ffernbus3 Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 (edited) I lived in a place in Cupertino in 72 with a bunch of SCV brass players (named before) and visited by many SCV players named in this thread. SCV was great that year. Anaheim worked harder and took the first DCI contest in 72......maybe they weren't the best corps all year long, but they were the best corps at the first DCI Finals. Legend has it that Gail Royers told Santa Clara even before they went on that Kingsmen had put on "...the show of their lives..." that night. Santa Clara didn't or they would have been the first DCI Champions. As much as I love and respected the 72 Santa Clara Vanguard, I was never thrilled more to have the news reach me up in the 8000 ft. elevation of Vail, CO that Anaheim had won DCI. On an even more personal note, I was glad to have a few of the kids from the 71 Lynwood Diplomats, who were NOT the best corps in California in ANY year, but the best bunch of kids I ever got to teach, marching in the first DCI Championships with my "old" corps, The Anaheim Kingsmen: DM Jim Good as drum major (best DM 72 DCI), Lance Kellogg in the snare line and Jimmy "Silverstein" in the soprano line, and others probably. Santa Clara may have been the better corps in 72, and a deserved legend in the annals of drum corps history: just not that night. An interesting side-note: As SCV was forming after their break with The Sunnyvale Sparks and actually becoming Vanguard, we of the Anaheim Kingsmen used to think of you all as our "little brothers and sisters" circa 1967 and a bunch of us SoCal guys, as I was recently reminded, made the trip up to Stockton for one of SCV's earlies "coming out parties" at UOP: not to mention a series of flights on Air California between OC and SJO circa 1969 so The Kingsmen could hang out with Vanguard's color guard. Ah, well.....that was back in the day. RON HOUSLEY 67 Anaheim Kingsmen 71 Lynwood Diplomats Edited January 23, 2005 by ffernbus3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptr250 Posted January 23, 2005 Author Share Posted January 23, 2005 (edited) "Championship Year(s)": 1970 was ALSO a "Championship" year, as SCV won the American Legion Junior National Championship at Portland Oregon that season. In 1972 Santa Clara (prior to DCI) won all but two contests (that I know of) suffering losses to the LaCrosse Blue Stars in Denver (Drums Along the Rockies) and a contest in California durring the West Coast "Swing". Elphaba <{POST_SNAPBACK}> [Dude, go win DCA, it'll make you feel better. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> ----------------------- I've gone to DCA 3 times now and it's GOOD ... and I've finally figured out that you can win without "winning". DCA and DCI aren't exactly the same BUT you really can't tell the difference from the 50 with a couple of thousand screaming fans in your face. I highly recommend it!!! Hey Mike -- we're recruiting drummers. Hey Paul -- we're recruiting low brass. I know you guys have still got the chops. :) PS: I am a huge AK fan -- I wore that 8-track out! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> ----------------------- I've gone to DCA 3 times now and it's GOOD ... and I've finally figured out that you can win without "winning". DCA and DCI aren't exactly the same BUT you really can't tell the difference from the 50 with a couple of thousand screaming fans in your face. I highly recommend it!!! Hey Mike -- we're recruiting drummers. Hey Paul -- we're recruiting low brass. I know you guys have still got the chops. :) PS: I am a huge AK fan -- I wore that 8-track out! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Jonnette. So glad to hear your voice. How yea been? I would love to march this year, in fact Dennis suggested I do it after TOR last year, but I am so busy with work, family and training that I couldn't really give it the commitment it deserves. If I still lived up there though I would so get into that weekend corps, the one playing old drum corps tunes and Phillip Glass - that would rock. Jonnette, IM me or e-mail me I would love to hear what you have been up too. Oh and Paul, my post was mainly tounge and cheek - you're so tence. