Drum Corps Wrapped

[David Hill]

Spotify, Schmotify. (Is that how you’d spell it?)

This past Spring, The New York Times spent a full ten days unreeling the top movies of the 21st century — at the quarter mark — as chosen by actors and directors, first; then by readers.

Prompted me to do the same thing for drum corps shows. My list of 25 is in this thread. But then, while acknowledging my seventy-first birthday, I realized that I saw my first drum corps show, on film, in 1971. Could I do the same thing for my drum corps history? Seventy-one at 71?

What criteria would I use? The Times writer worried her list of movies: “I struggled to determine how I would rank a movie as one of “the best.” Was it one that left me astonished when I saw it? One that stayed with me long after watching? Or should I choose films that somehow felt important in the history of cinema? And what does “important” mean anyway?”

Exactly. But having never been one to shy away from an opinion, or a choice, I knew that my list would simply be the drum corps shows of my life that stay with me, and that I continue to search out, to watch.

What is “best” to me, will be completely different from a young person who found, or performed in, drum corps less than a decade ago. So I’m now officially in the online category of “dinosaur.” Which I don’t get. At all.

Sure, I love the movie “Birth of a Nation,” but so do I love Santa Clara’s glorious “Babylon.” Same for “West Side Story,” stage and screen and the rather exhausting list of drum corps variations. “Western Side Story,” anyone? The Troopers finalist spot grabbing take.

So maybe the reason I’m unreeling this here, now, is to inspire questions and conversations and arguments about what makes something good. Or at least your list of favorites over your drum corps years.

Appropriating the Times writer again, “I love the way a big list forces me to question and define my tastes, to consider what I like and don’t and why, to sharpen my critical takes.”

But the best part? Prompting memories of my drum corps decades. I remember the very first drum corps I saw live, who I was with, and how the 1973 Des Plaines Vanguard made me feel. I remember the first show that made me cry: the soft ending from “The Tender Land” by Santa Clara in 1984.

My first loves: the 1968 Troopers performing at a Denver Broncos halftime via a 16mm film that my high school band director had secured, and wanted us to emulate. And then the 1973 Anaheim Kingsmen at the first live contest I attended — Lexington, Kentucky’s Bluegrass Nationals — and how I was incensed when they didn’t win!

Clint Eastwood’s late eighties bio pic of jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker, “Bird” and Crossmen’s early two-thousands “Lake Night Jazz.”Does my pleasure date me, or age me, like a fine wine?

Since this pivotal birthday, I have reminisced, all right. So many shows, so many corps, and lists that led to other lists, and then to shorter lists, longer lists, ending with the list that follows: 71@71.

Some stats about my process.

The initial sweep of my 54 years a fan, garnered 141 shows. (Side note: for the dozen years I led DCI’s PR office at Championships, I would see over 200 shows a season!)

Now that I have parsed it down to 71, note that winners dominate the list, with 20. Places 2,3,5, and 7 round out the top five finishes. The list includes 21st place and one Open Class Champion.

The early decades lead the list: the oh-my-gosh freshman loves, and then the shows that resonated, once I got my critical feet under me. Discernment got serious, after that. It wasn’t just marching on a football field; for me, drum corps had became a valued art form. I might suggest that the shows from the last four decades that you will see below, are the distillation of what I absolutely look for in ultimate pleasure.

As for the corps themselves, there are ten multiple mentions, and 18 singles; including a few one hit wonders!

For the earlier years, before shows had titles, I have included a piece of music that, for me, defines the show.

The top third are not only rated among the 71, but ranked, as well. Which means after that, any preferential grouping of five can be in flux. The first and last can likely be flipped. Numbers thirty-five and thirty-seven can swap places, for example.

All to say, if you and I were together with VHS tapes, DVDs, and streaming, and you said, “Hey David, let’s watch ______,” I’d absolutely want to!

Which leads me online, at this moment, to find the 1990 Star of Indiana feast, called Belshazzar! And the 1973 Commodores; they were Popeye, the Sailor Man

My first love, via film; 1968 Troopers, at a Denver Broncos Halftime. Still streaming today.

