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1984 Santa Clara Vanguard is DCI.org Download of the Week


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That wall of sound from the company front in The Promise of Living is still to this day, one of those most wonderful things I've ever heard done on the field. Every time I listen to it I get chills up and down my spine.

Crown did a wonderful job with it in 2009 but Vanguard's version was the one that made me go out and buy a recording of it.

What a shame the cameras on the broadcast kept focusing on pit members. I am particularly "fond" of camera angles looking up from the base of the tympani....as opposed to overhead shots of the corps.

It is really difficult to find clips from that year because of that. And don't forget all the shots of drum majors and mallet players, especially mallet players waiting to play something...and triangle players doing the same...and cameras at the bottom of pit drums looking through the drum to the person above standing there counting rests.

PS: I'm feeling much better now that I got that out of my system.

Edited by Michael Boo
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In my undergraduate days I used to blast this show through my Walkman (aging myself here) on the the way to any exam - major hype. :thumbup:

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So who took home the M&M trophy....SCV or Gahfield?

It must have been Garfield. I have a picture somewhere of me and Rick South after finals with the Jim Ott, but I don't recall seeing the M&M trophy that night, only at the hall later.

With this show SCV again showed themselves to be innovators with their percussion feature.

Innovative, but oddly un-influential. Has any corps ever attempted anything even remotely similar since then?

In my undergraduate days I used to blast this show through my Walkman (aging myself here) on the the way to any exam - major hype. :thumbup:

I went to the Philippines in January 1985 and as the plane was taxiing on the runway I was listening to SCV 84 on my Walkman. The timing worked out perfectly so that the plane started accelerating at the beginning of the company front and took off. Goosebumps. Did the same thing coming back with the end of Garfield's show (Tonight).

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It is really difficult to find clips from that year because of that. And don't forget all the shots of drum majors and mallet players, especially mallet players waiting to play something...and triangle players doing the same...and cameras at the bottom of pit drums looking through the drum to the person above standing there counting rests.

PS: I'm feeling much better now that I got that out of my system.

And don't forget snare accelerandos (sure...let's focus on the guard basically doing nothing) and her comes a company froAND NOW TO THE PIT!

83 BD Paradox, 84 Garfield front in "Tonight"...2 of the greatest video travesties. What in the HELL was the director DOING for those shots???

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And don't forget snare accelerandos (sure...let's focus on the guard basically doing nothing) and her comes a company froAND NOW TO THE PIT!

83 BD Paradox, 84 Garfield front in "Tonight"...2 of the greatest video travesties. What in the HELL was the director DOING for those shots???

Being creative.

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Another thing from '84.....how old are Garfield's uniforms?

Barbara Maroney's shako has a completely different colored chin strap as does half the corps(or is that how worn out they were?). Some of the shakos look grey.

Are the "frogs" on the wrists supposed to be white or grey?

The fact that they were champions on a shoestring budget is incredible in itself.

Edited by LincolnV
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I thought it was a nice gesture to let us take the Ott home that night as it was SCV's first. Both BD and Cadets have outstanding brass programs and have won the Ott trophy too many times to count; overall the 80's were a highwater mark for SCV's brass program and they were in the thick of it again in 97/99/01. As intensely self-critical as I am at times, for years I've often listened to the recording and thought, "Darn it, if I hadn't fracked in Tenderland (at 0:33 & I think again at 0:38 in the video clip), would we have taken the Ott outright?" As for the tymp player; hey, you have to admit, Martha WAS cute! :cool: You can see her again on the '87 DVD.

Edited by TRacer
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Another thing from '84.....how old are Garfield's uniforms?

Barbara Maroney's shako has a completely different colored chin strap as does half the corps(or is that how worn out they were?). Some of the shakos look grey.

Are the "frogs" on the wrists supposed to be white or grey?

The fact that they were champions on a shoestring budget is incredible in itself.

I can tell you that my uniform was older than I was. I think they were at least 20 years old. And when it was cleaned before finals (the only time ALL SUMMER), I couldn't tell the difference! I was so jealous that SCV had their choice of white OR green pants because our uniforms were just rags.

But the whole "shoe string budget" thing was a source of pride for all of us. We were living proof that it doesn't take money to win a championship. It's too bad that a low budget champion will probably never happen again.

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But the whole "shoe string budget" thing was a source of pride for all of us. We were living proof that it doesn't take money to win a championship. It's too bad that a low budget champion will probably never happen again.

Now a lot of corps get new uniforms every couple of years - some even less. I know several are sponsored by uniform companies so the actual cost is almost "nil" but I can't help but think how the money used for this could be better spent if the uniforms were kept just a bit longer (and I realize that calling them "uniforms" as opposed to "costumes" is an entire other debate). Aren't new uniform fabrics so much easier to keep clean than before?

Anyway, after '84 when did Garfield/Cadets-of-Bergen-Country/Cadets finally get new uniforms??

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