In 1981, as a high school senior, I went to a mini-camp with Spirit of Atlanta at Wake Forest University. At the end, we and our parents all went into the stands to see the corps perform its "Georgia on my Mind" opener. All the band students were psyched, but many of the parents didn't really know what to expect. When the corps turned around for that opening company front, you could the sheer physical impact the sound had on the crowd in the stands. It was like being in a wind tunnel. We were pinned to the backs of our seats. Jaws dropped. I like contemporary drum corps, but I miss that visceral sound the corps of the 80s used to produce.
UN-F***ING REAL!! I remember seeing that show live and just being blown away!! NO electronics, and no gimmicks!!! THIS is what it was, and still SHOULD be!!!
I agree with you 100%. Unfortunately DCI has turned the activity into a marching band competition, superimposed on the three ring circus we no longer have, Real Drum and bugle corps. They all rest in peace😂😂❤❤
I agree with everything you said, after going to a small competition I enjoyed it but it was not the drum corps I remembered matching in. This actually made me cry a little as it brought back so many memories.
When drum corps was still drum corps. Uniforms, not "costumes," bugles, not band instruments, no amplification, no singing, no computers, no keyboards, no giant ridiculous props. Now it's Broadway on a football field. No thanks, I'll take this any day.
I went to a semi-finals in 2002 and DCI had a merch tent with a TV set up outside playing their DVDs for people walking by. I asked the vendor if he could play one of the old Bridgemen shows and he actually said, "Nah, nobody wants to see those anymore." I insisted and he finally begrudgingly put in the 1982 show. I stood and watched enraptured but then I started hearing voices behind me. I turned to see a large crowd had formed to watch the show. It was so gratifying to see that I wasn't alone in my love for classic corps.
A summer doesn't pass that I don't remember the MAGIC that was Spirit of Atlanta under Jim Ott's tutelage. Surely they coined the phrase, "Blew Me Away!" because that is exactly what they did. May Jim Ott rest in peace! I was there and it was a wall of sound every bit as powerful as a train. In your face good!!!
@@appleseed2613 Any idea about how Spirit's "wall of sound" compared to the Muchachos'? I read on these comment boards that Hawthorne could also peel the paint off walls.
There was a time when signs were posted warning that hearing may be affected due to exposure to the horn lines. To me, that speaks of the awesomeness that was/is Spirit.
I had the good fortune to hear Spirit of Atlanta several times during the 1979 season. I also got to see them at the finals in Birmingham. They were AMAZING!!! A couple of years later I went to a workshop as a young band director and they played, let it be me by forming an arc around us, facing the wall of a school, I have never felt such power even in the loudest rock ‘n’ roll concerts. But even more than the power, was the beauty of the arrangement and the musicianship of the performers. Jim Ott was a master who has never been replaced.
This is the first drum corps show I ever saw in 1979 when I was 15. I instantly fell in love with drum corps. Spirit of Atlanta 1979 and 1980 were legendary shows with an unforgettable legendary sound. I still think of these two shows and play the LP vinyl records to this day.
I marched mellophone in a smaller corps that year and was in the audience for finals. You could feel the vibration in the air. The middle horns sang like a 100 piece choir, the harmony generated from this horn section that night was surreal. The arrangement is probably one of the best ever written for drum corps. To sum it up, it was a spiritual experience for me, and no doubt many others that night. It give me chills watching this again after so many years. G Force baby, G Force.
I was one of those four mellos stalking around out there. We used rag Jim that he'd face the wrath of his sister if he didn't write the best stuff for the altos. He did...
Thinking of Jerry McEver today, founding member and contrabass, avid Spirit Supporter, one of my best and dearest friends who loved Jim Ott and his years with Spirit. Gone too early.
Jim Ott was a master at arranging. He could arrange the middle horns in a perfect harmony with the rest of the horn line. His death was a great tragedy and loss to the drum corps world and he is sorely missed. There aren't many who had his ear for what the music could be.
I'm glad we played the same closer, concert tune and opening fanfare in 1980. I actually learned my snare music from playing the 1979 record over and over in my college apartment-much to the dismay of my college room mate at the time. I still remember at one camp when it was raining that day. We played a standstill in the gym and if you think THIS is loud, you should hear the Jim Ott horn line and Tom Float drum line in a gymnasium. Say what??? Dennis Johnson- Spirit Snare 1980
I'm 18 years old and getting to march my first season of drum corps and I can honestly say I LOVE this stuff better than what we have now. It makes me wish I could go back in time and see the Bridgemen and the Jim Ott brass line with the Ol' Skool Scouts and Blue Devils shows that made sense. I would pay a lot of money to do what they did.
This is one of Jim Ott's greatest arrangements, and Spirit's performance is one of their finest performances. Wow, what a great horn line. These kids left every ounce of their energy on the field. They performed with passion, power and perfect execution.
I stepped out of my car at Lawrence North HS in Indianapolis in June of 1979 and Spirit was playing this right in front of me in the parking lot. They were rehearsing before their show that evening. I couldn't believe it. I had never heard anything like that before. So powerful and passionate. I was hooked on drum corps and went to Birmingham in August for finals. Two years later I marched Cavies.
Greg Bright Where are you from? I grew up in Bloomington, IN. People tried to describe drum corps to me and I watched part of the 1978 finals on PBS, but still didn't quite get it. Hearing Spirit that night in Indy was my first experience with live drum corps. What an introduction. Goosebumps all over and the hair on the back of my neck standing up. It was a life changing experience.
Chuck Flowers I grew up in Anderson. First corps show was in 1969 in Chicago. Bunch of us music majors from Ball State went to see what it was all about. Marched Boys of '76 Senior Corps from Racine, WI, in 1971 since I'd already aged out of Jr. Corps. Live about 30 miles N of Bloomington for the last 25 years. We need Star again.
When I auditioned for spirit on baritone this past year, we played an arrangement of this along with some chorales, and of course, Georgia on my Mind. But through everything, this piece always stood out. I always enjoyed those final chords more than anything. And now going back and hearing the original, we didn't come close to doing it justice. Even though I am a younger drum corps fan in the grand scheme of things, I still love the passion and power from the older shows. Even if this isn't as difficult or as clean as the modern shows, they can still bring you to tears.
In 1978 at a small high school stadium in Park Ridge, still 85 degrees a couple hours after sunset, the end of Let It Be Me was a cool wave of clarity that made time stand still-- ticket stubs fell to the floor, audience members locked eyes, and dove into an ocean of pure blue sound.
I saw this. At the end, the first 20 rows of bleachers had been blown back 30 feet. If you were in person for this from Spirit and Malagueña from Madison, that tells you all you need to know about late 70's drum corps.
