Guardsmen (Schaumburg, IL) memories.

[Wort]

As much as we disliked each other (Cavaliers vs Guardsmen) I must say that those hornlines in the late 70's and 1980 were freakin awesome. My heart kept saying "These guys suck" but my head was saying "these guys can play!".

... besides I had many ex-girlfriends that marched in Guardsmen so I had to hang around the corps for obvious reasons.

Oh, no!!! The enemy!!!!!

[Wort]

When I marched with the Cavaliers (it was the 82 or 83 season) we put some mid season changes into the drum solo and replicated the "bomb scare" of the Guardsmen. In practice at Triton College one of the rifles nailed a Contra and Fiedler went ballistic! He stopped practice and yelled at the guy for about 5 minutes...."do you know how f@#$ing much these f@#$ing horns cost? Are you f#$%ing stupid? Throw the f#$%ing rifle and don't you f#$%ing hit one ever again! That goes for the f#$%ing rest of you too!"

It was awesome how much he flipped out. To his credit, we never hit another horn player in practice or in the show. His rage must have worked!

The Guardsmen rocked hard. They had to, they had to defend those freaky shako's :).

You guys are missing the single most amazing performance perhaps in drum corps history when you exclude the 1976 DCI prelims performance of the Guardsmen. They were last on (I think) and it was scorching hot on the astroturf in Philly. They came out and virtually walked on water. Nobody expected them to be even close to the elite 12 but they put on the show of their lives. Being a Troopers fan, this crushed me. The Guardsmen knocked Casper out of the top 12 for the first time. In spite of my loyalties, this has to be recognized as one of the best dark horse performances of all time.

Thank you very very much. I remember thinking it was the best, most perfect show we had EVER done. Oh, to be in that zone just once more. I wish that somewhere there was a tape of it.

Seems like I remember one of our guard girls had a sister in the Troopers. I remember them crying in the stands after the score was announced.

I don't think we were dead last, but it was close.

It was blistering hot on that astroturf, and my chops were completely gone after the show.

Again, my heartfelt thanks.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Wort

[Tim K]

The Guardsmen didn't travel east very often, so I never saw them live, with the exception of the PBS broadcasts of DCI. I remember the Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial too. Back in the day I was not a die-hard Guardsmen fan, but they did have moments that impressed me. They had a British flair which I believed belonged to 27^th and 27th alone, and they placed very close to North Star, another local corps I loved and wanted to see place higher. I also went to high school with people who marched with BAC and a young man from my hometown went to college in Wisconsin and joined Madison, and ranking on rival corps was a favorite activity of marching members, so my opinions at the time were far from objective. One person I knew who marched with BAC claimed they were from an affluent community and they didn't have to do their own laundry, which gave them more practice time, which of course was the only reason they made it to finals. I'm sure I believed it at the time but as I look back as an adult, I'd be willing to bet that many a Guardsmen didtheir own laundry and even if he/she didn't, I think well written drills, good musical arrangements, a very good color guard and talented members had more to do with making the finals than freedom from laundry duty.

I began to appreciate the Guardsmen more after they were gone. As I look back, with the help of the Legacy DVD's, I thought 1978 was the show I most enjoyed. It was not a polished as 1979, but 79 did not have the spark of the previous year. 78 had the "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" with the small guard house and the maypole to "Poet and Peasant." "Greensleeves," while not a "DannyBoy" or "Let It be Me" was a beautiful closer.

I was surprised not to see Guardsmen in the finals after 1980.They always appeared to be a corps with younger members and one I thought would eventually crack the top 5. I don't know whether financial issues or recruitment issues played a role, but making DCI four different times is not a small accomplishment and it's nice to see they are fondly remembered.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Tim K

[Wort]

The Guardsmen didn't travel east very often, so I never sawthem live, with the exception of the PBS broadcasts of DCI. I remember theKentucky Fried Chicken commercial too. Back in the day I was not a die-hardGuardsmen fan, but they did have moments that impressed me. They had a Britishflair which I believed belonged to 27^th and 27th alone, and they placedvery close to North Star, another local corps I loved and wanted to see placehigher. I also went to high school with people who marched with BAC and a youngman from my hometown went to college in Wisconsin and joined Madison, andranking on rival corps was a favorite activity of marching members, so myopinions at the time were far from objective at the time. One person I knew whomarched with BAC claimed they were from an affluent community and they didn't haveto do their own laundry, which gave them more practice time, which of course wasthe only reason they made it to finals. I'm sure I believed it at the time butas I look back as an adult, I'd be willing to bet that many a Guardsmen didtheir own laundry and even if he/she didn't, I think well written drills, good musicalarrangements, a very good color guard and talented members had more to do withmaking the finals than freedom from laundry duty.