2024 Bluecoats, “Change is Everything”
1986 Blue Devils, Channel One Suite
1975 Santa Clara Vanguard, Fiddler on the Roof
1990 The Cadets, “A Bernstein Celebration”
2019 Santa Clara Vanguard, “Babylon”

1988 Madison Scouts, Malagueña
1996 Phantom Regiment, “Defiant Heart”
1993 Star of Indiana. “The Music of Barber and Bartok”
1974 Anaheim Kingsmen, Firebird Suite
1985 Suncoast Sound, “Florida Suite”
 

1984 Blue Devils, Bacchanalia
1989 Santa Clara Vanguard, “Phantom of the Opera”
1982 The Cadets, Rocky Point Holiday, Cuban Overture
1980 Bridgemen, Big Noise from Winnetka, and yeah, The War Between the States”
1985 Phantom Regiment, “Symphonie Fantastique”

2008 Phantom Regiment, “Spartacus”
1991 Star of Indiana, “Roman Festivals”
2000 The Cavaliers, “Niagara Falls”
1979 Guardsmen, Fanfare for the New
2019 Blue Knights, “I Remember Everything”

2014 Blue Devils, “Felliniesque”
1979 Spirit of Atlanta, Georgia on My Mind
1995 The Cavaliers, “The Planets”
1984 The Cadets, “West Side Story”
2019 The Cavaliers, “Wrong Side of the Tracks”

1973 Santa Clara Vanguard, Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
1980 27th Lancers, Danny Boy
2011 Blue Devils, “The Beat My Heart Skipped”
1990 Star of Indiana, “Belshazzar’s Feast”
1983 The Cadets, Bernstein’s Mass

2016 Bluecoats, “Down Side Up”
1976 Blue Devils, Channel One Suite
1985 Santa Clara Vanguard, Festive Overture
1981 Phantom Regiment, “Spartacus”
1992 Madison Scouts, “City of Angels”

1988 Blue Devils, Happy Days are Here Again
2006 Carolina Crown, “in-Trance-It”
1980 Santa Clara Vanguard, Evita
1977 Phantom Regiment, Ninth Symphony (Joy)
2015 Bluecoats, “Kinetic Noise”

2002 The Cavaliers, “Frameworks”
1985 The Cadets, Jeremiah Symphony
1975 Madison Scouts, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
2019 Blue Devils, “Ghostlight”
2005 Phantom Regiment, “Rhapsody”

1984 Spirit of Atlanta, “Porgy and Bess”
1992 Santa Clara Vanguard, “Fiddler on the Roof”
2001 Glassmen, “IMAGO”
2018 Vanguard Cadets, “Off the Wall”
1976 Madison Scouts, Stars and Stripes Forever

1984 Madison Scouts, Ballet in Brass
1973 Anaheim Kingsmen, Ritual Fire Dance
1979 Troopers, Variations on a Scene
2023 The Cadets, “Atlas Rising”
1983 Santa Clara Vanguard, The Red Pony

2022 Colts, “The Silk Road”
2019 Pacific Crest, “Everglow”
1986 Sky Ryders “Wizard of Oz”
2011 Madison Scouts, “New York Morning”
2001 Crossmen, “Late Night Jazz”

1988 Dutch Boy, “Salute to Sinatra”
2004 Capital Regiment, “Celebration of Life: Mind, Body and Spirit”
1972 Argonne Rebels, Barnum and Bailey’s Favorite
1994 Blue Knights, “Tritico for Brass Band”
1987 Florida Wave, Tito

1973 Commodores, Rainy Days and Mondays
1986 Eclipses, Parisian Suite
1973 Des Plaines Vanguard, Planets
2000 Southwind, Suite for Band
1980 Royal Brigade, NBC Chime’s Festival

Bouquets and Brickbats, all welcome.
Questions, too.
THAT ONE? Really?
Did you forget about __________?
(Might be on the original list of 141.)

P.S. You feel cheated out of one more show, because my list starts with a 16mm film (today’s streaming)? Sure you do. Add this one, then:

1974 Purple Lancers, Divergents

(In the culled final 70, there are still a few winners, and a slew of medalists, as well as gems from Charioteers, Genesco Knights, Jersey Surf, Pioneer, Spartans, Marauders, Memphis Blues Brass Band, Oakland Crusaders, and The Academy.)

HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASONS TO DRUM CORPS FANS, ALL

[OldSnareDrummer]

Great list. Congratulations and thank you for 50+ years of dedicated support for the drum corps world..