Saw this show live in Indianapolis, been to Rock Concerts that were not that loud. Agreed one of the best DCI endings ever, though I has a soft spot for Danny Boy...
One can but try, and for that, I am very grateful. I would never have heard that magnificent arrangement at all. Such passion from teenagers...who knew?
My God, I'm old but this is the best closer ever! I actually tear up 38+ years later. What beautiful memories. Miss all that. Rest in peace , Jim Ott! you meant something to so many people, even people like myself you have never met.
Now that's drum corps! The soaring countermelody around 0:56 is wondrous, and the decrescendo starting around 2:25 is done with great musicianship. It's a glorious arrangement from Jim Ott, and what a lush sound from the brass line they have. This video brings back some very fond memories.
Spirit was the first Corps that I ever saw perform live and it was this show. Thank you Mr. Ott and Spirit of Atlanta for turning me on to an amazing lifetime of music.
I was at this show and had "Let It Be Me" in my head for hours after the contest ended. 1979 and 1980 were, IMHO, the peak of drum and bugle corps. Power, entertainment, memorable tunes, and fierce competition all made this period my favorite. What a blessing to have been able to watch, listen, and participate in DCI when it was at its height.
I loved the tenor drum arrangements from those days. They were so musical and really fit the music. Let it Be Me is a perfect example of the best of the best from that era of drum corps.
As a member of Santa Clara during the late eighties 1978, and 1979 This was the only corps that made me stop and listen. I applied for entrance after the 79 season and was rejected because of my youth. Believe me though when I say when Atlanta plated we were definitinty distracteed . A member of s Santa Clara we stopped and tolk notice. Georgia on My Mind made me cry .
I was in the Spirit flag section in 79. Santa Clara Vanguard took 3rd place and knocked us down to 4th in the finals by changing their show to add the bottle dance. Brilliant move. I'm not bitter at all. No really.
This memory is more from 1978 than 79 but as most of you know, the corps that had already performed used to sit in the stands on the backside of the field. Spirit of Atlanta is the only corps I can remember where members of other corps would work their way around to the front side of the field on the track just to bear witness to the incredible sound that Spirit would unleash at the end of the show. Teaching this corps was truly an incredible experience.
This was when drum corp was real. I was at this show when they did this song i love it!! It dave goose bumps!! I wish drum corp would go back the way it was!!
This was the best show ever!! I saw this show live in White Water Wi. Everytime I hear this song it bring tears to my eyes! I was in the Spirit Of St. Louis Drum Corps 1963. And now I am a Legendary Drummer from being in Drum Corps. So I owe it all to Drum Corps!!
The corp has been strong since day 1. My friend Don Williams made the snare line that year or 80" not sure. We were in area youth band together in Carson, Ca.He really had great chops!
BlueRhino23 I agree. But most of the bottom corps still keep it real. Phantom does a great job of that. I still love the Bluecoats becsuse they will play you off your seat.
The music doesn't make sense these days. Lots of talented young people and great drills. However the music is just a blast of sound here, percussion slugging it out over there, then over here, then a blast of sound coming from another place from over yonder. What kind of music is that? I dont call it music. Even rap makes more sense than the DCI music of today. I'm not one whom thinks things should remain the same and never change. DCI should evolve to keep it fresh. But music not making sense? As a beginner trumpet player in school, I wrote some music on blank sheet music paper and then played it for my brother, who later marched the Kilities 1979 and Blue Stars 1980. My music that day was very similar to DCI of today. It was just notes written on a page but didn't follow any musical flow. Anyway I'm done with the soap box.
I was at this show, and Spirit of Atlanta at the end, after the 2 minute warning,, was the LOUDEST marching unit I have ever heard!!!! It felt like the paint was peeling off the walls. All with vale rotor "G" Bugles!
I marched Spirit in 1995, glad to have got to play a G bugle! I miss that sound soo much. I still love the activity but I do not like the use of bflat horns, amplification and other things. Great Vid
Great Video!!! I see a lot of people comparing the old days to the new and as a SOA alum and Crown Alum form the G bugle days I would say I agree that the Bb horns can not and never will be able to equal the shear force of sound of the G lines. Another big disappointment is that None of the corps today play full melodies much less full songs. Ponder this, why are the parking lot videos so popular today (Almost more so than the shows)? Possibly because they play full melodies and songs that people can enjoy rather than the constant "beeboop" in the shows.
I know this post was a year ago...but I thank you for giving todays Corps credit for ehat they do. They do much more than we did especially in this video. But I also agree that when I heard this exit (or "closer" these days), the sound was amazing, and everything I expected from the Powerful Spirit of Atlanta hornline.It truly is too bad that todays DrumCorps fan doesn't get to hear this sound without amplification, but then again they get to see Corps perform incredible physical shows.
I remember hearing this corps, live, at a Oshkosh, WI rehearsal in 1979. I sat there on that hot sunny day in the stands in total amazement of the sound coming from that brass line! I think" Slimgauger" up there got pretty close when using the term "thick". Then reminding me of how those stadium seats would "hum".. Having lived the years of Madison '74, '75, & '76?? I was really kinda "conflicted" emotionally.. lol Where was this sound coming from and, "how dare they"?? It's kind of hard to put into words the feelings I was having at that moment. But honestly, those were some of them. Madison had always the biggest sound, back then. (I'm trying really hard not to demean those efforts by using the words loud, louder, or loudest..) But, '79 Spirit soared to this amazing, new powerful level! I'll just never forget that afternoon, experiencing that WALL OF SOUND for the first time. It was a real turning point for DCI. I hardly ever write on these things anymore. I just felt it important, in the age of trombones, french horns, & sound equipment etc., that we never forget the efforts kids like the '79 Spirit of Atlanta and so many others, had in shaping what Drum Corps is today. That's it, nobody asked, just my opinion ;) PfB~
Paul, I remember going to those competitions and hearing the Madison Scouts. I even recorded them on my cassette player and listened to them for years. Inspired me to join a drum corp. Not playing but being a part of it. On this flag line. Loved every moment.