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Tense… tense … who’s tense…where’s my fuxxing Paxil?! Mike one of my goals in starting this post was to illustrate how one bad night can ruin a whole season and change history. I never intended to denigrate the AK’s win! They beat us fair and square! To the gent who thinks we lost twice in 72, not so. We never lost in CA and I believe in Denver we were announced in second, but afterwards Gail found a blemish on one of the sheets that was counted as a tick. The final result was changed and we officially tied the Blue Stars. Also although we won the AL Championships in Portland, which was a glorious ending to a wonderful season, I don’t believe we can really claim it as a National championship! None of the top corps were there except our friends from So Cal. It’s too bad we couldn’t afford to go to Miami for the true championship show (VFW). I believe we would have given the Troopers a run for their money. In some respects I wish I stilled lived in the Bay Area, just so I could march with the Renegades. On the other hand the quality of life is so much better here in Gold Country! I have been getting my performance fix by getting involved in theatre. I just recently directed “My Fair Lady” and will be holding auditions for a play I have written in about a month. As a side note “My Fair Lady” received wonderful reviews and last night a friend who has been involved in theatre for many more years than I commented on how polished and disciplined the production was. I must give credit to my DC experience and as a matter of fact almost every day before rehearsal I would watch SCV’s 87, 88, or 89 performance, just to remind myself how excellence in preparation yields excellence in performance. Paul Edited January 25, 2005 by ptr250 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russellrks Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 ------------------To the gent who thinks we lost twice in 72, not so. We never lost in CA and I believe in Denver we were announced in second, but afterwards Gail found a blemish on one of the sheets that was counted as a tick. The final result was changed and we officially tied the Blue Stars. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I was at Pacific Procession in 1972 (shaking cobb webs from my memory) and I keep coming up with Blue Stars winning that show. I could be wrong, it was only 33 years ago. :sshh: Any one else remember? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocketman Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 Thankfully, reputation and record take a back seat to the actual performance, meaning the judges really are paying attention. He admits they put on a bad show in finals. It doesn't matter who's the best corps most of the season, it matters who's the best corps on finals night. That's why they call it a "contest."Mike <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Mike I generally agree with you 99.9% of the time. How do you explain 1977 then? Clearly BD was off thier game that night. To me, they won that show because of the season they had, not the performance that evening. Rocketman - not a sore loser ampssuckl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsBusDriver Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 (edited) I was at Pacific Procession in 1972 (shaking cobb webs from my memory) and I keep coming up with Blue Stars winning that show. I could be wrong, it was only 33 years ago. :sshh: Any one else remember? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'm quoting from the 25 year anniversary book " On July 9 1972 in Madison, Wisconsin, the Blue Stars were named winners over the Vanguard by a score of 83.95 to 83.90, snapping Santa Clara's unbeaten streak. However, Gail Royer noticed a speck on the M&M sheets that had been misinterpreted by the tabulators as a judge's tick. The mistake was corrected, changing the Vanguard score of 83.95 giving them a tie with the Blue Stars and keeping the unbeaten streak alive." Yes, AK deserved the title. I've described several time on other threads what the show felt like that night, basically feeling like we were slogging through a mud field. It was so flat that I was close to tears near the end. I'll never forget the look on the staffs faces as we came off the field. However, I'll always remember how hard we worked that year and that the rest of the season was successful. That will never change or be taken away from us. Edited January 24, 2005 by MsBusDriver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsBusDriver Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 (edited) Oh and If I may add... A quote from Drum Corps News August 1972... " The Vanguard is presenting what many believe to be the most brilliant and innovative overall program on the contemporary drum corps scene. Santa Clara's program consisits of one masterful and excitiing production after production beginning with a difficult arrangement of "Fanfare and Allegro" and ending with a real tear jerker in the form of "Chava Ballet" from "Fiddler". My personal opinion...shared...by many instructors, fans and judges, is that this season there are two distinct levels of drum corps: Santa Clara Vanguard and then everyone else. "Their entire production is a spectacle in the finest sense, as it just doesn't stop...they are just unreal". I'll let that speak for itself... Edited January 24, 2005 by MsBusDriver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 To the gent who thinks we lost twice in 72, not so. We never lost in CA Yes, you did. July 22, 1972 - Anaheim, CA Blue Stars, WI 85.4 Santa Clara Vanguard, CA 84.3 