KeithHall Posted November 7, 2005 Author Share Posted November 7, 2005 Reading through this thread brings the question back to my mind that I raised on our alumni site and it still does not make sense to me. My take is the activity has been shrinking and losing the following that it had back in the day but DCI "says" that the following and interest is greater than at anytime in the past. Can someone help me with this if I am missing something???? Seems hard to believe when you look at how few corps there now are that the interest in the activity can be greater than when you had 4-5 times as many corps participating. You are absolutely correct! Just look at the "A History of Drum and Bugle Corps" Book. Look at the scores for DCI 1976-77were big years and then we commence with the slow death. The quality is better because of the make of the instruments and obviously the visual portion is more advanced. DCI may be slowly diminshing but look at DCA they are growing every year. WHY? Easy. In the 70's we rehearsed on the weekdays and went to shows on weekends...and what does DCA corps do? Same thing as we did in the 70's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldpin Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 The answer is really very simple - ALL OF 'EM, good, bad, or indifferent. There just aren't enough around today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxwellNotes Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 Golden Garrison from Ypsilanti, MI, they were never really good from my memory, but just one of those corps that I had a great connection with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kansan Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 I'd like to see the old power houses of the Kansas great planes corps come back. Argonne Rebels from Great Bend, KS Sky Ryders from Hutchinson, KS Silver Sabres from Salina, KS I'm sure there are others but I think those were the more successful corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakyswotboy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 There's not much representation of dead corps from England. My vote would go to the Blue Eagles and their arch nemesis the Dagenham Crusaders. ^0^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxwellNotes Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 There's not much representation of dead corps from England. My vote would go to the Blue Eagles and their arch nemesis the Dagenham Crusaders. ^0^ The Beechmen@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakyswotboy Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 The Beechmen@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Never did think we had the weather in England for bananas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwrice Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 (edited) marksmen were short-lived... the corps began in 1974 as a merger between the bellevue sentinels and the seattle shamrocks. sentinels had lost their american legion sponsorship and had their own trucks and buses, shamrocks had vfw sponsorship, a bingo operation and new olds ultratone p/r horns but no vehicles. the merger created one fully-equipped corps with a very competent staff, and all of the membership was local to the seattle area (like to see a current dci div1 corps do that nowadays :) ) i really liked the uniforms. men wore black slacks with a narrow (about 1") maroon-over-silver stripe on the outside, ladies wore black skirts (below the knee) with the same stripe along the bottom, both wore the same tan khaki military shirts with a narrow (about 3") maroon sash, wide (about 6") maroon cumerbund with a square stainless buckle, topped off with black aussie hats with a silver star. drum majors wore tan slacks and tan hats with gold stars. they were simple, sharp-looking, easy to put on and comfortable in hot weather. marksmen did a full tour in '74, but just before the '75 tour, disaster struck: due to erronious bookkeeping by the BOD, marksmen lost their bingo license, their bingo/corps hall and soon after, most of the membership. many went south to march with freelancers, scv and troopers. membership went from close to 120 in may to less than 50 by july of 1975. we continued as a parade corps and winterguard for a few years before the BOD decided to fold the corps in late 1978... i still have my baritone (nobody bothered to collect them after the collapse..) and still play it sometimes. enough, i went on a rant there..... sorry about that. corps i'd like to see back: black watch, auburn wa. marauders, longview wa. renaissance, spokane wa. drifters, surrey bc. spartans, vancouver wa. sky ryders, hutchinson ks. 27th lancers, revere pa. but, as psiguy stated, it would really be nice if corps were evenly distributed across the country so one wouldn't have to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to march... Great post Marty! There just isn't enough discussion regarding the N.W.D.C.A. on this forum. One small detail though. The "full tour" that you referred to happened in '75 not '74. In '74 both the Sentinels and the Shamrocks still existed. The "disaster" you mentioned happened in '76. I agree with psiguy's statement too. It seems to me that things in the early days of DCI were just fine without everyone having to commit to a nation wide tour every year. Regional shows kept the local corps going. In fact, that's exactly what's keeping a DCA corps from developing in the Seattle area IMO. There just isn't any reason to do it when the closest competition is almost a thousand miles away in California. Hopefully, that will change in the future though. Also, there is a reason why your horn wasn't ever collected by the corps when it folded. If you'd like to hear why feel free to PM me sometime and I'll let you know. Warning though. The answer could upset you. Appologies for opening up an old thread again to those who are offended. Rice Edited March 24, 2006 by rwrice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobH Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 The most recent posts got me to thinking whether the "rise" of DCI had some similar negative effect on the number of corps in the UK or Europe or anywhere else in the world! Clearly, there must be a relationship between the many hundreds of local drum corps in the 60's through mid 70's in the US, and the rise and eventual "conquest" of drum corps by DCI that has resulted in far fewer corps in the US, with a fairly predictable top 12 each year. And I cannot believe that "finances" were the ONLY factor in many corps' demises! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84skyrydr Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 There are a million different reasons for a corps demise, including finances, equipment, mismangement, lack of interest in participants to march there ( everyone wants to be in the big dogs) etc. DCI also increased the number of members to 135 from 128. 7 people don't sound like much, but it adds up. Just in the top 15 corps that equals over 100 members. There is a corps right there. If memory serves me correct, the Cavaliers had a feeder unit, Cavi Cadets, that they got rid of to open spots in Cavaliers A corps to outside people to improve their placements. Phantom and Madison also had feeder corps. The majority of kids now days pay 2-3000 and up to march a year. Lack of home town marketing and sponsorship also play a key role. Last but not least check out my thread about stepping up to the plate. We as drum corps vets and fans need to step up and donate more to our favorite corps finances. A little goes along way. Oh yeah, I'd like to see Troopers get back, along with the Capitolaires and Les Chatelaines De Laval all girl corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.