Lest We Forget: A Comparative History of DCI and America
Mrs. Christina Mavroudis, Steering Committee
Contents.
1. Introduction
2. Background
3. Similarities in foundation and goals
4. Parallel revolution to parallel evolution: from 1776 to 1966
5. Present signs of civil war
6. Conclusion
1. Introduction.
In publicized acknowledgment of their financial crisis, Drum Corps International, the
governing body of junior drum corps competition in North America, opened up to the public.
While we can admire their honesty and sincere attempt at rectifying the situation, this was and
still is alarming information. For like Adam eating the apple of wisdom, the audience/public
became aware and questioned the role DCI had come to play in organizing the activity.
Today in our political arena, the American government also faces a crisis of finance and
organization as it tries to define its role with the people it governs. The apple in Americas' past,
Watergate, was merely the first, though not voluntary, acknowledgment of the need for internal
change.
These parallels between the national governing bodies of our country and our junior
drum corps became quite apparent when compiling information on the history of DCI. This
paper will attempt to identify these parallels, correlate the problems/solutions and awaken
readers to the adage "Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it."
2. Background.
A brief history of the United States reads that colonists, angered over various points of
what they viewed as injustice, won a relatively calm revolution to overthrow British rule. We'll
leave additional basic history to the school systems.
While the names were changed, Drum Corps International history reads the same - a
founding, a growth period, climaxed by a revolution and subsequent continued growth under a
self-governing body.
The following are pre-DCI dates as noted in Jodeen Popp's "Competitive Drum Corps". It
is important to note the birth and growth of drum corps match that of the US. Both have roots in
Europe with birth during the American Revolution. Unlike the US, drum corps took many
decades to finally rally itself to form a governing body. When the activity did, its rebirth
mirrored the American Revolution.
- 1750: First competitive drumming event in Switzerland.
- 1750: Organized drum corps in Germany & France.
- 1767: The first American drum corps, Mattatuck Drum Band, founded in Wolcott, CT.
- Modern drum corps began during the American Revolution with fife & drum corps.
- 1872: First field contest in Wallingford, CT.
- 1886: John Philip Sousa wrote instruction manual for drums and bugles.
- 1921: The first national competition, sponsored by the American Legion is held in
Kansas City, MO.
- 1927: A.L. competition is held in Paris, France.
- 1928: The C.Y.O. drum corps begins in Boston.
- 1928: V.F.W. hold its first convention in Indianapolis, IN.
- 1930s: Scotty Chappell and Bill Ludwig begin devising and manufacturing different
types of bugles including the rotary.
- 1930s: Sponsors begin conducting junior competitions.
- 1937: Baritones first added to the all soprano-lines.
- 1940s: American Legion and VFW corps rarely competed against each other.
- 1941: The last AL show held until 1946 when the war ended.
- 1942: General George E. Bell Corps of Chicago, IL won 1942/43 VFW championships
with female musicians in their ranks.
- 1949: The Dream Contest is set up to help corps compete in both the VFW and AL
championships. The first one, held indoors (armory) because of rain, was won by
Holy Name AKA Garfield Cadets.
- 1950: Holy Name defends its title by traveling to Los Angeles in first major tour by a
corps.
- 1951: Midwest Corps News later to be Drum Corps World begins publication.
- 1953: Cavaliers open first corps hall.
- 1954: In South Milwaukee, a GE judge dictates comments to a court stenographer, but
the result is 10 pages of transcript and "real-time" critiques are abandoned
temporarily.
- 1958: On April 27th, a portable tape recorder was first used.
- 1958: V.F.W. drops the senior corps requirement of at least 50% veterans.
- 1959: St. Vincent's Cadets began playing "wide open music and drill" thereby starting
the next era of modern drum corps.
- 1962: Garfield Cadets introduce the first contra bass.
- 1964: The Drum Corps Hall of Fame is formed in Chicago.
- 1969: Video taping is introduced as a way of analysis.
- 1969: Boston Crusaders introduce vibes on the field, but VFW/AL rules forbid them and
they were dropped.
- 1970: Tri-tenor drums introduced. There were 137 active corps in Connecticut.
- 1971: The United Organization of Junior Corps (UOJC) made up of eastern corps and a
midwest/west group form unions called a Combine.