Kingsmen, CA 83.55 Troopers, WY 81.05 Madison Scouts, WI 76.15 Imperial Dragons, CA 57.65 Diplomats, CA 53.9 and I believe in Denver we were announced in second, but afterwards Gail found a blemish on one of the sheets that was counted as a tick. The final result was changed and we officially tied the Blue Stars. No, that was in Madison a week earlier. July 15, 1972 - Lakewood, CO Blue Stars, WI 79.1 Santa Clara Vanguard, CA 78.15 Troopers, WY 76.5 Argonne Rebels, KS 76.35 Madison Scouts, WI 74.55 You also lost to the Blue Stars at that post-DCI contest in the Milwaukee area (both prelims and finals). Was that the one held on a racetrack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptr250 Posted January 25, 2005 Author Share Posted January 25, 2005 Yes, you did.July 22, 1972 - Anaheim, CA Blue Stars, WI 85.4 Santa Clara Vanguard, CA 84.3 Kingsmen, CA 83.55 Troopers, WY 81.05 Madison Scouts, WI 76.15 Imperial Dragons, CA 57.65 Diplomats, CA 53.9 No, that was in Madison a week earlier. July 15, 1972 - Lakewood, CO Blue Stars, WI 79.1 Santa Clara Vanguard, CA 78.15 Troopers, WY 76.5 Argonne Rebels, KS 76.35 Madison Scouts, WI 74.55 You also lost to the Blue Stars at that post-DCI contest in the Milwaukee area (both prelims and finals). Was that the one held on a racetrack? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I don't know where you got the scored, but I don't believe them! I was there and I would remember. Somewhere I have the recap for the Devlin Wis. show I guess I'll have to look for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
From The Pressbox Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 Not to jump in this battle of SCV losing, but I've got (as well as corpsreps) Vanguard losing to the Blue Stars a week before championships. August 10 West Allis, WI 1. Blue Stars--89.40 2. Vanguard--87.60 3. Kingsmen--85.50 4. Troopers--83.70 5. 27th--82.85 6. DPVanguard--82.70 7. Garfield--78.55 8. Scouts--78.45 9. St. Patrick's--72.05 10. Racine Scouts--70.05 DCI has a long history of corps crashing at the end. BD:88/95/98, SCV:72/83/87. Star:92/93 Scouts:74. It happens. It still kills me about 88 BD and the bad draw they got. Ya suck it up and move on. Go Devils, Gregg w/Stp: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffernbus3 Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 (edited) I agree whole heartedly, Maggie. When I moved up to Santa Clara lock, stock and a change of socks on Jan 1st, 1972 and started coming to SCV rehearsals I was totally blown away by the level of musicianship in Santa Clara's line. First off, I got to hear, at rehearsals, "Finale from Tchaikovski's 4th Symphony" with the entire lead sop line hitting double high C's (G/D bugles, one valve & one rotor) at about three "f's" as the entrance note: a peel-the-skin-off-your-face chart like no other. (Scrapped for "Fanfare And Allegro": see famous story on Brass Roots). Secondly, the entire line SIGHT READ!!! my arrangement of Bartolino's "Canzon 30 a 8" at tempo (was that the title?): that's two antiphonal choirs playing off each other... a cold reading and it was almost perfect. The 71 Diplomats could't get 8 players from the whole horn line together that could do that..(I tried!)...not a slam on my kids, just pointing out the differences in musical education that Gail Royer had achieved with Santa Clara's program over the previous 6 years or so. That's the one, by the way, that got played at the 72 Winter concert at Santa Clara Mission: sounded great (!) in that thick walled adobe chapel. (Wayne Downey used to have a recording of it, but I never got to hear it except for live....a most memorable experience as it all turns out!) Truly, the musicianship of SCV was vastly superior to any California corps I had experienced in the roughly 12 or 13 years of drum corps up to that time. By contrast, I never thought that Anaheim really had that same level of either talent or musicianship.......Anaheim DID, however, have the ablility to dig down and work like Marines at each and every rehearsal and overcome a lot of hardships to achieve their place in drum corps history in what was then a very short time....as did SCV and later Blue Devils.....and now Renegades...and Fever. Gotta love our California corps.......but I digress: SCV was the better musical unit and continues a great tradition of high quality today....Vanguard alumns should always be proud of the accomplishments of their corps and should never forget Gail Royer for his creation. Coming from SoCal to NorCal was another great eye-opener for me into what drum corps could become......and did. But I'm a Kingsmen alum and quite proud of the accomplishments of my own homies as well: that would be The Anaheim Kingsmen, the FIRST DCI CHAMPIONS...undisputed! RON HOUSLEY Edited January 25, 2005 by ffernbus3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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