oldtimefan Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 (edited) ok, so my time is going on in this surgical rehab and I finally got to my last season in DCI and it was 1984. I marched with the Sky Ryders that year. I had several choices prior to joining. It was around mid may and I decided I was marching. I had already marched with Guardsmen and the Colts. Guardsmen had folded and I wanted to do something away from home. Ye old Drum Corps newspaper had ads stating that Troopers, Crossmen, Sky Ryders and several other corps were looking for members yet. I contacted both Crossmen and Sky. Both got back and said they had cymbal spots open.I LOVE cymbals, and that is my preferred thing. I looked back on the style and decided it was to be Sky. I got a train ticket and off to Hutch it was. While we placed in a pretty poor spot at semifinals, I would NEVER change a thing. I had the best summer of my life. So many stories, but I will focus on my dvd watching so far today. I am skipping the regular top dogs and going straight to the Cavaliers. Thank you for your closer. The Rome.....fountains or pines???? don't cIare it was AWSOME!!!!! I was in love with that song and your way of doing it. We toured with you quite a bit and lined up for the finale with you often. I chatted with your cymbal line every night. They were cool as hell. After that Cavies came Crossmen, 27th and VK. I will not say anything bad, but I didn't have anything really remarkable to bring up...Troopers up next. You guys were our "back and forth battle corps" most of the year, and on watching your semifinals performance, I have no idea how we were even close. You guys were on fire and should have been right on the Cavies heals. I watched in amazement at the many standing O's and the crowd just waiting for your next build. Your marching was right on, the music sounded crisp. Well done. Why you ended in 13th is just wrong. No disrespect to others, its just my opinion. Before you want to think I am slamming those in front of them, remember, this is coming form a corps that was in absolute HATE of them all season. Yes, it was a battle. Yes, I said hate. We hated each other, but they deserved to be well ahead of us. Now for my own Sky critique. We started out strong on the first few bars and then the rain started POURING. You can hear the timps go FLAT. Horns started playing like crap, drums got flack all year long as the reason the corps was out of the running, ( yet we took our first score and doubled it by the end of the season ) but the sound on the dvds doesn't lie. Soloists blew it. Our colorguard was super all year long. One of the best, ( I even watched them every chence I could and had one of the guys teach me to spin ) yet after the rain, they had lots of trouble making catches and holding on to the flags. It is very noticable on the tapes. The music sounds great, the marching looks crisp, but to the the people that marched it all year long.....this was NOT a very good run through and the ending we reworked prior to semis fell completely apart. The rainbow barely got half way up and the ballons didn't go up at all. We blew it and the weather was part of the reason. Either way, we knew the minute we got off that field, it was over for us. That said, I want to thank those I marched with. They had some of the best talent and heart I ever met. They worked their butts off and were constantly faced with adversity. One point in our tour we were beating Crossmen. We had one day off and when we came back somehow the judges thought we were five points BETTER, ( we spent the day off doing laundry ) and the Crossmen were around TWELVE POINTS BETTER. In little over 24 hours. Not saying it was right or wrong. It never changed from that point on, and the vets, never let us forget that the judges decide the numbers, but we decide each day how hard we work to better ourselves. We decide how much we entertain the crowd. No one quit. What a year. More about the shows of that year tomorrow maybe after I watch them. I have every corps from the entire seasons semifinals......can't wait. Anybody else have some 84 memoires to share? I would love to hear them. Edited August 28, 2013 by oldtimefan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimefan Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 ok, so my time is going on in this surgical rehab and I finally got to my last season in DCI and it was 1984. I marched with the Sky Ryders that year. I had several choices prior to joining. It was around mid may and I decided I was marching. I had already marched with Guardsmen and the Colts. Guardsmen had folded and I wanted to do something away from home. Ye old Drum Corps newspaper had ads stating that Troopers, Crossmen, Sky Ryders and several other corps were looking for members yet. I contacted both Crossmen and Sky. Both got back and said they had cymbal spots open.I LOVE cymbals, and that is my preferred thing. I looked back on the style and decided it was to be Sky. I got a train ticket and off to Hutch it was. While we placed in a pretty poor spot at semifinals, I would NEVER change a thing. I had the best summer of my life. So many stories, but I will focus on my dvd watching so far today. I am skipping the regular top dogs and going straight to the Cavaliers. Thank you for your closer. The Rome.....fountains or pines???? don't cIare it was AWSOME!!!!! I was in love with that song and your way of doing it. We toured with you quite a bit and lined up for the finale with you often. I chatted with your cymbal line every night. They were cool as hell. After that Cavies came Crossmen, 27th and VK. I will not say anything bad, but I didn't have anything really remarkable to bring up...Troopers up next. You guys were our "back and forth battle corps" most of the year, and on watching your semifinals performance, I have no idea how we were even close. You guys were on fire and should have been right on the Cavies heals. I watched in amazement at the many standing O's and the crowd just waiting for your next build. Your marching was right on, the music sounded crisp. Well done. Why you ended in 13th is just wrong. No disrespect to others, its just my opinion. Before you want to think I am slamming those in front of them, remember, this is coming form a corps that was in absolute HATE of them all season. Yes, it was a battle. Yes, I said hate. We hated each other, but they deserved to be well ahead of us. Now for my own Sky critique. We started out strong on the first few bars and then the rain started POURING. You can hear the timps go FLAT. Horns started playing like crap, drums got flack all year long as the reason the corps was out of the running, ( yet we took our first score and doubled it by the end of the season ) but the sound on the dvds doesn't lie. Soloists blew it. Our colorguard was super all year long. One of the best, ( I