Yes. It's funny that the kids who have never heard a real DCI horn line listen to recordings (that can't capture it) and make comments about the intonation and how we're all apparently full of shit. But we're not. We experienced the sound of those golden years of powerful horn lines, and we experience the much less full sound of today's horn lines, and there is absolutely no comparison. I doubt I would be interested in marching drum corps today as a brass player. My entire desire was encapsulated, essentially, as GET ME ONE OF THOSE BUGLES>>>NOW!!! I was a good jazz and lead player, and I could hear what was going on in that sound versus a trumpet. I played them both. I understood the difference, and why the sound of G bugles was more exciting in an ensemble. Too bad we can't rewind the clock and un-screw everything that George Hopkins and his Kool Aid drinkers did to damage Drum Corps. I appreciate that the generation of kids marching now have no idea what that sound was really like...I get why they listen to the recordings and hear the distortion and what sounds (to them) like bad intonation. But in fact, it wasn't bad. It was just a very different set of overtones, a different set of partials compared to what a Bb instrument plays for the same given line. Unless you can remember what it was like to hear Blue Devils, or Spirit of Atlanta...or for that matter, the 27th Lancers (who were maybe one of the most powerful horn lines with a very different kind of sound), you can't really make claims about what the quality of the experience was. I'd be willing to bet if some of these kids could magically transport back to stand in front of a G bugle line, they'd be the very first to say "Screw this band instrument crap. GET ME ONE OF THOSE BUGLES>>>NOW!!!!
@@BruceRichardsonMusic Nicely said Bruce. Still today, I wonder how Jim Ott taught those kids to project through those bugles and was that the secret that produced that soaring sound over EVERYBODY else on the field back then? I often think Jim was the first to figure it out. And the impact he would have had on the activity had not it been for that heartbreaking accident. Watching this again made this 63 year old, 260lb old man's eyes start watering, AGAIN. I always watch these kids thinking about what the #1 thought running thru their minds was while performing this show was... Catcha later, pfb~
1979 Waite highschool Toledo OH mid June show . My dad took his buddy to his first drum corps show, spirit, 27th, and crossmen were the big three there. Spirit came on last and after they were done my dad's buddy wanted to know where the speakers and microphones were hidden. Enough said
The front sideline was about 20 feet from the wall where the seats began. We could see the audience's faces very clearly [since we never watched the drum majors...]. Great venue!!
@ludwig drumset. Trying to describe the sound in person is kind of like trying to describe the color blue to a blind person, but here goes. The sound wasn't just loud, it was "thick". You could actually feel the vibration in your body, and the metal stadium seats would hum. The stadium itself would reverberate for probably 5-6 seconds after the cutoff (it seemed like forever). I was in a small corps at the time, and got to watch the best all summer for free. My ears would ring for hours after the show. I got to march Blue Devils my last year ('85). Since I played sop (UFLS, thank you very much), the big brass was typically behind me. There were times I couldn't hear myself playing over the bari's behind me.
I did not see this live, but did see 85 Devils, and your hornline was pretty loud. One of the loudest I have ever heard! Love that 85 show...high brass and drums if I am not mistaken.
srtyler Yep. Tied with Garfield for high brass and took high drums. Watching Tom Float run the drum line was absolutely amazing. And of course it was an absolute honor to spend a year under the guidance of Jack Meehan and Wayne Downey. They had an incredible focus on tone & intonation. I think that contributed quite a bit to the volume we were able to achieve. It was a fun show, but a bit of a departure from previous BD style. If I remember correctly the closer (Pat Metheny's "The First Circle") was in 5/4,4/4 meter. Challenging at first, but a lot of fun once we got the hang of it. I'm glad to hear from someone who remembers and appreciated the show.
slimgauger riogrande I have watched these fantastic bands in competition for years ( on PBS ) and never thought I would read about an actual experience. Thank all of you so much from all of us who appreciate your dedication and talent. I am a Professional musician, 'though not in the marching category.
Was that the Liferaft Earth show? I saw that one live, and the high brass bend in the opener absolutely and involuntarily lifted out of my seat and made me scream. That show was incredible. I still have it on disc.
I was there.. All the fall. winter, spring, and summer of practices. On the flag line. Can't tell which one now. Somewhere on the left side of the field. God, what a sound. Great drum line, too.
@@faerianne I may have marched with him in 1980. Don't remember all the names. We were the Auburn group that drive to Atlanta from Auburn University to be a part of the greatest year SOA ever had. Memories.
That classic Spirit horn line, their fat sound, so full you feel it to your bones. This video (one night in August) is what got me into drum corps, later joining SOUTHWIND and later the BRIDGEMEN.
man, that is such a great point. Our local HS band uses a bunch of DCI inspired stuff, including a vocal, that is so forgettable that the director felt the need to tell us parents when we should applaud, during a run through for parents. "Parents, now would be a great time to applaud"
Wow.... I had the please of seeing this performance live... not this one but at a small show in South Florida.... The sound here does not do it justice but still got chills remembering it!! Definitely one of the best at the time.
I went to college with something like 30 or so of these guys. They were great musicians & great people. Jim Ott's scores were amazing. Bugles did make a difference. Something about the music just came together for SOA in the late 70s early 80s. I hope the kids marching these days love it and enjoy it just as much as we did "back in the day." Today's drills are more involved. But I miss the sound of the old horn lines, when there was musicianship and power, when the stadium walls cracked!
WITH APOLOGIES TO THE DEVILS AND CROWN AND MADISON AND ALL THE GREAT HORN LINES OF DRUM CORPS THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE GREATEST HORN ARRANGEMENT AND HORN SOUND THAT I'VE EVER HEARD IN MY 40 PLUS YEARS OF WATCHING DRUM CORPS JUST AWESOME I MEAN YOUR RIBS WOULD SHAKE.
I was in the band when our director Freddy martin started spirit simply put he was the best of all time we won every contest we went to while he was at south Cobb high school
I never get tired of watching this show and hearing this song, and I've been watching and listening to it for 33 years now. By the way, I love to see the rifles flying up in the air at the beginning of the company front. Nice job, ladies!
Nice to see French horns in the brass lineup. Really a distinct sound from the mellophone, and it blends well with the lower brass especially. Kind of like how an orchestral French horn blends equally well with all sections of the orchestra.
This was back in a time when anything you wanted on the field you had to march on with it. Before the "Pit" became the norm. All this company front would have needed is a big "AMEN" or even a "Hat Bow"! :) Also, I believe in 1979 Spirit had only been in existence for around 18 months. Quite remarkable for their metoric rise. It is sad about their horn instructor.
1980 DCI East was my very first drum corps show. I sat 4 rows up, right on the 50 yd line and when I heard this unbelievably loud and amazing, "wall of sound" , (without amplification) I was hooked for life!! This is one of, if not the best closer ever!! Just a thought, I wonder what prior Blue Devil soloists from back in the day think when they see today's soloists miked for sound??
The athletic ability of the corps from the 70's cannot be discounted. We marched in silk, that held in the heat to the body, or wool which did breathe, but was essentially was like wearing a blanket during the heat and humidity of the midwest summer. I think we would have been able to manage marching step for step with the young people today.
