Who are today's "stars"?

[Cappybara]

Brandon from BD

Karis Courey from Crown because of her brother

Willie Veenstra from Bluecoats

Austin Baker from The Cavaliers

Kristen Lichtenthal from BD

Hunter Bown from Crown

Chris Lyman from Crossmen

That's all that came to mind, though a few of those have aged out.

Add Dean Patterson from Phantom Regiment to that (aged out)

[littlejaw]

Add Dean Patterson from Phantom Regiment to that (aged out)

Very true.

[MikeD]

In years past we as MM's knew who the stars of other competing corps were; Jeff Kivietz of Muchachoes, Jim Brady of Bridgemen, Jerry Noonan of Northstar, Barbara Maroney of Garfield, Rob Carson of Santa Clara, etc., etc. (please excuse any spelling errors or omissions of other MM's).

Who are the "stars" of today? There seems to be more emphasis on instructional stars and that'sOK as they are the new generation of stars. So who are the new MM stars and who are the currentinstructional/designer stars? Who is at the top of their game? Can we list the top 5 each; program or show designers, drill writers, brass writers, percussion writers, guard designers/writers in the activity today? This could help introduce many DCPers to new players in DC.

Even back in the day most of the "stars" were the instructors and staff, with the occasional MM as you show above.

[futurebluecoat]

Ben, who was a mello soloist for a few seasons at Vanguard

[BRASSO]

Even back in the day most of the "stars" were the instructors and staff, with the occasional MM as you show above.

It sort of depends on " the day ". Back in the day ( 50's, 60's ) and before DCI, a lot of the known name" stars" in the activity tended to be marchers.. sometimes from the Junior Corps ranks, but most especially in the Senior Corps ranks. Back then, the Junior Corps was exclusively for those marchers that were under age 21, and the Senior Corps was for those marchers that were exclusively over age 21. The top Senior Corps back then tended to be on par, and in some cases of better quality, than most of the Junior Corps. Since the marchers in the Junior Corps were generally newer, younger marchers, many looked up to those marchers in the Senior ranks as almost giants ... as Gods. Most every marcher in the top Junior Corps in these days could tell you who the DM's were for all the top Senior Corps, especially in the Northeast. They could tell you the names of the soloists in the top Senior Corps were too. Oftentimes, the known name " star " DM's in these Senior Corps was a staffer too. Sometimes he wrote the music, or the drill. Sometimes the soloist(s) was a staffer too. Thus, a lot the known name " stars" back then in Drum Corps were mostly the MARCHERS in the activity, not so much the non marchers. So, it would really be a totally inaccurate assessment to believe that a lot of the known name stars in Drum Corps ...during this particular 2 decade period before the formation of DCI anyway,... were the off the field " instructors " with an " occasional marcher's " name thrown into the mix. No, that would not be true at all, MikeD. Not from my personal experiences and observations anyway.

Edited May 8, 2016 by BRASSO

[MikeD]

It sort of depends on " the day ". Back in the day ( 50's, 60's ) and before DCI, a lot of the known name" stars" in the activity tended to be marchers.. sometimes from the Junior Corps ranks, but most especially in the Senior Corps ranks. Back then, the Junior Corps was exclusively for those marchers that were under age 21, and the Senior Corps was for those marchers that were exclusively over age 21. The top Senior Corps back then tended to be on par, and in some cases of better quality, than most of the Junior Corps. Since the marchers in the Junior Corps were generally newer, younger marchers, many looked up to those marchers in the Senior ranks as almost giants ... as Gods. Most every marcher in the top Junior Corps in these days could tell you who the DM's were for all the top Senior Corps, especially in the Northeast. They could tell you the names of the soloists in the top Senior Corps were too. Oftentimes, the known name " star " DM's in these Senior Corps was a staffer too. Sometimes he wrote the music, or the drill. Sometimes the soloist(s) was a staffer too. Thus, a lot the known name " stars" back then in Drum Corps were mostly the MARCHERS in the activity, not so much the non marchers. So, it would really be a totally inaccurate assessment to believe that a lot of the known name stars in Drum Corps ...during this particular 2 decade period before the formation of DCI anyway,... were the off the field " instructors " with an " occasional marcher's " name thrown into the mix. No, that would not be true at all, MikeD. Not from my personal experiences and observations anyway.

