RobH Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 Gotta love Maggie! Troopers with the Sunburst - to me, that was the FIRST and GREATEST drum corps move of all time. Kudos to Jim Jones and whoever invented the burst! BC 67 - double bass drum - the first step towards multiple toms. And that sound.....oh, man, that sound! 69 - I know Kilties and Cavvies did tympani on the field for the first time - there were probably others. My roots force me to give credit to Tom Sorenson - the greatest Kiltie drummer that ever drew breath - for his rudimental excellence, his writing of the Kiltie drum book from about 67-70 and beyond with the Sr. Kilts. Cavaliers with Mr. McCormick and Mitch Markovich - setting the standard of excellence for the drumline. I can't speak of the innovators beyond 70, but they're represented well here at DCP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prc756 Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 75 Blue Stars? Stars had chrome in 75 I remember an ad on the back of DCW with Phantom, kilts and one other corps with those drums....I am thinking it appeared in winter 74. Maybe the third was Guardsmen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prc756 Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 One junior corps that I always thought was ahead of its time was the St. Rita's Brassmen from Brooklyn, NY, late 1960's through 1973. (The corps folded after the '73 season.)I remember the Brassmen's drill included what was called "suicide wheels"...... fast-paced squad wheels, whipping segments of the horn line around in eight counts or so. I don't know for sure, but this very well might have been the first extensive use of high-speed visuals of any type. The corps also featured some great brass charts from Hy Dreitzer...some "off the beaten path" stuff, like an outstanding concert tune of variations on the theme of "Three Blind Mice".... an opener of "Sorcerer's Apprentice" complete with smoke effects (basically unheard of back then)... a tribute to fallen U.S. presidents which included use of "Ruffles and Flourishes" and the "Hail to the Chief" theme, the only time I've ever heard a drum corps play that during their field show.... and a fun "Perils of Pauline" production, with the "fair maiden" being "rescued." Great cutting-edge stuff for that era.... and always entertaining! Fran I was a fan of Rita's also ...right down to the sawmill cymbal and Pauline...Carmen CLuna was the brains there was he not? Along with the brass staff they just needed a drum line to acheive greatness. As for firsts....ya gotta like 71. THemed shows with Peace signs...etc...I still think after Cadets (of Garfeild ) sent araound members with handouts...to this day,,,that if you have to explain the show through printed material...the drum corps community will probably not take to it. Spartacus notwithstanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Gotta love Maggie!Troopers with the Sunburst - to me, that was the FIRST and GREATEST drum corps move of all time. Kudos to Jim Jones and whoever invented the burst! From the Bergenfield HS band, actually, taught by Dr Baggs and with Don Angelica as a student. He was brought out to Casper by Jim Jones in the early 60's. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiamiSun76 Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Gotta love Maggie!BC 67 - double bass drum - the first step towards multiple toms. And that sound.....oh, man, that sound! 69 - I know Kilties and Cavvies did tympani on the field for the first time - there were probably others. I can't speak of the innovators beyond 70, but they're represented well here at DCP! I think Boston did the double bass before '67. By '67 several corps were using various configurations of vertical bass and/or tenors. Also, the Cavaliers were still on the "onion dip" double things that Larry McCormick made from fiberglass (played by a frequent guest of ours in Miami, Doug Lindt). All of which were derived from the experimentation that Mitch Markovich did with tonal bass drums with the '65 Royal Airs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiamiSun76 Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Gotta love Maggie! Oh yeah, I love Maggie too. I get really mad everytime I see those pictures in her signature block though. Had a great picture of my dad at retreat in the early '50s and dumbly let the Reilly alumni "borrow" it to scan. Lost!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Hawthorne Cabs were first with Spanish percussion - there is an early 60s concert album where someone describes the different percussion to the crowd. Who had the plastic drum heads at 1965 VFW at Chicgo? Most of the corps had the old animal hide heads and the humidity (horrible rains outside) ruined the tone of the heads. After that fiasco, the corps that could afford it went to plastic heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boston1977 Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 (edited) I think Boston did the double bass before '67. By '67 several corps were using various configurations of vertical bass and/or tenors. Also, the Cavaliers were still on the "onion dip" double things that Larry McCormick made from fiberglass (played by a frequent guest of ours in Miami, Doug Lindt). All of which were derived from the experimentation that Mitch Markovich did with tonal bass drums with the '65 Royal Airs. Rob H is right on money with his dates and yes Rob, “what a sound” The first D.Bass was Boston 1967 they would go on to tympani the next year while most everyone else tried to copy Boston’s DB in 1968. The Cavies and 65 Royal Airs did have some very tasty bass parts. Boston's bass lines in terms of musicality, complexity and idiomatically correct writing, were truly wonderful and so in another league. The DBass had shown the “powers to be” [ VFW and Legion } it was time to move into melodic percussion without sacrificing the snare, tenor, soon to be tom and bass line. Gerry’s concept were derived from his imagination, courage and perhaps Berkley School of Music, not the more simplistic approach, previously taken by others. Edited October 27, 2005 by boston1977 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craiga Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 To add to the history lesson by boston1977.... Someone mentioned BD being the first to ground their tympani in 1980. They were not alone....Boston Crusaders also grounded their tympani in 1980-all four drums were played by a young man named Eddie Cummings. My memory isn't gone yet..... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiamiSun76 Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Hawthorne Cabs were first with Spanish percussion - there is an early 60s concert album where someone describes the different percussion to the crowd. And that 1st timbale player was...............Bobby Hoffman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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