MAN WATCH AND LET IT BE ME AND LISTENING TO IT 43 YEARS LATER I STILL GET GOOSEBUMPS THAT WAS AWESOME GOD BLESS GMOD REST IN PEACE SHAMAN WHAT AN ARRANGER
I didn't get to see Spirit perform this 78-80 but finally was able to travel to Whitewater in 81. Let It Be Me wasn't in the show to start the season, but they added it along with other changes at the mid season break. I didn't know it was coming, back before the internet of course, and I just about peed my pants when they blasted the first chord in prelims. If you helped put Let It Be Me on the field any of those years, staff or member, thank you. A life long memory.
Got chills and tears hearing this again! Those kids could march! Just try marking time and playing for 13 minutes with a high step and tell me how today's corpsmen are more "athletic". Oh, and one more thing.... THEY DIDN'T NEED ANY ELECTRONICS TO SELL THE SHOW!
DrumCorps N Skiing in my freshman high school marching band show we incorporated high step into the show with an arrangement of this very piece. My calves are huge now. That crap was hard
@@dadthecrewmate1429 shut up younger me you stopped marching after high school and did way better things than high school marching band. Ugh kids those days.
Your right in one respect Martin but that is what made drum corps much superior to marching band back in the day. We never had any music majors in our drum corps and most of these kids were taught by the corps. That is what made drum corps back then so much fun...the challenge of trying to master those horns. I never had Jim Ott as an instructor but boy I LOVE HIS MUSIC AND ARRANGING !!! I had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up after this show in Denver in '78 !!!
That was true of many corps back in the day, but SOA was chock full of music majors mostly from Jacksonville State Marching Southerners. These guys along with the Blue Devils raised the standard of precision and sophistication with horn lines and arrangements and it continued to progress to the excellence you see today.
Thank you for posting this. This is one of my all-time favorite performances and a great memory. I was there in Birmingham in 79 and 80 for the finals. I first saw this show early in the season in Upper Arlington, Ohio (suburb of Columbus). That was my first DCI show, and I've been hooked ever since.
Not my first time here taking up everyone's time, but it's just that everytime I see these kids performing that program from back in'79 I just automatically have to drop off a comment. Since seeing this show, in person, I've always wondered how Jim Ott taught those kids to project through those bugles and was that the secret that produced that soaring sound over EVERYBODY else on the field at that time? I often think Jim was the first to figure it out. And the impact he would have had on the activity had not it been for that heartbreaking accident. Watching this again made this 63 year old, 260lb old man's eyes start watering, AGAIN, knowing what must have been in every one of those kids minds. Though I have not read any of it, I've heard about discussions from the more recent DCI generations concerning the lack of musicianship, performance quality, brass technique, etc. back in the day. If indeed these conversations are happening, be very careful! And perhaps stop to think for a moment. Think about all the supporters/teachers/members from back then that are reading those comments. Nothing differentiates them from the numbers working the activity today. They all worked the same late hours sewing, cooking, driving, managing, & teaching. If you march or teach today, look around you and remember everything you see, happened the same way 40+ years ago. Except... As a teacher from back then, we scraped & scrounged for kids. I'd run a rehearsal with holes everywhere! 6,7, 10, 12, it always changed. We'd take kids, off the street, they didn't know how to play. They're was absolutely NO community support, anywhere! Recruit, recruit, recruit. Of course we went to the bands. (and I hope you're STILL here cause THIS is it...) But back then, the band directors shut us out! "We weren't serious musicians... Don't go there kids, you'll learn all bad habits! As a matter of fact you'll probably not learn anything. Drum Corps just a waste of time". Year after year after year ALWAYS the same thing. So ya, we struggled. Thankfully, somewhere along the line things changed. Then what I saw happen, I always think about it happening back in my day, the things we could have done... So when I start hearing about people today picking apart some of OUR great efforts back when, (like the one above) I say stop! It's cheap, it's childish, & like how dare you!?! If I ever DO hear it, I'll be All in your shit!!! The kids from YOUR past did their best with what little they had. They worked like you. They sweat like you. They hoped like you. They dreamed like you and sometimes they even cried like you. Do not EVER insult them. They came before you. And they "Held The Fort" for so MANY years! So you could continue on experiencing the greatest youth activity ever! Wow! Sorry for that.. Simply my opinion, nobody asked. PfB~
In 1981, as a high school senior, I went to a mini-camp with Spirit of Atlanta at Wake Forest University. At the end, we and our parents all went into the stands to see the corps perform its "Georgia on my Mind" opener. All the band students were psyched, but many of the parents didn't really know what to expect. When the corps turned around for that opening company front, you could the sheer physical impact the sound had on the crowd in the stands. It was like being in a wind tunnel. We were pinned to the backs of our seats. Jaws dropped. I like contemporary drum corps, but I miss that visceral sound the corps of the 80s used to produce.
I smile every time I watch this. Might even tear up a bit too. We'll never see anything like this again.
It certainly is! Without a doubt the best nostalgic closer of all time. Even in these modern times.
UN-F***ING REAL!! I remember seeing that show live and just being blown away!! NO electronics, and no gimmicks!!! THIS is what it was, and still SHOULD be!!!
I agree with you 100%. Unfortunately DCI has turned the activity into a marching band competition, superimposed on the three ring circus we no longer have, Real Drum and bugle corps. They all rest in peace😂😂❤❤
Aint happening. Drum corps died may years ago. Now its gay band
That Spirit of Atlanta horn line might be the best I've ever heard and I've been following drum corps since 1972
I Feel Really Bad For All of The People That Will Never Feel & Hear That Kind Of Raw Musical Power Again 😰.
2 valve baby
Stop I’m already jealous
So jealous I bought my own G contra
I agree with everything you said, after going to a small competition I enjoyed it but it was not the drum corps I remembered matching in. This actually made me cry a little as it brought back so many memories.
I loved seeing it
When drum corps was still drum corps. Uniforms, not "costumes," bugles, not band instruments, no amplification, no singing, no computers, no keyboards, no giant ridiculous props. Now it's Broadway on a football field. No thanks, I'll take this any day.
Yup!!
I went to a semi-finals in 2002 and DCI had a merch tent with a TV set up outside playing their DVDs for people walking by. I asked the vendor if he could play one of the old Bridgemen shows and he actually said, "Nah, nobody wants to see those anymore." I insisted and he finally begrudgingly put in the 1982 show. I stood and watched enraptured but then I started hearing voices behind me. I turned to see a large crowd had formed to watch the show. It was so gratifying to see that I wasn't alone in my love for classic corps.
Thank God for Tom Float and Jim Ott...together they produced classic, music memories!!!
A summer doesn't pass that I don't remember the MAGIC that was Spirit of Atlanta under Jim Ott's tutelage. Surely they coined the phrase, "Blew Me Away!" because that is exactly what they did. May Jim Ott rest in peace! I was there and it was a wall of sound every bit as powerful as a train. In your face good!!!
