overthehillDM Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Over the Hill DM.....1977 & 1980 Bridgemen are two of my all time favorites. 1980 Finals was my first live drum corps show. You guys are one of the reasons my son is now marching(Spirit05,06,07). He grew up listening to old recordings of Spirit, Bridgemen and Blue Devils. Just wanted to say thanks, Steve Steve, You're welcome! And thank you very much! I love all three corps that your son grew up listening to! And additional thanks for sharing the info about him!!! Best of luck to your son, and Spirit, in 2007!!! Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 That '77 Bridgemen corps remains one of my all-time favorites. I was at DCI Midwest in Whitewater to see them the first time that year, and they brought the house down. Apparently any rules violations were first discovered at Whitewater. DCI allowed Bridgemen to tour on the way to Boulder/Denver. Without the Bridgemen in the lineup of those tour shows would have lost MUCH of their allure. I always thought DCI "used" the Bridgemen, reaping their huge box office appeal between Whitewater and Denver, and then pulling the plug on the Bridgemen at Denver. We were at DCI prelims in Boulder when the announcement was made over the p.a. about a "problem", and all I said to my friends that it would be a HUGE shame if the Bridgemen weren't going to perform. Luckily they did. I was seated on the 50-yard-line at finals at Mile High Stadium, and the "boo birds" really let the Bridgemen have it when they were introduced. But, funny.... after they started performing the crowd went insane, and boos weren't heard the rest of their show. And Jim Brady was one heck of a great soloist! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydrodrill Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Northern Thunder Mam o man did you ever hit the nail right on the head.......... thats is the way I remember it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Those three corps were not the only ones that marched overage in that time frame. There was another northeastern corps in 1977 that had a documented overage member the entire season. This was discovered by the management of another corps which proceeded to get proof from the State of CT of that member's birthdate and, when they approached said overage corps' management, that corps withdrew from their last show of the year in NJ. 'nuff said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 There were also a number of Canadian corps, both from Ontario and Quebec that were punished for the overage violation. There was never much published about those cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle z Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 I marched in two drum corps with overage members. I guess at the time it was only a problem if you were finalist material. I'd be willing to bet there were a LOT more corps that had overage members than you can imagine. Just not many that were caught at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 My favorite story is of the "junior" corps from New York state that had one 28 year-old horn player in the 1970's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byline Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 I've seen this article move around to various locations; this seems to be the most recent: A Bit of Bridgemen History Unfortunately, there's little in the way of formatting, new paragraphs, etc., so it's rather difficult to read. Search the text for 1977 and begin reading there, and you'll find the whole story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byline Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 And, again, I will add that a corps won a championship that had "allegedly" marched two overage people for the entire season, and at DCI PRELIMS in the late 1980's! Why doesn't THAT topic ever come up??? Actually, it does. I've seen it repeatedly. I think the reason the issue of Bridgemen comes up is for the very reasons you cited: It was a terribly painful experience for many of the people who were involved, and it remains a controversial series of events to this day. For whatever reason, some things take on a life of their own, a kind of legendary status ("legendary" in all meanings of the word), and this seems to be one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dccorpsfan Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 HYPE!!!!!! Don't believe the hype. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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