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Sky Ryders in Classic Countdown


Sky Ryders in Classic Countdown  

89 members have voted

  1. 1. What Sky Ryders year would you vote for in Classic Countdown?

    • 1991
      4
    • 1988
      13
    • 1987
      36
    • 1986
      13
    • 1983
      2
    • 1982
      5
    • not voting for them
      16


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If i vote Sky, and I really have no idea yet, I'm going with 1988. It's always been a favorite of mine.

A little free info for ya... Did you know we didn't have written drill for the first half of the summer?

The Corps Director, Dale Antoine, fired the drill writer David Lacey (sp?) after we'd all been in Hutch for a few days and already begun learning the show. I probably don't know the entire story for why that happened, so I won't speculate on what was going on behind the scenes there.

Anyway, we hired Dale Powers to come in and he basically wrote the drill by the following method:

-Dale would smoke a cigarette.

-He'd then run all over the field and shape us into a set.

-He'd climb up onto his vantage point, which I think was the instrument truck and we'd run it from the previous set to the new one.

-He'd tweak it by having us move a bit and then re-run it.

-Once we got it to something he liked, we'd write down our individual set points in our set books and then wait for the next artistic inspiration to come from the Great Dale Powers. (He was really a character. :rock: )

-He'd then smoke a cigarette and start the whole process over molding us into the next set.

We didn't have charts until weeks later after Frank Troyka (Visual Caption Head) had gone around during marching rehearsal and asked every single person on the field, where their set was supposed to be for every set in the show. So they just kinda trickled in.

It was the most unique way I marched out of the four years I got to be a corps person. You absolutely HAD to go with the form, because you really never new where the form was going to be... exactly. Since there was no chart, there wasn't anyway to verify who was "right". If you were out of the form.. you were out of the form... Period.

Towards the middle of the summer, Dale came back and did some more adjusting and re-writing of the show. I think the end of the drum solo, "Lonely Goatherd" changed quite a bit when he came back. (We called it "Goathead" because it looked like "Goathead" where it had been handwritten on the sheet music that was passed out. B) )

Edited by bradrick
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:rock:

Was that the year you guys had the wreck in Minneapolis? I remember that happening one year..and a heck of a show despite the distraction..

Pat

That was Garfield,and it was the equipment truck. :huh:

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A little free info for ya... Did you know we didn't have written drill for the first half of the summer?

The Corps Director, Dale Antoine, fired the drill writer David Lacey (sp?) after we'd all been in Hutch for a few days and already begun learning the show. I probably don't know the entire story for why that happened, so I won't speculate on what was going on behind the scenes there.

Anyway, we hired Dale Powers to come in and he basically wrote the drill by the following method:

-Dale would smoke a cigarette.

-He'd then run all over the field and shape us into a set.

-He'd climb up onto his vantage point, which I think was the instrument truck and we'd run it from the previous set to the new one.

-He'd tweak it by having us move a bit and then re-run it.

-Once we got it to something he liked, we'd write down our individual set points in our set books and then wait for the next artistic inspiration to come from the Great Dale Powers. (He was really a character. :rock: )

-He'd then smoke a cigarette and start the whole process over molding us into the next set.

We didn't have charts until weeks later after Frank Troyka (Visual Caption Head) had gone around during marching rehearsal and asked every single person on the field, where their set was supposed to be for every set in the show. So they just kinda trickled in.

It was the most unique way I marched out of the four years I got to be a corps person. You absolutely HAD to go with the form, because you really never new where the form was going to be... exactly. Since there was no chart, there wasn't anyway to verify who was "right". If you were out of the form.. you were out of the form... Period.

Towards the middle of the summer, Dale came back and did some more adjusting and re-writing of the show. I think the end of the drum solo, "Lonely Goatherd" changed quite a bit when he came back. (We called it "Goathead" because it looked like "Goathead" where it had been handwritten on the sheet music that was passed out. B) )

A lot of the 94 Regiment drill wasn't charted-- Tony Hall would pop in here and there to change it throughout the summer. Most of it changed drastically, time and time again. It was always on the fly, trying one thing, then another. From last summer's Drew's Diary reports, it seems like Tony has kept up the tradition.

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That was Garfield,and it was the equipment truck. :rock:

Blue Devils. 1985. Cook truck. Semi had broken down.

Tick, tick, and tick.

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Yea, lots of drama in 87. :sshh: It was the best of times and the worst of times. :rock:

#### Tour 87. ^0^

Must have been.......I remember seeing them at Folly Field in Bloomfield NJ and one of the buses signs said "Pure He11"

I actually like the 1986 show the best out of the 80's.....88 and 87 equally great...

Triple Forte

Edited by Triple Forte
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I'd personally vote for 1981. . . since the video still exists on the DCI Midwest Championships from that year. They were only 14th at finals that year, but WOW. . . all the pieces were there for the next great hornline!

Since they won't show that. . . 1986. . . they're best "complete" show. . . best placement ever. . . and how could anyone go wrong with "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"!!!???

:rock::huh::huh:

Chuck Naffier

Sky Ryder Fan!!!!

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A lot of the 94 Regiment drill wasn't charted-- Tony Hall would pop in here and there to change it throughout the summer. Most of it changed drastically, time and time again. It was always on the fly, trying one thing, then another. From last summer's Drew's Diary reports, it seems like Tony has kept up the tradition.

Good grief, I was just going to write the same thing, only to see that a guy I marched with, and haven't spoken to in 12 years, just posted.

What's up, Corey???

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I'd personally vote for 1981. . . since the video still exists on the DCI Midwest Championships from that year. They were only 14th at finals that year, but WOW. . . all the pieces were there for the next great hornline!

Since they won't show that. . . 1986. . . they're best "complete" show. . . best placement ever. . . and how could anyone go wrong with "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"!!!???

:rock::huh::huh:

Chuck Naffier

Sky Ryder Fan!!!!

I know I teared up at the very end...

Hey Tom....was that you on the mello solo in "Rainbow?"

I think my fave musical moment of that show is the sop enterance in ther "Wonderful Lamd of Oz" part -- after the perc feature, but before the Wicked Witch came out with the "Surrender, Dorothy" banner....the sops were absolutely, frighteningly airtight in that passage

Edited by 84BDsop
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No, that was the year our buses were impounded in Boulder, CO. for a week. We missed out on more shows and money. It was in USA today.

That week in Denver was probably the reason we made finals.... It was the only time we ever got a chance to practice all summer.

The best "fun" was the 2 day race across country for Allentown.

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