I would agree that the senior corps MM had a lot of name recognition, but IMO in the junior world of the mid-60's when I started to learn about drum corps, it was still the staffs that in general were the "names". I was a drummer in NJ, so I knew the names like Bobby Thompson, Danny Raymond, Eric Perriloux (sp?), Gerry Shelmer George Tuthill, Les Parks, Joe Marella, John Flowers. Even some of the brass guys like John Sasso, Don Angelica, Dick Burns, Larry Kirchner, Tom Swan teaching half the corps in the GSC, Gus Wilkie, Hy Dreitzer..Truman Crawford, and others.

While we liked the great senior corps of that time, at least by my era I don't recall any of us thinking of them as giants or gods. Great corps in some cases? Oh, absolutely.

.

Edited May 9, 2016 by MikeD

[BRASSO]

I would agree that the senior corps MM had a lot of name recognition, but IMO in the junior world of the mid-60's when I started to learn about drum corps, it was still the staffs that in general were the "names". I was a drummer in NJ, so I knew the names like Bobby Thompson, Danny Raymond, Eric Perriloux (sp?), Gerry Shelmer George Tuthill, Les Parks, Joe Marella, John Flowers. Even some of the brass guys like John Sasso, Don Angelica, Dick Burns, Larry Kirchner, Tom Swan teaching half the corps in the GSC, Gus Wilkie, Hy Dreitzer..Truman Crawford, and others.

While we liked the great senior corps of that time, at least by my era I don't recall any of us thinking of them as giants or gods. Great corps in some cases? Oh, absolutely.

.

Its funny, but even about half the names you mentioned here, MikD were known to be marchers in the Corps that they instructed... while they instructed. Shelmar, Flowers, Sasso, Angelica, Burns, Swan, Dreitzer, Notaro, all were marching Senior Corps while simultaneously instructing that Corps, and in some cases, writing for Junior Corps... and in some cases, several Junior Corps. So they were known to many fans as marching stars. They taught, but most marched in Drum Corps, simultaneously as they taught. Angelica, Swan, Dreitzer for example were featured soloists in their Senior Corps that they were on the staffs with. Most fans... even out of state, knew who Blessed Sac( Junior Corps ) DM's were ( Jones, Kennedy )... knew who Hightower was ( St. Catherine's Bari ), knew who St. Lucy's DM was, Cabs DM ( Ralph Silverbrand.. Jimmy D'Amico soloist ) ) Reilly Raiders ( Bill Hooten ) and dozens of other marchers in NY/ NJ Junior, Senior Corps.... and in N.E. just about every fan knew that Joe Gennaro was both the brass arranger as well as the lead DM for the Connecticut Hurricanes. Everybody knew who Harvey Olderman ( Guard marcher ) was. I saw young Drum Corps fans asking for, and receiving Olderman's autograph at Mission Drums, Boston on one occasion.. As for the Junior Corps is Massachusetts, most everybody knew that Stokinger was BAC's DM, Jimmy Cenorino was BAC ( then later R.I Matador's Senior Corps.. along with Richie Price ) soprano soloist, Elinor Mc Carthy was Reveries DM, Richie Pelletier was Cardinals DM, Cargo Brennan played " Now & Forever " closer for Majestic Knights, Ike Ianessa was DM for Cambridge Cabs, Wally Curtis was DM for Kevins, and the names of dozens of all the other soloists, DM's for the Junior Corps... and just in the the Boston region alone. This is because in Boston there was a weekly radio show where fans tuned in , and many of the marcher stars were brought on the radio show for live interviews. Plus there was Drum Corps News, Drum Corps Digest where the regional coverage writers had pictures of the marcher stars with their names prominently displayed. Finally, the Boston Globe had a reporter, Herb Cole, than ran a monthly full column with the reporting on the offseason, and the names of the new soloists, DM's etc included. And in the mid 60's the Boston Herald ran a weekly magazine pulllout section with stories, pictures, and names of soloists, DM's on all the local Boston region Drum Corps. So, Yes, marchers were known stars with fans, with their names known throughout the region within the Drum Corps niche fan base.... prior to the DCI years.

