drumno5 Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Here was a corps that was on the verge of greatness and then BAM...Gone! Seems like it happened with a few Quebec corps...Offensive Lions, Les Etoile. Les Chatelaines too, although they won an All Girls title. Thoughts? Most likely an old, familiar story. I could be describing dozens of corps, from both the recent and distant past: Up and coming corps reaches the end of their "cycle" before getting over the hump. Membership base ages out/moves along to stronger corps/leaves the activity to pursue other interests. Local corps matures, improves and becomes more competitively ambitious, reaches a point where the organizational framework is unable to bear the strain, either administratively or financially - perhaps both. Peace, Fred O. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecoats88 Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 (edited) didn't they get busted for over age members in 1984? I remember in 1985 they had to go on 1st at all shows they competed in because of the DQ in 1984. I also remember in 1985 prelims that they went on 1st, we went on 2nd and Star went on 3rd. I understand them 1st because of the DQ, but always wondered why a brand new corps (Star) didn't go on 2nd although I think it was better for us to have gone on before Star and not after them. I also remember we had to get up incredibly early for prelims that year due to stepping off 2nd and if I remember correctly our step off time was somewhere around 8 am. Edited December 11, 2012 by bluecoats88 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 (edited) didn't they get busted for over age members in 1984? Yes they did get busted for having a TON of over age members. Their corps in '84 was like an all-star Quebec corps, and apparently they had LOTS of over age all-stars Another thing about Eclipse....according to their writeup in volume 1 of the Drum Corps World history book, they were notorious for stealing members from other Quebec corps. Edited December 12, 2012 by Northern Thunder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rd Glasgow BB Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 (edited) Before we used Phantom Regiment staff (Jim Wren, Marty Hurley) our main DCI instructor was Luc Dionne who was involved with a couple of the corps mentioned in this thread. I remember him demonstrating to our brass line how to breathe correctly by smoking a cigarette and blowing the smoke throught the horn...... wouldn't happen today! Edited December 12, 2012 by 3rd Glasgow BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guardguy89 Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 (edited) Yes they did get busted for having a TON of over age members. Their corps in '84 was like an all-star Quebec corps, and apparently they had LOTS of over age all-stars Another thing about Eclipse....according to their writeup in volume 1 of the Drum Corps World history book, they were notorious for stealing members from other Quebec corps. Hi just to clarify: 1) Yes there were overage members in '84. No there were not "A ton" - there were a couple. We weren't the only ones - but we were the only ones that got caught. We paid a heavy price for it the year after. But never used it as an excuse or complained about it - it made us a stronger, better corps 2) We never stole members from other Quebec corps - members just gravitated towards Les Eclipses once they reached a certain point with their own corps as we were the best Quebec had to offer. That made us a target - and we were often vilanized by the other corps who lost members to us. Later, Mike Edited December 13, 2012 by Guardguy89 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 just to clarify: 1) Yes there were overage members in '84. No there were not "A ton" - there were a couple. We weren't the only ones - but we were the only ones that got caught. We paid a heavy price for it the year after. But never used it as an excuse or complained about it - it made us a stronger, better corps 2) We never stole members from other Quebec corps - members just gravitated towards Les Eclipses once they reached a certain point with their own corps as we were the best Quebec had to offer. That made us a target - and we were often vilanized by the other corps who lost members to us. These were the words of Daniel Buteau, who is the most-documented journalist on Quebec drum corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guardguy89 Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 (edited) These were the words of Daniel Buteau, who is the most-documented journalist on Quebec drum corps. "Most documented" -doesn't necessarily mean "right". I was in the corps, and have been part of the Quebec drum corps scene as a member and instructor for the past 35 years - so I kind of have a better view than Daniel on this matter. Just want to put things in perspective! Later, Mike Edited December 15, 2012 by Guardguy89 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 (edited) "Most documented" -doesn't necessarily mean "right". I was in the corps, and have been part of the Quebec drum corps scene as a member and instructor for the past 35 years - so I kind of have a better view than Daniel on this matter. Just want to put things in perspective! The "ton" of overage members was MY term. Daniel's term was "a hair-raising number". Hair-raising is more than just a few. Daniel has been deeply involved in the QUE drum corps scene, having experience with many provincial corps of that era. Most-documented means he has been relied on by more people than anyone else to tell the QUE story. The number of Eclipse over-agers was not only told by Mr. Buteau. I saw three separate documentations by three separate observers (including DCI sources). I doubt they were all lying. Edited December 15, 2012 by Northern Thunder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guardguy89 Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 The "ton" of overage members was MY term. Daniel's term was "a hair-raising number". Hair-raising is more than just a few. Daniel has been deeply involved in the QUE drum corps scene, having experience with many provincial corps of that era. Most-documented means he has been relied on by more people than anyone else to tell the QUE story. The number of Eclipse over-agers was not only told by Mr. Buteau. I saw three separate documentations by three separate observers (including DCI sources). I doubt they were all lying. Well, I guess you can choose to believe whatever you choose to believe - I have marched with and taught most of Quebec's best drum corps and winterguards - but I guess I'm not an expert on the subject. Later, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindap Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Well, I guess you can choose to believe whatever you choose to believe - I have marched with and taught most of Quebec's best drum corps and winterguards - but I guess I'm not an expert on the subject. Later, Mike I’ll be as diplomatic as I can. I have A History of Drum and Bugle Corps books Volumes 1 and 2 which I enjoy. I haven’t read the books from end to end but often peruse the books as reference and to reminiscence. Volume 2 contains Alberta/British Columbia page 100-101, Quebec page 112-119, Chatelaines page 214-217, Offensive Lions page 310-311, all written by Daniel Buteau. Volume 1 contains Drum and Bugle Corps in Quebec page 355-364 written by Daniel. At least Quebec has more than 2 pages for Alberta and British Columbia! Perhaps you and I can help find the missing pieces of the puzzles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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