Eggbert Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Every now and then we had to get back at the staff. It's only fair when they say "last time" and then do three more runs in the dark. You've just got to do a little something that gets under their skin. This is one of those things and it started very innocently. Some songs just sound good on xylophone. The Maxwell House percolator song, Flight of the Bumblebee and this one: http://www.tv-timewarp.co.uk/midi_files/Ex...ainKangaroo.mid One day we were on break noodling around with some of those things that sound good on xylophone and that song came up, along with several tv show themes. As we figured out the notes our mallet instructor comes running over blue in the face, waving his arms and screaming that we should NEVER EVER play that song again! What if another corps heard us play that!?!?! God forbid! We could never hold our heads high in DCI again! Whenever things got tough all we had to do was play the first four notes. ARGH!!! Better than nails on a chalkboard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnric Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 all I had to do was show up..... they pretty much hated me! ADHD and me perfect together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 OK, here's one on Larry Hershman of Westshoremen and Bluecoats fame. ^0^ Larry became Westshores BM in '74 when he helped restart the corps that had been inactive. He also continued to play soprano for the first year or two. (We really needed horns.) Not sure what Larry did during practice but suddenly you heard someone yell out "Jesus Larry, is the only way you could find a corps that would let you play is to be the ####### Business Manager?". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggbert Posted October 23, 2005 Author Share Posted October 23, 2005 Z just reminded me of a good one. Northstar had this cool little mallet part that they would play as a cadence. I dunno if it was tico tico or something like that, but it was really catchy and we heard it every night. So we ended up figuring it out one day and, as a joke, actually played it coming off the field after retreat one night when Northstar wasn't there. Needless to say our instructor almost had an aneurysm and said that if we ever.... EVER... did that again, he would have us KILLED. Good times. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodave Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 1982, Montreal ...prelims eve...visions of 14th or 15th place dancing in our heads. the school we stayed in had an indoor pool. About 20 of us couldn't resist and went in. REALLY ticked off the one of the head staff members. We got an ultimatum from the staff member...either the "swim team" doesn't march prelims, or I'm outta here. What kind of a thing is that to say on prelims eve? The "swim team" was mainly comprised of section leaders, age outs etc. Where would that leave the corps? It would be swiss cheese on the field. a nightmare. drummers missing. no soloists. ridiculous. embarassing. So the decision was left to the people who didn't swim to decide the fate of the corps....well, season's over right? They told the staff member....see ya. Our performance less than 12 hours later at 7am ish was pitiful at best. The mindset of the corps was destroyed. Nobody could focus. Our hopes of 15th ish place turned to a reality of 20th. That was our last show ever. We only wanted to cool off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 Z just reminded me of a good one. Northstar had this cool little mallet part that they would play as a cadence. I dunno if it was tico tico or something like that, but it was really catchy and we heard it every night. So we ended up figuring it out one day and, as a joke, actually played it coming off the field after retreat one night when Northstar wasn't there. Needless to say our instructor almost had an aneurysm and said that if we ever.... EVER... did that again, he would have us KILLED. Good times. :) In '79 our drum line used to do Skyliners street beat at the end of rehearsal on show day as we marched back to the buses. No problem if there were no corps around us. But if there was another corps around you could hear the staff screaming "Last run thru.... don't ###### play THAT cadence DO OURS!!!". :sshh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tplaya1 Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Finals morning, to get back at staff for a prank they pulled by making us think we would have practice until 2 in the morning, the hornline crept into the staff sleeping area at 5:30 in the morning(a very small classroom) and let loose with the West Coast Chord Sequence. I've never heard that many decibles...EVER!!!! What a wake-up call for them. By the end of it, the were on their feet clapping and screaming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggbert Posted October 24, 2005 Author Share Posted October 24, 2005 1982, Montreal ...prelims eve...We only wanted to cool off. That is so sad! Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We were right there with you in 81 (Blue Stars 16 Defenders 17). We had a VERY similar thing happen in 79 or 80 (getting foggy these days) at a pool in Talladega. There is a certain desperation that kicks in between 12th and 17th place and the staff goes a little nuts. Hey Johnric, you've got to have some good ones. Let's hear it! Jim, we used to swipe Phoenix's street beat (a very cool legend of the one eyed sailor type thing), but we knew better than to play it within earshot or those guys would come over and kick our butts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Just remembered this one from the late 70s. Few hours before a show our horn instructor was getting highly PO'ed because part of the horn line was BS'ing while he was working with some horns. Finally he just yelled. "Don't talk during this time, finger your parts or something". After a few seconds pause, someone just had to say it. "Ok Nate, I'll finger my parts, but first I have to put my horn down". Horn instructor didn't day anything, but his look could have etched glass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggbert Posted October 25, 2005 Author Share Posted October 25, 2005 Classic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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