Thank you on Jim's behalf. Such a nice comment.
@@appleseed2613 Any idea about how Spirit's "wall of sound" compared to the Muchachos'? I read on these comment boards that Hawthorne could also peel the paint off walls.
@@PrairieBoy99 I don't know about the Muchachos. Never heard them. All I know is how Spirit played so well. Not just loudly.
There was a time when signs were posted warning that hearing may be affected due to exposure to the horn lines. To me, that speaks of the awesomeness that was/is Spirit.
I realize that you said this 8 years ago, but I was in Spirit that year and I appreciate your comment. Rehearsals were loud!
I had the good fortune to hear Spirit of Atlanta several times during the 1979 season. I also got to see them at the finals in Birmingham. They were AMAZING!!! A couple of years later I went to a workshop as a young band director and they played, let it be me by forming an arc around us, facing the wall of a school, I have never felt such power even in the loudest rock ‘n’ roll concerts. But even more than the power, was the beauty of the arrangement and the musicianship of the performers. Jim Ott was a master who has never been replaced.
This is the first drum corps show I ever saw in 1979 when I was 15. I instantly fell in love with drum corps. Spirit of Atlanta 1979 and 1980 were legendary shows with an unforgettable legendary sound. I still think of these two shows and play the LP vinyl records to this day.
They were at my first show ever in that same season.
I marched mellophone in a smaller corps that year and was in the audience for finals. You could feel the vibration in the air. The middle horns sang like a 100 piece choir, the harmony generated from this horn section that night was surreal. The arrangement is probably one of the best ever written for drum corps. To sum it up, it was a spiritual experience for me, and no doubt many others that night. It give me chills watching this again after so many years. G Force baby, G Force.
I was one of those four mellos stalking around out there. We used rag Jim that he'd face the wrath of his sister if he didn't write the best stuff for the altos. He did...
Thinking of Jerry McEver today, founding member and contrabass, avid Spirit Supporter, one of my best and dearest friends who loved Jim Ott and his years with Spirit. Gone too early.
Jim Ott was a master at arranging. He could arrange the middle horns in a perfect harmony with the rest of the horn line. His death was a great tragedy and loss to the drum corps world and he is sorely missed. There aren't many who had his ear for what the music could be.
I agree with you 100%. Former member of the Long Island Sunrisers 1964 through 1968. Today is January 27th 2022.
I'm glad we played the same closer, concert tune and opening fanfare in 1980. I actually learned my snare music from playing the 1979 record over and over in my college apartment-much to the dismay of my college room mate at the time. I still remember at one camp when it was raining that day. We played a standstill in the gym and if you think THIS is loud, you should hear the Jim Ott horn line and Tom Float drum line in a gymnasium. Say what???
Dennis Johnson- Spirit Snare 1980
I'm 18 years old and getting to march my first season of drum corps and I can honestly say I LOVE this stuff better than what we have now. It makes me wish I could go back in time and see the Bridgemen and the Jim Ott brass line with the Ol' Skool Scouts and Blue Devils shows that made sense. I would pay a lot of money to do what they did.
This is one of Jim Ott's greatest arrangements, and Spirit's performance is one of their finest performances. Wow, what a great horn line. These kids left every ounce of their energy on the field. They performed with passion, power and perfect execution.
Now THIS is Drum Corps. I'll take this over today's style any day.
I stepped out of my car at Lawrence North HS in Indianapolis in June of 1979 and Spirit was playing this right in front of me in the parking lot. They were rehearsing before their show that evening. I couldn't believe it. I had never heard anything like that before. So powerful and passionate. I was hooked on drum corps and went to Birmingham in August for finals. Two years later I marched Cavies.
Chuck Flowers I was at LN and Birmingham that year as well. Had fun back then.
Greg Bright Where are you from? I grew up in Bloomington, IN. People tried to describe drum corps to me and I watched part of the 1978 finals on PBS, but still didn't quite get it. Hearing Spirit that night in Indy was my first experience with live drum corps. What an introduction. Goosebumps all over and the hair on the back of my neck standing up. It was a life changing experience.
Chuck Flowers I grew up in Anderson. First corps show was in 1969 in Chicago. Bunch of us music majors from Ball State went to see what it was all about. Marched Boys of '76 Senior Corps from Racine, WI, in 1971 since I'd already aged out of Jr. Corps. Live about 30 miles N of Bloomington for the last 25 years. We need Star again.
Chuck Flowers i was at that show
Best closer ever. Just when you thought the "big push" was done, they hit you in the face. Over and over!
When I auditioned for spirit on baritone this past year, we played an arrangement of this along with some chorales, and of course, Georgia on my Mind. But through everything, this piece always stood out. I always enjoyed those final chords more than anything. And now going back and hearing the original, we didn't come close to doing it justice. Even though I am a younger drum corps fan in the grand scheme of things, I still love the passion and power from the older shows. Even if this isn't as difficult or as clean as the modern shows, they can still bring you to tears.
Yep. It is not about difficulty it is about passion !!!
It's not what's most difficult, it's what's most entertaining and connects with the audience.
In 1978 at a small high school stadium in Park Ridge, still 85 degrees a couple hours after sunset, the end of Let It Be Me was a cool wave of clarity that made time stand still-- ticket stubs fell to the floor, audience members locked eyes, and dove into an ocean of pure blue sound.
At once tender yet supremely powerful. Possibly the finest horn arrangement in the history of drum and bugle corps.
This is what DRUM & BUGLE is about not 30% electronics
I've watched this video about 40 times and I get chills EVERY TIME I watch it!!!!!!!
My dad was in this show!!! And I will be marching with Spirit of Atlanta this year!!!
I would pay so much to see this live.
I was there in 1979-80 at the DCI CORPS and believe me it was really great.
I saw this. At the end, the first 20 rows of bleachers had been blown back 30 feet. If you were in person for this from Spirit and Malagueña from Madison, that tells you all you need to know about late 70's drum corps.
Spirit 79 and 80 are among my all time favorites.
same, but i loved spirit 1978 even more!!
I was a Contra player in 1979 Spirit. My favorite part of this was the ALTOs part. It was just perfect !!!
Those altos soar above it all!
Thanks Jimmy.
I was in this crowd in 1979.. What a great night it was!
Just found out I still do have goosebumps . thought I lost them over the last 20 years.
Saw this show live in Indianapolis, been to Rock Concerts that were not that loud. Agreed one of the best DCI endings ever, though I has a soft spot for Danny Boy...
From the days when the sound filled your soul.
The reaction of the crowd says is all. This is the BEST closer ever. Unfortunately, this recording does not do it justice.
