open was much more of a significant title to win than the CYO, so if there ever was such a thing as a triple crown, in my mind it would have included the World Open and not the CYO which was initially only for catholic corps and usually drew a lesser slate of top corps. Besides, winning the World Open in 1965 probably was more of an achievement than even winning AL Nats, let alone comparing it to the CYO.

I'll go as far as saying that just a few years later the triple crown would become that glorious weekend in MA. that included not only the CYO Nationals, but also the World Open and The Danny Thomas Invitational. More corps that weekend and more incredible fans assembled in one small area in the late sixties than ever before and not ever since. I don't think there were ever anything less than 35 corps in the prelims for the W.O. (I could be wrong, though!)

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I don't think there were ever anything less than 35 corps in the prelims for the W.O. (I could be wrong, though!)

From "A History of Drum & Bugle Corps" for the WO.

Prelims: 63=19, 64=42, 65=29; 66=34, 67=33, 68=41, 69=44, 70=39, 71=36, 72=no prelims, 73=33, 74=25, 75=27, 76=26, 77=25, 78=20, 79=25, 80=16, 81=18 (Bridgemen, Garfield, North Star, and Blue Stars did not have to perform in prelims), 82=19, 83=20, 84=18 That's an average of 28 each year the prelims were held for the A Class.

Edited by Ghost
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From "A History of Drum & Bugle Corps" for the WO.

Prelims: 63=19, 64=42, 65=29; 66=34, 67=33, 68=41, 69=44, 70=39, 71=36, 72=no prelims, 73=33, 74=25, 75=27, 76=26, 77=25, 78=20, 79=25, 80=16, 81=18 (Bridgemen, Garfield, North Star, and Blue Stars did not have to perform in prelims), 82=19, 83=20, 84=18 That's an average of 28 each year the prelims were held for the A Class.

Anyone notice how the prelim numbers dropped off considerably after (ahem!) the DCI era began? Interesting to note that The Crusaders practically owned the show until about 1968 and appeared in every one until 1972. Much props for that! :thumbup:

BCcirca1967.jpg

Please note also the aforementioned double bass drum configuration in this Color Presentation shot from 1967.

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From "A History of Drum & Bugle Corps" for the WO.

Prelims: 72=no prelims

Incorrect. There were 32 Class A corps in prelims, plus prelims for all-girl and Class B.

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Incorrect. There were 32 Class A corps in prelims, plus prelims for all-girl and Class B.

Since I'm the one who did the scores for the History of Drum Corps, I need to clarify the '72 prelim situation.

I can assure you I sent in the complete '72 prelim scores for publication, but an apparent glitch omitted them from the final product.

Steve Vickers virtually did all proofreading by himself, and you can imagine he was seeing numbers in his head after putting that book together.

This one slipped past us.

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Since I'm the one who did the scores for the History of Drum Corps, I need to clarify the '72 prelim situation.

I can assure you I sent in the complete '72 prelim scores for publication, but an apparent glitch omitted them from the final product.

Steve Vickers virtually did all proofreading by himself, and you can imagine he was seeing numbers in his head after putting that book together.

This one slipped past us.

LOL, my favorite glitch is the 1978 American Legion scores which state there wasn't a Senior part of the show. Either I have a vivid imagination or it was a 2 corps show (Chicago Connection/Westshoremen).

But there is soo much stuff in there that any "oops" is understandable.

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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