3. Similarities In foundation and goals.
The founding of DCI, like the USA, has its roots in revolution and the struggle for
freedom. The road to a drastic wrestling of power was paved with the following problems:
a. Denied self government/laws
The United States, under sovereignty of Britain's King George III, were royal colonies
ruled by King-appointed governors. In an interview with Bill Howard, one of DCI's founding
fathers and director of Madison Scouts, Howard explained the corps parallel:
"In the olden days, the drum corps activity was under the control of organizations
not set up strictly for drum corps like Veterans of Foreign War (VFW), American Legion
(AL), and Catholic Youth Organization (CYO). They sponsored shows like the World
Open. The Rules of Congress were under control of the American Legion. At the Rules
of Congress, usually held in Indianapolis, the corps management would gather, create
new rules and laws and then disperse. The American Legion would then have the final
say on these changes. So even if you voted unanimously for a new law, there was still a
chance it wouldn't get passed the American Legion sponsors."
Like colonists, the corps were under the power of outside forces. Corps sponsored by
veteran and religious organizations and colonists "sponsored" by British rule. In both cases, the
restrictions caused the corps/colonists children to break free of their parental apron strings.
b. Privilege to the few
The folks who ran the shows wanted top corps and gave them all the money rather than
disperse it to all competing corps. This left the smaller corps with little or no money for
traveling or competing. As with the American Colonies, the people were left to foot the bill
without a voice in voting. The watch-cry of "taxation without representation" could very well
have been changed to say "Rule Changes without representation." Even the larger corps were
not getting a fair shake.
c. Outside government lacking local/activity experience
As with the British trying to rule from overseas, the VFW and other sponsors tried to
keep a firm grip on the corps. Popp wrote: "[During the 60s], the relationship between drum
corps and the Veterans organizations began to deteriorate. Those organizations took a negative
stand on nearly every request for change and grew more dictatorial as the years went by...At this
time, the VFW and Legion were the only games in town, and there was no recourse available."
d. Usurped control of goods
Boston Tea Party and the Trooper/Fleetwood Records Confrontation have similar origins.
Angry over the taxation of their own product, Bostonians protested by throwing tea overboard.
Troopers were similarly angry that Fleetwood Records had not paid them royalties on recordings
of their show. Fleetwood Records finally gave in when the corps, who was wildly popular and a
huge draw, refused to attend Fleetwood's sponsored show until they were paid up.
e. Implementing unfair/useless laws
One of the many rules abhorred by most of the corps was inspection. As an example:
Garfield Cadets lost the American Legion State finals when at inspection, a metallic mark was
mistaken for a water mark. It didn't seem to matter to the sponsors that too much time was being
taken on grooming than for practicing the craft.
According to Bill Howard, "Corps were spending more time getting ready for inspection
than getting ready for the championships. Since these inspections were only held once or twice
a year, the members weren't that good at it anyway."
Some other restrictions on early corps included:
- A corps had to have a VFW or AL sponsor to enter the Nationals.
- They must march in their state's 5 mile convention parade.
- Couldn't compete after Labor Day (although this tradition seems to have continued)
- Guard restriction to merely guarding the colors - a rule that made Madison's guard stay
sidelined during their own Mid-West shows in the late 50s.
- No grounding of equipment and severe percussion restrictions.
With early Americans, British rule passed countless restrictions and taxes including the
Tea Tax and Stamp Act. These restrictions only galvanized the colonists.
4. Parallel revolution to parallel evolution: from 1776 to 1966.
"A revolution is a sudden and far-reaching change brought about by force." This very
well explains what happened to the two infant organizations against the powers against them.
Solutions to the problems had to be solved, and both governing bodies had answers. Through
revolution, the following similarities were their resolutions.
The first rumblings began in 1967 when junior corps, upset with strict and what they
considered unfair rules, proposed a boycott of the American Legion championships. Note similar
boycotts by colonists.
Look also at the era of upheaval reflected in both the nation and corps scene during the
60s. During this time equal rights and Vietnam protests were common.
While tour costs increased 200%, prize money increased merely 10%. Popp notes that in
just a 15 year span, approximately 1000 corps folded with money the prime reason. Restrictions
put out by the sponsors were literally killing their own corps. Conjuctionally, on the home front,
an unpopular war was killing
our youth.