One can but try, and for that, I am very grateful. I would never have heard that magnificent arrangement at all. Such passion from teenagers...who knew?
That passion was real. Would hope that it continues.
My God, I'm old but this is the best closer ever! I actually tear up 38+ years later. What beautiful memories. Miss all that. Rest in peace , Jim Ott! you meant something to so many people, even people like myself you have never met.
Now that's drum corps! The soaring countermelody around 0:56 is wondrous, and the decrescendo starting around 2:25 is done with great musicianship. It's a glorious arrangement from Jim Ott, and what a lush sound from the brass line they have. This video brings back some very fond memories.
One of the most emotional and spirited pieces of music written by Jim Ott. Spirit's performance was magnificent.
There are some intricate countermelodies woven into this arrangement. Kudos to Jim Ott and to the Spirit of Atlanta.
Spirit was the first Corps that I ever saw perform live and it was this show. Thank you Mr. Ott and Spirit of Atlanta for turning me on to an amazing lifetime of music.
They were at the first show I attended live in 79 as well.
I was at this show and had "Let It Be Me" in my head for hours after the contest ended. 1979 and 1980 were, IMHO, the peak of drum and bugle corps. Power, entertainment, memorable tunes, and fierce competition all made this period my favorite. What a blessing to have been able to watch, listen, and participate in DCI when it was at its height.
I was there-in Birmingham, in 1979-and, like Sophie Tucker, “I will never forget it, you know!”
I loved the tenor drum arrangements from those days. They were so musical and really fit the music. Let it Be Me is a perfect example of the best of the best from that era of drum corps.
Jim Ott set the standard for arranging. A sad, sad loss. One of my all time favorite shows.
As a member of Santa Clara during the late eighties 1978, and 1979 This was the only corps that made me stop and listen. I applied for entrance after the 79 season and was rejected because of my youth. Believe me though when I say when Atlanta plated we were definitinty distracteed . A member of s Santa Clara we stopped and tolk notice. Georgia on My Mind made me cry .
I was in the Spirit flag section in 79. Santa Clara Vanguard took 3rd place and knocked us down to 4th in the finals by changing their show to add the bottle dance. Brilliant move. I'm not bitter at all. No really.
This memory is more from 1978 than 79 but as most of you know, the corps that had already performed used to sit in the stands on the backside of the field. Spirit of Atlanta is the only corps I can remember where members of other corps would work their way around to the front side of the field on the track just to bear witness to the incredible sound that Spirit would unleash at the end of the show. Teaching this corps was truly an incredible experience.
I gotta admit....its a very powerful ending! They left it all on the field!......all that needs to be said!
You don't get much better drum corps than Jim Ott arrangements with a classic Spirit hornline 💙
What I wouldn't do to be a part of this hornline...and the 1980 hornline...
Very tastefuly done. I was there. Really enjoyable!
Gets me every time.
This was when drum corp was real. I was at this show when they did this song i love it!! It dave goose bumps!! I wish drum corp would go back the way it was!!
Yeah, they say the Spirit of ATL was serious back in the day. There's the proof. The timpani sounds real good on this also.
This was the best show ever!! I saw this show live in White Water Wi. Everytime I hear this song it bring tears to my eyes! I was in the Spirit Of St. Louis Drum Corps 1963. And now I am a Legendary Drummer from being in Drum Corps. So I owe it all to Drum Corps!!
I was there. The performance was phenomenal and the sound powerful and bone-chilling.
The corp has been strong since day 1. My friend Don Williams made the snare line that year or 80" not sure. We were in area youth band together in Carson, Ca.He really had great chops!
Watching these old clips makes me sad at what drum corps has become.
Rogers Dynasonic What do you think is different about it today?
+Brassplyer all shows nowadays focus on the electronics rather than the hornlinw
BlueRhino23 I agree. But most of the bottom corps still keep it real. Phantom does a great job of that. I still love the Bluecoats becsuse they will play you off your seat.
The music doesn't make sense these days. Lots of talented young people and great drills. However the music is just a blast of sound here, percussion slugging it out over there, then over here, then a blast of sound coming from another place from over yonder. What kind of music is that? I dont call it music. Even rap makes more sense than the DCI music of today. I'm not one whom thinks things should remain the same and never change. DCI should evolve to keep it fresh. But music not making sense? As a beginner trumpet player in school, I wrote some music on blank sheet music paper and then played it for my brother, who later marched the Kilities 1979 and Blue Stars 1980. My music that day was very similar to DCI of today. It was just notes written on a page but didn't follow any musical flow. Anyway I'm done with the soap box.
This bring tears to my eyes but they are tears of joy, thanks for the memories.
I was at this show, and Spirit of Atlanta at the end, after the 2 minute warning,, was the LOUDEST marching unit I have ever heard!!!! It felt like the paint was peeling off the walls. All with vale rotor "G" Bugles!
This was my 1st show seeing DCI. Fell in love with it. And i got the chance to march with Southwind it 1st year. God i miss it.
I marched Spirit in 1995, glad to have got to play a G bugle! I miss that sound soo much. I still love the activity but I do not like the use of bflat horns, amplification and other things. Great Vid
Great Video!!! I see a lot of people comparing the old days to the new and as a SOA alum and Crown Alum form the G bugle days I would say I agree that the Bb horns can not and never will be able to equal the shear force of sound of the G lines. Another big disappointment is that None of the corps today play full melodies much less full songs. Ponder this, why are the parking lot videos so popular today (Almost more so than the shows)? Possibly because they play full melodies and songs that people can enjoy rather than the constant "beeboop" in the shows.
I know this post was a year ago...but I thank you for giving todays Corps credit for ehat they do. They do much more than we did especially in this video. But I also agree that when I heard this exit (or "closer" these days), the sound was amazing, and everything I expected from the Powerful Spirit of Atlanta hornline.It truly is too bad that todays DrumCorps fan doesn't get to hear this sound without amplification, but then again they get to see Corps perform incredible physical shows.
I remember hearing this corps, live, at a Oshkosh, WI rehearsal in 1979. I sat there on that hot sunny day in the stands in total amazement of the sound coming from that brass line! I think" Slimgauger" up there got pretty close when using the term "thick". Then reminding me of how those stadium seats would "hum".. Having lived the years of Madison '74, '75, & '76?? I was really kinda "conflicted" emotionally.. lol Where was this sound coming from and, "how dare they"?? It's kind of hard to put into words the feelings I was having at that moment. But honestly, those were some of them. Madison had always the biggest sound, back then. (I'm trying really hard not to demean those efforts by using the words loud, louder, or loudest..) But, '79 Spirit soared to this amazing, new powerful level! I'll just never forget that afternoon, experiencing that WALL OF SOUND for the first time. It was a real turning point for DCI. I hardly ever write on these things anymore. I just felt it important, in the age of trombones, french horns, & sound equipment etc., that we never forget the efforts kids like the '79 Spirit of Atlanta and so many others, had in shaping what Drum Corps is today. That's it, nobody asked, just my opinion ;) PfB~
Paul, I remember going to those competitions and hearing the Madison Scouts. I even recorded them on my cassette player and listened to them for years. Inspired me to join a drum corp. Not playing but being a part of it. On this flag line. Loved every moment.