even watched them every chence I could and had one of the guys teach me to spin ) yet after the rain, they had lots of trouble making catches and holding on to the flags. It is very noticable on the tapes. The music sounds great, the marching looks crisp, but to the the people that marched it all year long.....this was NOT a very good run through and the ending we reworked prior to semis fell completely apart. The rainbow barely got half way up and the ballons didn't go up at all. We blew it and the weather was part of the reason. Either way, we knew the minute we got off that field, it was over for us. That said, I want to thank those I marched with. They had some of the best talent and heart I ever met. They worked their butts off and were constantly faced with adversity. One point in our tour we were beating Crossmen. We had one day off and when we came back somehow the judges thought we were five points BETTER, ( we spent the day off doing laundry ) and the Crossmen were around TWELVE POINTS BETTER. In little over 24 hours. Not saying it was right or wrong. It never changed from that point on, and the vets, never let us forget that the judges decide the numbers, but we decide each day how hard we work to better ourselves. We decide how much we entertain the crowd. No one quit. What a year. More about the shows of that year tomorrow maybe after I watch them. I have every corps from the entire seasons semifinals......can't wait. Anybody else have some 84 memoires to share? I would love to hear them. Almost no sense in posting any further on the rest of the field from 84, it seems no one else has anything to share? I have the dvd of the top 22, and there were a lot of interesting things to see and hear. Colts had four drum sets on the front line. Boston had a very small corps and a very strong corps. They were Boston strong long before the term came out. Anyway, if anyone cares, let me know, and we can discuss any of the corps. I have them on dvd and will gladly talk about them. Anyone march any of them and not have yourself on dvd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 A few things stand out for me in '84: Garfield!!!! The whole show, but especially that solo by Barb Maroney in "I Have a Love". Blue Devils! "Latin Implosion"! Santa Clara! The debut of white pants! Suncoast Sound! WOW!!!!! Phantom! "1812 Overture"! Too bad it was too humid for the cannon fire all of the times I saw them. Freelancers! "Live from Sacramento.....The Freelancers!" "With You I'm Born Again"! Spirit! "Blues in the Night"! Madison! "Waltz of the Mushroom Hunters"! Velvet Knights! "All Night Long"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottgordon Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 (edited) 1984 - my favorite year! Music from all corps was so intense from the top on down. Loved ALL the corps.! Still the recordings I listen to the most. Biggest applause is obvious on the recordings... Troopers closing push. Edited August 28, 2013 by scottgordon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimefan Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Was anyone there as a spectator? Just wondering if we "Sky Ryders" were the only ones to rained on. I watch my dvds and it appears that way. I am in awe of some of the sounds from some of the smaller corps and wish I had the rest of the shows. The only complaint? My dvds are in rough shape. Valley Fever looks like they are ghosts and if memory serves correct, they had brownish unis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottgordon Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Wasn't that the year that SCV's umbrellas opened just as the sprinkles started? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimefan Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Wasn't that the year that SCV's umbrellas opened just as the sprinkles started? For prelims? That would have been perfect. I didnt get to stick around. We headed back to our school and we were staying almost an hour away. That rain for sure hurt us. Who knows how much, but if you look at scores, finals were pretty much set, but 13th on out was all over the place every night of the week. There were 2 point nightly swings going on. We would beat Troopers and the next night they were up by three? One of the corps in 15 or 16 was DQ'd for marching over age members, I don't remember which one and it truly doesn't matter 30 years later. It isn't like it took away a finals spot or a championship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Was anyone there as a spectator? Just wondering if we "Sky Ryders" were the only ones to rained on. I watch my dvds and it appears that way. I am in awe of some of the sounds from some of the smaller corps and wish I had the rest of the shows. The only complaint? My dvds are in rough shape. Valley Fever looks like they are ghosts and if memory serves correct, they had brownish unis. From what I remember, the rain started in the second half of the Freelancers show, and continued as Sky Ryders came on next. I think it stopped before the next corps (SCV). The Valley Fever uniform from 1983 on was a white top and grey pants. Maroon trim might disappear on low resolution video and leave them looking as you describe. They did wear tan/brown shirts in earlier years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimefan Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 (edited) From what I remember, the rain started in the second half of the Freelancers show, and continued as Sky Ryders came on next. I think it stopped before the next corps (SCV). The Valley Fever uniform from 1983 on was a white top and grey pants. Maroon trim might disappear on low resolution video and leave them looking as you describe. They did wear tan/brown shirts in earlier years. Fever unis...thanks, I know they wore tan at one time, but the video I have is all high angle they look like straight ghosts. As for the rain, nope, it may have rained on the Freelancers, I can't comment because the video of them is from finals, but it was not raining on us until we hit about the 16th count of the show. The video even shows people get up and start running for the exits. Its kind of comical. Also, my last post might have looked like a put down as to "we could have beaten Troop". I don't think we would have after watching the video. I even said, that I think they maybe should have been in finals and they in fact kind of missed out. Edited August 29, 2013 by oldtimefan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Blue Devils! "Latin Implosion"! Really??? Not "La Fiesta"? "Latin was my least fave of the 4 brass charts we played that year. Not that I disliked it at all...I enjoyed playing it...but it didn't stand out to me as much as the other 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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