JimF-LowBari Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 In 1973 Westshoremen were inactive. The following year they reformed and came in last at DCA. 1982 they came in 2nd place, less than two points behind the winning corps. (Actually Westshore had been winning all year and Sunrisers caught up to them. If DCA had been 2 weeks earlier... b**bs ) So What The <bleep> happened that a dead ### last place corps almost won it all in a space of nine seasons. Here's my list for this corps: 1) Had large percentage of rookies first few years who stayed with the pain for the good of the corps. 2) BM Larry Hershman set realistic goals during the tough years. We went against the DCA big boys and got clobbered. So we heard "#### the other corps, just top last weeks scores" and "Yeah they beat us, they've been around longer. We're not ready to beat them (pause) YET!" 3) Nothing succeeds like success. As we got better and became an "up and coming" corps more vets from other corps started joining. 4) Improve the staff as the corps improves. Went from local HS directors to likes of John Flowers (drums), Ray Eyler (horns) and Frank Dorrite(sp!) (horns/charts). 5) Good luck helps. 1975 Yankee Rebels had #1 drum line while whole corps came in 6th. Two years later the corps was gone and lot of the drum line was with us. Our drum line suddenly went from the weak poit to the anchor of the corps. Anchor as in being #### good and showing how to have a winners attitude. 6) I left and they got REAL good. ^0^ Looking for people with similar experiences or stories. Would really like to hear from 80s Bluecoats as Hershman joined their staff in 1984. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Well, Larry Hershman re-joined the Bluecoats staff my first year marching in 2000. Things have seemed to go in the right direction since then: 13th-12th-8th-7th-7th-6th-5th-?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmenjeffb Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Hopkins told me this many years ago and it still holds true. Every great performance group has a PIED PIPER. The bottom line on all choices and directions. Some are very visible some work behind the scenes. If you look into why a group got a lot better you will find that person. To me, that is the biggest reason you see positive change forward. Yes it takes , many other factors and some luck. But there is a PIED PIPER that leads the way. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuCharlie Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Looking for people with similar experiences or stories. Would really like to hear from 80s Bluecoats as Hershman joined their staff in 1984. Frank Dorrite was the guy who did the original arrangement of Autumn Leaves. Not trying to sell anything here, but the Bluecoats Forever Blue Vol 1 has a round table discussion with Larry and others about the first about the early years in Finals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted July 1, 2006 Author Share Posted July 1, 2006 (edited) Frank Dorrite was the guy who did the original arrangement of Autumn Leaves. Not trying to sell anything here, but the Bluecoats Forever Blue Vol 1 has a round table discussion with Larry and others about the first about the early years in Finals. LOL think I'll hold off for a while buying. :P Larry narrated a Westshoremen history DVD a few years ago. Hearing his voice for that long of a period of time kicked in too many flashbacks. Kidding, the few times I run into Larry we have a nice few seconds chat before someone else needs to talk to him about something important. And he's one of the few people who gets away with calling me "Jimmy". Also sold Frank some old corps stuff a while back. Didn't know who it ws until I got the check. My face the looked like this --> Edited July 1, 2006 by JimF-xWSMBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuCharlie Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 LOL think I'll hold off for a while buying. :P Larry narrated a Westshoremen history DVD a few years ago. Hearing his voice for that long of a period of time kicked in too many flashbacks. When I was signing my contract with the Bluecoats, Larry was there and we talked about old drum corps and big band jazz for a little bit. B) I recall one saying he had, something like "I don't get revenge, I get even." b**bs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4MalletJim Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 I'm Waiting to see how SCV finishes to put in my $0.02..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhilton Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 I think that Hoppy is right and there always is a pied piper... I do have a very biased opinion on this topic... but regarding the Bluecoats, the man behind the pipe is Dave Glasgow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted July 2, 2006 Author Share Posted July 2, 2006 (edited) When I was signing my contract with the Bluecoats, Larry was there and we talked about old drum corps and big band jazz for a little bit. B) I recall one saying he had, something like "I don't get revenge, I get even." b**bs Larry said that? :P Larry and some of the board were responsible for me returning for 1975. After we got creamed at 1974 Prelims we went one by one into a room back at the motel. We were supposed to say if we would be returning. I walked in and two the board members (who gave me rides to practice) looked up and yelled. "Jim??? #### yeah he'll be back!". Larry said OK and put a checkmark on the sheet. I was back in the hallway before I knew what hit me. Edit: Forgot to mention I had just turned 17 at the time. Edited July 3, 2006 by JimF-xWSMBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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