Yes. It's funny that the kids who have never heard a real DCI horn line listen to recordings (that can't capture it) and make comments about the intonation and how we're all apparently full of shit. But we're not. We experienced the sound of those golden years of powerful horn lines, and we experience the much less full sound of today's horn lines, and there is absolutely no comparison. I doubt I would be interested in marching drum corps today as a brass player. My entire desire was encapsulated, essentially, as GET ME ONE OF THOSE BUGLES>>>NOW!!! I was a good jazz and lead player, and I could hear what was going on in that sound versus a trumpet. I played them both. I understood the difference, and why the sound of G bugles was more exciting in an ensemble.
Too bad we can't rewind the clock and un-screw everything that George Hopkins and his Kool Aid drinkers did to damage Drum Corps. I appreciate that the generation of kids marching now have no idea what that sound was really like...I get why they listen to the recordings and hear the distortion and what sounds (to them) like bad intonation. But in fact, it wasn't bad. It was just a very different set of overtones, a different set of partials compared to what a Bb instrument plays for the same given line. Unless you can remember what it was like to hear Blue Devils, or Spirit of Atlanta...or for that matter, the 27th Lancers (who were maybe one of the most powerful horn lines with a very different kind of sound), you can't really make claims about what the quality of the experience was.
I'd be willing to bet if some of these kids could magically transport back to stand in front of a G bugle line, they'd be the very first to say "Screw this band instrument crap. GET ME ONE OF THOSE BUGLES>>>NOW!!!!
Great post. Thanks for sharing.
@@BruceRichardsonMusic Nicely said Bruce. Still today, I wonder how Jim Ott taught those kids to project through those bugles and was that the secret that produced that soaring sound over EVERYBODY else on the field back then? I often think Jim was the first to figure it out. And the impact he would have had on the activity had not it been for that heartbreaking accident. Watching this again made this 63 year old, 260lb old man's eyes start watering, AGAIN. I always watch these kids thinking about what the #1 thought running thru their minds was while performing this show was... Catcha later, pfb~
The wall of sound in Birmingham that night so many years ago was unequaled!
I'm balling my eyes out.
1979 Waite highschool Toledo OH mid June show . My dad took his buddy to his first drum corps show, spirit, 27th, and crossmen were the big three there. Spirit came on last and after they were done my dad's buddy wanted to know where the speakers and microphones were hidden. Enough said
The front sideline was about 20 feet from the wall where the seats began. We could see the audience's faces very clearly [since we never watched the drum majors...]. Great venue!!
Bone chilling to this day.
It's sad that drum corp has become a 'hollywood' show. 70's 80's let's rock and roll baby.
That percussion writing is beautiful.
Fantastic arrangement, AND drill. We "borrowed" it that following fall, and won Texas' first UIL State Marching Championship (Round Rock High School).
@ludwig drumset. Trying to describe the sound in person is kind of like trying to describe the color blue to a blind person, but here goes. The sound wasn't just loud, it was "thick". You could actually feel the vibration in your body, and the metal stadium seats would hum. The stadium itself would reverberate for probably 5-6 seconds after the cutoff (it seemed like forever). I was in a small corps at the time, and got to watch the best all summer for free. My ears would ring for hours after the show. I got to march Blue Devils my last year ('85). Since I played sop (UFLS, thank you very much), the big brass was typically behind me. There were times I couldn't hear myself playing over the bari's behind me.
Great comment!
I did not see this live, but did see 85 Devils, and your hornline was pretty loud.
One of the loudest I have ever heard! Love that 85 show...high brass and drums if I am not mistaken.
srtyler
Yep. Tied with Garfield for high brass and took high drums. Watching Tom Float run the drum line was absolutely amazing. And of course it was an absolute honor to spend a year under the guidance of Jack Meehan and Wayne Downey. They had an incredible focus on tone & intonation. I think that contributed quite a bit to the volume we were able to achieve.
It was a fun show, but a bit of a departure from previous BD style. If I remember correctly the closer (Pat Metheny's "The First Circle") was in 5/4,4/4 meter. Challenging at first, but a lot of fun once we got the hang of it. I'm glad to hear from someone who remembers and appreciated the show.
slimgauger riogrande I have watched these fantastic bands in competition for years ( on PBS ) and never thought I would read about an actual experience. Thank all of you so much from all of us who appreciate your dedication and talent. I am a Professional musician, 'though not in the marching category.
Was that the Liferaft Earth show? I saw that one live, and the high brass bend in the opener absolutely and involuntarily lifted out of my seat and made me scream. That show was incredible. I still have it on disc.
I was there.. All the fall. winter, spring, and summer of practices. On the flag line. Can't tell which one now. Somewhere on the left side of the field. God, what a sound. Great drum line, too.
My husband played cymbals on this but I didn't know him then.
@@faerianne I may have marched with him in 1980. Don't remember all the names. We were the Auburn group that drive to Atlanta from Auburn University to be a part of the greatest year SOA ever had. Memories.
That classic Spirit horn line, their fat sound, so full you feel it to your bones. This video (one night in August) is what got me into drum corps, later joining SOUTHWIND and later the BRIDGEMEN.
Southwind and Bridgemen? Wow, you ARE old school! 👍
Mellow power, melodic sticks blew both judges and spectators away in Birmingham, AL.
man, that is such a great point. Our local HS band uses a bunch of DCI inspired stuff, including a vocal, that is so forgettable that the director felt the need to tell us parents when we should applaud, during a run through for parents. "Parents, now would be a great time to applaud"
Yes, perhaps one of the best closers ever. Certainly one of my favorites!
Wow.... I had the please of seeing this performance live... not this one but at a small show in South Florida.... The sound here does not do it justice but still got chills remembering it!! Definitely one of the best at the time.
I went to college with something like 30 or so of these guys. They were great musicians & great people. Jim Ott's scores were amazing. Bugles did make a difference. Something about the music just came together for SOA in the late 70s early 80s. I hope the kids marching these days love it and enjoy it just as much as we did "back in the day." Today's drills are more involved. But I miss the sound of the old horn lines, when there was musicianship and power, when the stadium walls cracked!