Edited May 9, 2016 by BRASSO

[FlamMan]

When you talk about performers we don't see the same soloist in multiple seasons with the same corps as in the people you mentioned. Back in that day we did.

Exactly. The stars BITD like Robbie, Bonnie & Jim were fixtures with their corps.

[Michael Boo]

Jezz,... how'd I forget David Gibbs ( Blue Devils ) Steve" Rondo" Rondinaro, Dennis Delucia ( TV analysts ) and Michael Cesario ( DCI Consultant ) ? I was thinking of adding Mike Boo to the list of current adult stars in DCI, but that would require some payola from him.

How much?

[MikeD]

Its funny, but even about half the names you mentioned here, MikD were known to be marchers in the Corps that they instructed... while they instructed. Shelmar, Flowers, Sasso, Angelica, Burns, Swan, Dreitzer, Notaro, all were marching Senior Corps while simultaneously instructing that Corps, and in some cases, writing for Junior Corps... and in some cases, several Junior Corps. So they were known to many fans as marching stars. They taught, but most marched in Drum Corps, simultaneously as they taught. Angelica, Swan, Dreitzer for example were featured soloists in their Senior Corps that they were on the staffs with. Most fans... even out of state, knew who Blessed Sac( Junior Corps ) DM's were ( Jones, Kennedy )... knew who Hightower was ( St. Catherine's Bari ), knew who St. Lucy's DM was, Cabs DM ( Ralph Silverbrand.. Jimmy D'Amico soloist ) ) Reilly Raiders ( Bill Hooten ) and dozens of other marchers in NY/ NJ Junior, Senior Corps.... and in N.E. just about every fan knew that Joe Gennaro was both the brass arranger as well as the lead DM for the Connecticut Hurricanes. Everybody knew who Harvey Olderman ( Guard marcher ) was. I saw young Drum Corps fans asking for, and receiving Olderman's autograph at Mission Drums, Boston on one occasion.. As for the Junior Corps is Massachusetts, most everybody knew that Stokinger was BAC's DM, Jimmy Cenorino was BAC ( then later R.I Matador's Senior Corps.. along with Richie Price ) soprano soloist, Elinor Mc Carthy was Reveries DM, Richie Pelletier was Cardinals DM, Cargo Brennan played " Now & Forever " closer for Majestic Knights, Ike Ianessa was DM for Cambridge Cabs, Wally Curtis was DM for Kevins, and the names of dozens of all the other soloists, DM's for the Junior Corps... and just in the the Boston region alone. This is because in Boston there was a weekly radio show where fans tuned in , and many of the marcher stars were brought on the radio show for live interviews. Plus there was Drum Corps News, Drum Corps Digest where the regional coverage writers had pictures of the marcher stars with their names prominently displayed. Finally, the Boston Globe had a reporter, Herb Cole, than ran a monthly full column with the reporting on the offseason, and the names of the new soloists, DM's etc included. And in the mid 60's the Boston Herald ran a weekly magazine pulllout section with stories, pictures, and names of soloists, DM's on all the local Boston region Drum Corps. So, Yes, marchers were known stars with fans, with their names known throughout the region within the Drum Corps niche fan base.... prior to the DCI years.

Again, most of the above is about senior corps, where I agree that more individuals were known than in Junior. The junior names you mention are primarily in the Boston area, where you came from, so sure, I'd expect you would know some of the names. The only thing I knew about Ianessa, for instance, is that he was 27th's visual guy; I never knew his name as a marching member anyplace.

I would doubt that very many kids marching in my NJ area would have known a lot of those Boston area junior corps names, let alone kids marching in Chicago, Kansas or California. I knew a few names from my area, primarily DM names as they were announced at shows, but certainly not as giants or gods...just names if I saw the corps enough. Could not give you any names from the 60's of California MMs.

We will disagree on this topic, for sure.