Liahona Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 And their uniform combination when they became The Thing perfectly matched their name. A perfect blend of green and purple??? The green came from the St. Patrick's Imperials, while the purple came from the Thunderbolts half of the merger. LOL....Pioneer should have kept that name..."The Thing"...I love it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonW Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 (edited) Yup, Wisconsin. Imperials of St. Patrick's (Milwaukee) and Mercury Thunderbolts (Cedarburg) merged to make "The Thing". We competed against them several times, and if I remember correctly, the hornline wore the Imperials green/white unis and the guard and drums wore the silver/red of the Thunderbolts. I do remember they were massive on the field - so many bodies! Between the colors and the size, nothing but "The Thing" could describe them! edit: JUst read NT's post - I don't remember purple but, there are plenty of things I don't remember correctly Edited July 14, 2011 by Tin Guardian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roark1 Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Blue Devils Bell and Drum Corps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 (edited) And their uniform combination when they became The Thing perfectly matched their name. A perfect blend of green and purple??? The green came from the St. Patrick's Imperials, while the purple came from the Thunderbolts half of the merger. Yes. I remember seeing them for the first time at The World Open competition. Wow, the uniform sure was an eye opener re. the colors and whatnot, just like you said. When they were ready to step off and the announcer of the show said " Ladies and Gentlemen, taking the field for competition, The Thing !"... It sure was an interesting name I thought to myself. Edited July 14, 2011 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecoats88 Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Pioneer technically has a corporate based name. The Pioneer Container Company sponsored the new corps after it was formed from the Imperials of St. Patrick and The Mercury Thunderbolts. There is absolutely no connection between the company and the corps today, I don't know if the company even still exists. Also, I think Minnesota Brass had a "corporate" name back during its early days, Grain Belt Diamonds, I believe was their name. Also the Railmen were sponsored by the Rail company in Omaha NE which is why they are the Railmen, or were the railmen since they no longer exist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Yes. I remember seeing them for the first time at The World Open competition. Wow, the uniform sure was an eye opener re. the colors and whatnot, just like you said. When they were ready to step off and the announcer of the show said " Ladies and Gentlemen, taking the field for competition, The Thing !"... It sure was an interesting name I thought to myself. I have a recording of the show in Minneapolis in 1973 (Blue Stars topped Madison) which was the first time that I saw The Thing. As soon as a guy sitting in front of me heard the announcer give their unusual name, you can hear him remark, "Why don't they just call them the No Name Drum Corps?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liahona Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 A few I like... Annunciators from Cambridge/Somerville, MA Apollo from Vancouver, WA Ascension Boys from Minnesota Bath Cadets from Bath, Maine Blue Wanderers from Blue Point, NY Brass Regiment from Park Falls, WI Buddhist Scouts from Seattle, WA Flashing Lassies from Monterey Park, CA General Butler Vagabonds from Lyndora, PA Hotshots from Norwalk, CT (my home town) Little Flower from Baltimore, MD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Don-O Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Corpsreps.com has a very large searchable database of historic corps, many of which even a lot of us dinosaurs weren't around to see. For you young'ns it's a great resource for historic show repertoires and scores as well. Some of these I knew before and some I did not: 84th Bucktail Regiment Ajax Sea Cadet Bugle Band Alamo Rangers Appleknockers Belleville Bellettes Bengal Lancers Black Barons Black Shields of Sparta Blue Wanderers Bordentown Little Devils Bluffton Pirates That's not even all the way through Letter B - I won't bore you with the rest of the list but go take a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 (edited) I have a recording of the show in Minneapolis in 1973 (Blue Stars topped Madison) which was the first time that I saw The Thing. As soon as a guy sitting in front of me heard the announcer give their unusual name, you can hear him remark, "Why don't they just call them the No Name Drum Corps?" You should've replied... " maybe you should shut up and join the thing " (haha) Edited July 14, 2011 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobrien Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 (edited) LOL....Pioneer should have kept that name..."The Thing"...I love it... I think they should ditch everything having to do with "Pioneer" and the faux Irish elements of their uniform and persona, and yes, become "The Thing" again, with a programming philosophy that says 'conventions? what conventions?" I suspect they might find a few more kids in the area willing to spend a summer having fun with a corps that kind of attitude. Edited July 14, 2011 by mobrien Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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