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What do you miss the most about The 1970's? 80's?


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Why was this decade so great for drum corps? What pulled you into the activity and stay with it?

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Why was it great?  

1. I had hair.

2. I had a cool car to go to rehearsals. 

3. Much simpler times. No political correctness, no social media, peer pressure came the old fashioned way( "Hey, try *this*!" )

 

What pulled me in and kept me there?

1. Travel without Mom in the car slapping me with a fly swatter every time I acted up.

2. The same people I play poker with regularly 40+ years later.

3. I loved playing the snare drum and performing. 

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I loved going to rehearsals 2 nights a week and loading up on a bus Saturday morning to go to a show in NY, PA, OH or Ontario. Being with 60 to 100 friends is pretty cool! Sweating your butt off to get better at marching and playing is priceless. We ate at fast food places ALL the time! We drank soda/pop and water wasn't a big deal then (different times). We competed against a lot of corps and usually different corps every week. One Saturday you could see Derry Patriots, Cambria Cadets, Precious Blood Cardinals, Royal Crusaders and the Buckeyes. Next Saturday....Squires, Greece Cadets, Syracuse Marauders, Mello Dears, Alpine Girls, Mark Twain Cadets. Next Saturday....Opti-Lancers, Seneca Princemen, Etobicoke Crusaders, Durham Girls, St. Johns Girls, Flying Dutchmen. Then off to Marion, OH and Butler, PA to compete against 30 plus corps that you haven't been up against before. 

 

What kept me in?  

    I was the oldest of 5. Although I played sports with my friends a lot, my mother wouldn't let me play football or hockey. My father was an alcoholic and the more I could stay away with that the better I was. My dad was just not home and was never abusive. I just didn't have a father that I could talk to. My "father"was the corps director (John Hathaway) and some of the other dad's that helped out. I loved playing and marching and the fact I had so many friends, some of which I went to school with. After I served in the Army I continued to instruct but over 10 years ago I lost interest. I hated going against the same corps every show. There was no variety as many corps died off and it became boring. If you know me you know that it's never about accolades and definitely NOT an ego thing. I will never be in any hall of fame for drum corps. What I did as a marching member and an educator means more to me than anything. I didn't march with a DCI top 12 corps, I marched with an "A" Class corps from upstate NY that I enjoyed as a teenager! I learned from some great people and hopefully it helped me to be a better person.

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BTW....I used to love hearing the stories about Upstate NY corps from Dick Hoppe and Tom Peashey! Talk about a wealth of information! They should write a book!

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My hair. I miss the hair I had in the 1970s and '80s. :tongue:

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I miss that all aspects of military bearing are gone.  That’s what pulled me in in the 70’s. What kept me there, like everyone probably, were  the friendships and working together for a common goal. Those friendships are still there 45 years later.

 

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On 10/7/2019 at 4:18 AM, KeithHall said:

I loved going to rehearsals 2 nights a week and loading up on a bus Saturday morning to go to a show in NY, PA, OH or Ontario. Being with 60 to 100 friends is pretty cool! Sweating your butt off to get better at marching and playing is priceless. We ate at fast food places ALL the time! We drank soda/pop and water wasn't a big deal then (different times). We competed against a lot of corps and usually different corps every week. One Saturday you could see Derry Patriots, Cambria Cadets, Precious Blood Cardinals, Royal Crusaders and the Buckeyes. Next Saturday....Squires, Greece Cadets, Syracuse Marauders, Mello Dears, Alpine Girls, Mark Twain Cadets. Next Saturday....Opti-Lancers, Seneca Princemen, Etobicoke Crusaders, Durham Girls, St. Johns Girls, Flying Dutchmen. Then off to Marion, OH and Butler, PA to compete against 30 plus corps that you haven't been up against before. 

 

What kept me in?  

    I was the oldest of 5. Although I played sports with my friends a lot, my mother wouldn't let me play football or hockey. My father was an alcoholic and the more I could stay away with that the better I was. My dad was just not home and was never abusive. I just didn't have a father that I could talk to. My "father"was the corps director (John Hathaway) and some of the other dad's that helped out. I loved playing and marching and the fact I had so many friends, some of which I went to school with. After I served in the Army I continued to instruct but over 10 years ago I lost interest. I hated going against the same corps every show. There was no variety as many corps died off and it became boring. If you know me you know that it's never about accolades and definitely NOT an ego thing. I will never be in any hall of fame for drum corps. What I did as a marching member and an educator means more to me than anything. I didn't march with a DCI top 12 corps, I marched with an "A" Class corps from upstate NY that I enjoyed as a teenager! I learned from some great people and hopefully it helped me to be a better person.

The local corps, the smaller corps that practiced at the VFW halls, THEY were the backbone of drum corps. I’m sorry to see that they’re gone now too.  It really was a golden age. 

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