1978 legacy

[jimdugan]

Here's what I experienced in 1978. We had not lost drums all year until prelims.

We beat Madison in Texas and Oklahoma leading up to Denver.

That year prelims were 2 days for open class. We had to go on the first day

with the associates while the top 12 went on late the next day. That was due to the

disqualification in 77. That kind of put us in a hole we couldn't get out of.

We did play well but obviously not good enough.

[Scerpella]

I was asked to explain why Madison was not in position to win drums 78.

Hrm...well, the first time we went up agains Madison in 78 at the beginning of the season I listened behind the front bleachers while that Madison was playing their drum solo. I was completely floored how great the parts sounded and thought are butts were going to be handed to us. To my surprise there was a pretty good gap in scores. Even so I didn't believe it was really that wide of a gap. Madisons 12 snares where one of the rare amazing lines that just kept you mezmorized. Another notable night was DCI East and Madison electrified the crowd big time. I watched from the track on crutches with a bum knee.

Now SCV had Sanfords parts to work with, that being some what of an advantage. From an ensemble point of view that is. The talent in the line was every bit as good collectively as '75. There were guys in the tenor line who could read the entire chart once and have it memorized. Crazy stuff like that. More than half the guys in the snare line were serious highly competitive soloist. The drum line as whole had encredible drive and belief that they could win. We carried our drums off the busses at pee breaks and cleaned parts. Marched endurance rolls accross several miles all summer, encluding one time playing for 5 miles non-stop at Moffit Field. The week before finals the corps was not allow to go to bed until a certain goals were met. Like having one snare at a time play along with the center snare the entire show in the center of the gym in front of the entire corps tickless or start at the beginning again. It was the only way to find the last couple of ticks.

The way each phrase was expressed like in If You Believe seamed deceptively simple and old school however when the 2004 Alumni line tried to play it, it was a total disaster and fell apart constantly. The parts had to be rewritten a day before the Tournament of Roses parade. Fred spent hours with us getting us to ignore the written charts and just play with a certain expression that could not be written down on paper.

Not to mention in 1978 at Denver we switched to traditional grip on the final push to pay homage to those who played traditional grip before us. It was the only time we did it all year.

Yes Madison was clean as whistle and sounded great. And if not for some politics probably should have tied or been one tenth behind or two. The SCV drum line simply just happened to peak that night. You could see it on our faces and the way we played the Bottle Dance.

Madison was great no doubt and was my favorite line that year. Serious long time Madison fan here.

Mom

AKA Dennis Mancini

SCV Snare '78

SCV Snare '79 Winter Only

SCV Snare '02 Alumni Corps

SCV Snare '04 TOR Parade

SCV Alumni Steering Committee '03' 04

Renegades Snare '03

Renegades Snare '04

Renegades Snare '05

Sticks are hung up.

Thanks for that perspective Dennis. 77 (2nd) and 78s (3rd screwed) drumlines are perhaps two of the best consecutive years for Scouts ever. What amazes me (and my untrained percussion ear) is the difference between 75 and 77. To me the 77 line was twice as good. The whole "art" jumped forward in very short order. Although I think 73 SCV had done that as well. Your comments also ringtrue for me with regard to SCVs ability to have expression.

BTW the Star Wars solo from 78 is part of the program for the Madison ALumni Reunion project. We'll see if these guys can throw down and perform it.

[Scerpella]

Gotta disagree with you there - our unusually low MA score might have cost us (BD) Nats in '78.

Frank Levy. Grrrrr

To me Chris, Devils didnt perfect that show until 79. And if you listen to them back to back the difference is fairly obvious. No one could argue you had the hardest horn book that year (78) though.

[Snapettes Mom]

I'm aware that Fred was writting for Madison as well at the time.

Unknown to many unless you were looking for it. Gail Royer bounce a tennis ball all season along the sidelines at each show. At final he had a volley ball painted green to look like a very large tennis ball. Did anyone notice he was bouncing it finals night?

We also had brand new snares drums only a few weeks old from Slingerland. Custom make 9 ply instead of the standard 6 ply. They sounded sweet.

Mid season was very hard on the line. We had one injured snare and another sent home after the first show. Bringing Rob in the line was an adjustment that needed time to get everyone to play more higher like him and get the injured guy (me) back into the fold by the end of the year. If not for the unexpected adjustments the line would have been even more on fire all season. Note I thought BD had a more talented line but had some difficulty with personalities.

Mom

[john2780]

Here's what I experienced in 1978. We had not lost drums all year until prelims.

We beat Madison in Texas and Oklahoma leading up to Denver.

That year prelims were 2 days for open class. We had to go on the first day

with the associates while the top 12 went on late the next day. That was due to the

disqualification in 77. That kind of put us in a hole we couldn't get out of.

We did play well but obviously not good enough.

I remember a #### of a party in the parking lot before retreat b**bs

[jimdugan]

I remember a #### of a party in the parking lot before retreat b**bs

It certainly was! I remember some of it taking place on a bus that some corps

from Revere rode on. lol

[vferrera]

Gotta disagree with you there - our unusually low MA score might have cost us (BD) Nats in '78.

Frank Levy. Grrrrr

That would have taken a 10.0 in MA. Up to that point, only 76 BD had accomplished that.

[Rocketman]

Here's what I experienced in 1978. We had not lost drums all year until prelims.

We beat Madison in Texas and Oklahoma leading up to Denver.

That year prelims were 2 days for open class. We had to go on the first day

with the associates while the top 12 went on late the next day. That was due to the

disqualification in 77. That kind of put us in a hole we couldn't get out of.

We did play well but obviously not good enough.

Jim, why didn't you guys do Whitewater in '78? 9 of the top 12 were there. I know you were in the area cause you spanked us the next day in Racine!

It was bogus that you guys had to go on so early but, I also thought, perhaps incorrectly, that the later you waited to confirm/apply to go to DCI, the earlier you go on. I'm pretty sure that's how it was at some of the other "regional shows." So, might that have been an issue as well?

Rocketman - '78 was great

but ampssuck

[Rocketman]

This is an old argument that has been debated many times before. I've always felt that there were such stylistic differences between those guards that it was, indeed, very difficult to compare them . . . yet that's exactly what any judge judging a caption is asked to do, and was asked to do that night. I felt that Santa Clara had a fine guard, and even without weapons (which I agree was a lack), they brought a lot of subtlety and innovation to flagwork. Is that enough to win a caption? I guess that gets into how an individual defines what guard is, and what's most important. And yes, that definitely differs from one person to the next. Given how little importance guards were granted back then in the corps score, I kind of doubt that the guard caption sheet was standardized enough at that point to compensate for such subjective differences of opinion. (Was there even a guard caption sheet? I can't remember ever seeing one, just hearing our score and the occasional audio tape.)

Sue, you are correct in all you say. And now, I have to go back and try to watch SCV '78 and focus on the guard. However, there was no formal "guard sheet" to my recollection it was assigned by the GE M&M judge. Considering that whether a guard scored a 0.1 or a 2.0 there was not change in the corps "score", one has to wonder why it was done at all! Probably just to pi$$ me off! :P

Rocketman - .08

ampssuck

[overthehillDM]

Gotta disagree with you there - our unusually low MA score might have cost us (BD) Nats in '78.

Frank Levy. Grrrrr

Hey, Chris...

That's my High School band director that you're growling at! ^0^

...and he was really AWESOME!!!

He's also one of your neighbors, from what I've heard!

P.S. - Really enjoyed you guys in Scranton last year, and your solo work!