I began to appreciate the Guardsmen more after they weregone. As I look back, with the help of the Legacy DVD's, I thought 1978 was theshow I most enjoyed. It was not a polished as 1979, but 79 did not have the sparkof the previous year. 78 had the "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" with the smallguard house and the maypole to "Poet and Peasant." "Greensleeves," while not a "DannyBoy" or "Let It be Me" was a beautiful closer.

I was surprised not to see Guardsmen in the finals after 1980.They always appeared to be a corps with younger members and one I thought wouldeventually crack the top 5. I don't know whether financial issues orrecruitment issues played a role, but making DCI four different times is not asmall accomplishment and it's nice to see they are fondly remembered.

All I will say is that we did our own laundry, and that fact lead to an incident that I will not go into here, but suffice it to say that it got ugly rather quickly, And that is not sarcastic.

nuff said.

[Tim K]

All I will say is that we did our own laundry, and that fact lead to an incident that I will not go into here, but suffice it to say that it got ugly rather quickly, And that is not sarcastic.

nuff said.

I think I would have been surprised if you did have a laundry service, especially when I saw the photos of one bus being pushed and another being towed away. The money would have been needed in other places. Still, whether your whites were a little dingy because you did your own laundry or not, I enjoyed the 1978 show and "Greensleeves" was a great closing, (though not a "Danny Boy" or "Conquest").

[Wort]

I think I would have been surprised if you did have a laundry service, especially when I saw the photos of one bus being pushed and another being towed away. The money would have been needed in other places. Still, whether your whites were a little dingy because you did your own laundry or not, I enjoyed the 1978 show and "Greensleeves" was a great closing, (though not a "Danny Boy" or "Conquest").

Why thank you. My last year was '77, so I missed that. I do recall one year, likely '76, maybe '75, where one of the buses broke down on the way home from Philly and we slept that night (I did anyway) in the parking lot of a tollway oasis. Our equipment bus had to be a relic of the early 1960s. Somehow the dads kept them running.

We had Mrs. Meyers, Mrs. Palace, and a few other moms that traveled with us. They somehow fed us 3 squares (mostacholi (sp?) to die for) using those large metal glorified crock pots. They also kept our uniforms in shape. Oh yeah, we did have laundry service. They took our uniform jackets to the dry cleaners a couple of times a year, Looking back, I am not too sure we would have survived without them. If we did, it would have been a lot rougher.

Things were simpler then. Work your butt off and care about nothing but tonight's show.

[1977Kingsmen]

I for one noticed how the color gaurd seemed to allways have there noses up in the air i can still see it very clearly. Later on when garfields gaurd had the bonnets they had there noses in the air as well. not sure if the gaurd instructor came from them or not. last but not least i do remember them at boulder in 77 and they were smoking hot but the judges seemed to screw them over. we actually beat them and i couldnt believe it.

[Wort]

I for one noticed how the color gaurd seemed to allways have there noses up in the air i can still see it very clearly. Later on when garfields gaurd had the bonnets they had there noses in the air as well. not sure if the gaurd instructor came from them or not. last but not least i do remember them at boulder in 77 and they were smoking hot but the judges seemed to screw them over. we actually beat them and i couldnt believe it.

Thanks, I really appreciate it. That was the only show I ever had where I almost went down, so my personal performance was AWFUL. Had to quit playing about halfway through the closer. I did leave everything on the field, but I think the altitude got me, so what I had was not enough... To this day it still hurts. That was my last show ever.

The nose in the air was part of the British thing, and it was not just the guard, although I can't really remember the drummers doing it.

Again, your kind words are very much appreciated

[Steve Knob]

Best years of my life. Lived with Geno, hung out with all the horn line, the KY Guardsmen (about 10 of us by 1979. Kind of weird after the KFC commercial), raising the British flag at each school, and no matter how hard we tried, always ending up next to Tina Hagopian at the end of shows. I was 6-3 and she was 5-0 if she was standing on a box, but I still love her to this day! Pushing school busses, driving the equipment truck all night and then rehearsing all day. I miss it and you all so much. I went on to teach (Suncoast, Florida Wave, and Teal) and judge DCI for 10 years. Drum corps gave me a lot and I tried to give some back. And I still miss my shako and plume that made me 8 feet tall, and how the people and corps made me feel 8 feet tall!

[Northern Thunder]

i was a HUGE fan of the Guardsmen. I preferred the '77 show to the '76.

The '77 Guardsmen had a phenomenal distinction.....even though they didn't make DCI finals, they had head-to-head season edges over the Kilts, Cavaliers, Freelancers, Garfield and Crossmen....all of whom made DCI finals.

Guardsmen also broke even with the Blue Stars, another DCI finalist.

The '78 Guardsmen had great soprano soloist, Fred Bell. Unfortunately the DCI recording (or performance) didn't do him justice. My cousin and I did a single-frame super 8 movie of the Guardsmen at DCI Midwest in '78.

Of course the '79 Guardsmen were legendary. Still one of my favorites! Loved Fanfare For The New and Tiger of San Pedro!