WITH APOLOGIES TO THE DEVILS AND CROWN AND MADISON AND ALL THE GREAT HORN LINES OF DRUM CORPS THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE GREATEST HORN ARRANGEMENT AND HORN SOUND THAT I'VE EVER HEARD IN MY 40 PLUS YEARS OF WATCHING DRUM CORPS JUST AWESOME I MEAN YOUR RIBS WOULD SHAKE.
I was in the band when our director Freddy martin started spirit simply put he was the best of all time we won every contest we went to while he was at south Cobb high school
I never get tired of watching this show and hearing this song, and I've been watching and listening to it for 33 years now. By the way, I love to see the rifles flying up in the air at the beginning of the company front. Nice job, ladies!
'Love anything from Georgia. What a great solid sound. Glad to see how well this hard work was appreciated.
the love of music and emotion was incorporated more back then
I could not agree more. If the band directors would let the kids bend back and play their hearts out the crowd would come to their feet.
Nice to see French horns in the brass lineup. Really a distinct sound from the mellophone, and it blends well with the lower brass especially. Kind of like how an orchestral French horn blends equally well with all sections of the orchestra.
I was there and it was very loud but very good!!
This is such a powerful song. So grateful having the opportunity to play this in Jim’s name
This was back in a time when anything you wanted on the field you had to march on with it. Before the "Pit" became the norm. All this company front would have needed is a big "AMEN" or even a "Hat Bow"! :) Also, I believe in 1979 Spirit had only been in existence for around 18 months. Quite remarkable for their metoric rise. It is sad about their horn instructor.
Me too. Listening again for the millionth time.
1980 DCI East was my very first drum corps show. I sat 4 rows up, right on the 50 yd line and when I heard this unbelievably loud and amazing, "wall of sound" , (without amplification) I was hooked for life!! This is one of, if not the best closer ever!! Just a thought, I wonder what prior Blue Devil soloists from back in the day think when they see today's soloists miked for sound??
The athletic ability of the corps from the 70's cannot be discounted. We marched in silk, that held in the heat to the body, or wool which did breathe, but was essentially was like wearing a blanket during the heat and humidity of the midwest summer. I think we would have been able to manage marching step for step with the young people today.
MAN WATCH AND LET IT BE ME AND LISTENING TO IT 43 YEARS LATER I STILL GET GOOSEBUMPS THAT WAS AWESOME GOD BLESS GMOD REST IN PEACE SHAMAN WHAT AN ARRANGER
I didn't get to see Spirit perform this 78-80 but finally was able to travel to Whitewater in 81. Let It Be Me wasn't in the show to start the season, but they added it along with other changes at the mid season break. I didn't know it was coming, back before the internet of course, and I just about peed my pants when they blasted the first chord in prelims. If you helped put Let It Be Me on the field any of those years, staff or member, thank you. A life long memory.
Such a Fantastic Year!
Got chills and tears hearing this again! Those kids could march! Just try marking time and playing for 13 minutes with a high step and tell me how today's corpsmen are more "athletic". Oh, and one more thing.... THEY DIDN'T NEED ANY ELECTRONICS TO SELL THE SHOW!
DrumCorps N Skiing in my freshman high school marching band show we incorporated high step into the show with an arrangement of this very piece. My calves are huge now.
That crap was hard
@@dadthecrewmate1429 shut up younger me you stopped marching after high school and did way better things than high school marching band. Ugh kids those days.
Your right in one respect Martin but that is what made drum corps much superior to marching band back in the day. We never had any music majors in our drum corps and most of these kids were taught by the corps. That is what made drum corps back then so much fun...the challenge of trying to master those horns. I never had Jim Ott as an instructor but boy I LOVE HIS MUSIC AND ARRANGING !!! I had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up after this show in Denver in '78 !!!
That was true of many corps back in the day, but SOA was chock full of music majors mostly from Jacksonville State Marching Southerners. These guys along with the Blue Devils raised the standard of precision and sophistication with horn lines and arrangements and it continued to progress to the excellence you see today.
so good. brilliant teamwork and playing.
So many memories - this takes me back 35 years to my time "on the field." Thanks for posting!!!
Thank you for posting this. This is one of my all-time favorite performances and a great memory. I was there in Birmingham in 79 and 80 for the finals. I first saw this show early in the season in Upper Arlington, Ohio (suburb of Columbus). That was my first DCI show, and I've been hooked ever since.
Not my first time here taking up everyone's time, but it's just that everytime I see these kids performing that program from back in'79 I just automatically have to drop off a comment.
Since seeing this show, in person, I've always wondered how Jim Ott taught those kids to project through those bugles and was that the secret that produced that soaring sound over EVERYBODY else on the field at that time? I often think Jim was the first to figure it out. And the impact he would have had on the activity had not it been for that heartbreaking accident. Watching this again made this 63 year old, 260lb old man's eyes start watering, AGAIN, knowing what must have been in every one of those kids minds.
Though I have not read any of it, I've heard about discussions from the more recent DCI generations concerning the lack of musicianship, performance quality, brass technique, etc. back in the day. If indeed these conversations are happening, be very careful! And perhaps stop to think for a moment. Think about all the supporters/teachers/members from back then that are reading those comments. Nothing differentiates them from the numbers working the activity today. They all worked the same late hours sewing, cooking, driving, managing, & teaching. If you march or teach today, look around you and remember everything you see, happened the same way 40+ years ago.
Except... As a teacher from back then, we scraped & scrounged for kids. I'd run a rehearsal with holes everywhere! 6,7, 10, 12, it always changed. We'd take kids, off the street, they didn't know how to play. They're was absolutely NO community support, anywhere! Recruit, recruit, recruit. Of course we went to the bands. (and I hope you're STILL here cause THIS is it...) But back then, the band directors shut us out! "We weren't serious musicians... Don't go there kids, you'll learn all bad habits! As a matter of fact you'll probably not learn anything. Drum Corps just a waste of time". Year after year after year ALWAYS the same thing. So ya, we struggled. Thankfully, somewhere along the line things changed. Then what I saw happen, I always think about it happening back in my day, the things we could have done...
So when I start hearing about people today picking apart some of OUR great efforts back when, (like the one above) I say stop! It's cheap, it's childish, & like how dare you!?! If I ever DO hear it, I'll be All in your shit!!! The kids from YOUR past did their best with what little they had. They worked like you. They sweat like you. They hoped like you. They dreamed like you and sometimes they even cried like you. Do not EVER insult them. They came before you. And they "Held The Fort" for so MANY years! So you could continue on experiencing the greatest youth activity ever!
Wow! Sorry for that.. Simply my opinion, nobody asked. PfB~
Hauntingly powerful performance! Once in a lifetime! R.I.P. Jim Ott
Pure poetry in motion and melody. Wow!