Bsader Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 I realize that 1979 was a long time ago but.....the Boston Crusader's fielded only 25 Brass player's in 1979 and yet came in tied for 12th place in the DCI prelims in GE Brass. In other words we made the finals in GE Brass with 12 sopranos, 4 mellophones, 7 baritones, and 2 contrabass finishing only .01 behind the Bayonne Bridgemen and only .03 behind SCV. Remarkable when you think that both drum corps probably had over 60 Brass players and that these 2 drum corps were not just any drum corps, they were the Bayonne Bridgemen and SCV. The #2 visual judge had us in 9th place in execution and 9th in CRE (Whatever that is). The #1 judge? He or she could be described as being a little more hyper-vigilant, biased or perhaps even accurate scoring us 17th and 23rd. The average put us in 13th overall in what was then referred to as the Marching and Maneuvering caption. I was the soprano soloist for Boston that year for the DCI prelims (3 of us rotated the solo from show to show). I only mention that I was the soloist to make the point that we liked to joke as to how we all felt as if we were playing solos in '79. Given our small size we needed to stretch our intervals out to 6 paces for a lot of the show. We certainly were in no danger of bumping into one another. You got to feeling kinda lonely out there so that it felt good to catch a glimpse of a fellow Crusader from time to time. Not too happy with my solo that show which bothers me as we all know the soloist tends to reflect how good the rest of the Brass line is. A really wimpy, paper thin high F at the end causes me particular angst. But despite the soloist you've got to admit that these could be some of the most amazing scores in the history of DCI. O.K., you don't have to admit to this but you sure as hell should. I would also like to add that as a Crusader alumni I'm very proud of the present day corp. I don't know any of you but I want to let you know that I marched 5 years with Boston and I was as crazy, obnoxious and pugilistic as any of them and yes I enjoyed a beer or two back then but we had our time and it was our corp. It your corp now! I went to a rehearsal about 10 years after I got out. I looked into the stands for a familiar face and was only able to recognize Mikey Woodall. I sat down next to him and asked him what the drum corp was all about now. His dead serious answer was...Bill, it's different now. Their nice kids. Enjoy the time you have! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAvery Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 (edited) I realize that 1979 was a long time ago but.....the Boston Crusader's fielded only 25 Brass player's in 1979 and yet came in tied for 12th place in the DCI prelims in GE Brass. In other words we made the finals in GE Brass with 12 sopranos, 4 mellophones, 7 baritones, and 2 contrabass finishing only .01 behind the Bayonne Bridgemen and only .03 behind SCV. Remarkable when you think that both drum corps probably had over 60 Brass players and that these 2 drum corps were not just any drum corps, they were the Bayonne Bridgemen and SCV. The #2 visual judge had us in 9th place in execution and 9th in CRE (Whatever that is). The #1 judge? He or she could be described as being a little more hyper-vigilant, biased or perhaps even accurate scoring us 17th and 23rd. The average put us in 13th overall in what was then referred to as the Marching and Maneuvering caption. I was the soprano soloist for Boston that year for the DCI prelims (3 of us rotated the solo from show to show). I only mention that I was the soloist to make the point that we liked to joke as to how we all felt as if we were playing solos in '79. Given our small size we needed to stretch our intervals out to 6 paces for a lot of the show. We certainly were in no danger of bumping into one another. You got to feeling kinda lonely out there so that it felt good to catch a glimpse of a fellow Crusader from time to time. Not too happy with my solo that show which bothers me as we all know the soloist tends to reflect how good the rest of the Brass line is. A really wimpy, paper thin high F at the end causes me particular angst. But despite the soloist you've got to admit that these could be some of the most amazing scores in the history of DCI. O.K., you don't have to admit to this but you sure as hell should. I would also like to add that as a Crusader alumni I'm very proud of the present day corp. I don't know any of you but I want to let you know that I marched 5 years with Boston and I was as crazy, obnoxious and pugilistic as any of them and yes I enjoyed a beer or two back then but we had our time and it was our corp. It your corp now! I went to a rehearsal about 10 years after I got out. I looked into the stands for a familiar face and was only able to recognize Mikey Woodall. I sat down next to him and asked him what the drum corp was all about now. His dead serious answer was...Bill, it's different now. Their nice kids. Enjoy the time you have! I remember you guys. I think we were on first tour together. The story around our corps was that you started the tour with 25 horns and kicked one out in Canada after he back talked an instructor. True? Edited November 25, 2013 by DAvery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esch Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Not only do I remember and still marvel at the '79 corps, but the idea of rotating the solo between three sopranos is very cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bsader Posted December 4, 2013 Author Share Posted December 4, 2013 Not true on the soprano getting thrown out but we did end up throwing out 2 snare drummers with about weeks till DCI prelims. The drum line ended up coming in 34th place. It must have been tough for them knowing that they dropped us down to 19th but it wasn't their fault. My brother was in the snare line. He was only 14 at the time but was in his 3rd season on snare. He was a 12 year old snare drummer in '77. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayfallon Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 (edited) Really good, really interesting thread about a corps that was never content to measure up to other corps' benchmarks. Some of those small corps were not because they couldn't recruit - it was because they had trouble finding Crusaders! Of all my drum corps experiences, and they have been many and varied, the Crusaders are unlike any other, including the recycled team - the Saders Senior corps. I'll say this too - wherever they got it - that was a corps for whom esprit d' corps was sometimes all they had, and even more peculiar (and not in a bad way) most of what they cared about. if they had a choice between a strong player or a strong character, they chose character every time. BOSCRU is a legend for a reason - really a number of reasons - that transcend the nuts and bolts of the drum corps activity. I swear (and I really mean this) that they would rather have taken 13th than compromise their vision of the identity of the corps. God bless 'em. No one quite like them. Edited December 4, 2013 by rayfallon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 BOSCRU Had MA license plates with those letters on them for several decades. One of them still on the garage wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Some of those small corps were not because they couldn't recruit - it was because they had trouble finding Crusaders! So true from the corps beginnings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayfallon Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Had MA license plates with those letters on them for several decades. One of them still on the garage wall. You're the guy!!! I loved those plates! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 You're the guy!!! I loved those plates! Those letters are probably available in many states. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayfallon Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 Those letters are probably available in many states. Yeah but I was in Boston from '94 to 2012 - seen it at shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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