Don Warren of the Cavaliers and Jim Jones with Troopers were "top dogs with the top
corps in the midwest" recalls Bill Howard. "They talked to Gail Royer of Vanguard, Dave
Campschroeder of Blue Stars, and myself and we agreed to a revolutionary group called The
Combine - a sort of drum corps union made up of west and midwest corps." Corps on the east
formed their own combine consisting of Blessed Sacrament, Boston Crusaders, Blue Rock, 27th
Lancers and the Garfield Cadets. The midwest combine went to show sponsors with their
requests:
a. Distribute prize money more evenly among the corps. Usually prize moneys were
given only to the top three corps.
b. Let the Combine decide when the shows would be held taking into consideration the
tradition and feasibility of the sponsors.
On this last point, Howard explained, "The Combine was not unsympathetic, but needed
to control the vast span of dates." If these conditions were not met, these top corps were
prepared to sit out the weekend or create their own shows to run against them and eventually
replace them. Like the colonists, they were prepared for action.
Similar to the Tea Tax, the straw that broke corps backs happened in 1971. Bill Howard
remembers this was the year of Madison's "Alice in Wonderland" show and the circus theme for
Cavaliers. Both used extensive costuming which, while new and controversial, was legal under
the rules. At the VFW Championships in Dallas that year, the contest director didn't like the
costumes and threatened to penalize them one point if they wore them. Although his corps did
not have a costumed show, Jim Jones stood up and protested the unfairness. Howard saw this as
a catalyst that got the corps together. Then and there, Jones and Don Angelica got together and
discussed merging the two combines.
Popp further details how the group gave the sponsors one last chance by addressing the
Rules of Congress in Indianapolis in November of 71. They suggested the following changes:
1. Sideline entry.
2. Uniform changes on the field.
3. Grounding of equipment.
4. Elimination of prelim drills and inspection.
5. Reduction of high penalties.
6. Use of miscellaneous percussion equipment.
When the Uniformed Groups Congress (the then Rules of Congress run by the American
Legion) rejected all the suggestions except for some of #6, "They gathered outside that meeting
and DCI was born," Howard synopsized. Three other corps, Argonne Rebels, Anaheim
Kingsmen and DeLaSalle Oaklands, joined the two Combines and all formed to make Drum
Corps International.
And there you have 13 corps, like 13 colonies, joined toward creating their own "nation."
With the revolution in place, the two combines merged with, initially, two executive directors
because of the inherent mistrust between the east and west. These two directors were Hugh
Mahon of Garfield and Dave Campschroer of Blue Stars. The first year of DCI finals, 1972, Don
Pesceone took the reins of DCI, and unlike term limits restricting US presidents, held on to the
post until 1994.
Like the men who lead the American Revolution, the Combines did not want revenge,
merely justice. Instead of completely denying VFW/AL/CYO sponsors their participation, they
requested change through passive resistance (a little difference than the eventual muskets of war
needed in the American Revolution.)
That year, the corps formed their own championships and decided that in a show of
solidarity, none of them would attend the VFW or AL championships.
"VFW and AL reaction was the anticipated unhappiness. They told their posts to drop
corps sponsorship, but many didn't because they needed them as in-house entertainment,"
Howard said. The DCI Board eventually let Cavaliers attend their nationals, but it was because
they would have lost their sponsorship.
Howard remembers, "There were real sacrifices by all the corps. Vanguard agreed not to
defend its championship and 27th lost $5,000 by not attending the World Open. Their common
goal was to make DCI successful. As Lincoln said, "We will either hang together or hang
separately."
George Washington, the first US President, realized how difficult his task would be and
how little thanks he would receive from people of ill will, but he accepted the call as a duty he
owed to his country. Like Washington, it is obvious that many of the Directors felt the call and,
pushing aside the personal hardship it would cause, stepped in for the good of the activity and
corps throughout the country.
Luckily, DCI was successful from the very beginning. The corps pledged to fund DCI the
first year and recordings were forbidden with the rights handed over to the DCI organization.
This became the principal funding for the organization.
The success could be seen in the way these business men handled the first championship.
Howard explains, "Whitewater was picked because it was out of the way and could get
tremendous community support. It was also a nice stadium seating 12,000. DCI knew they could
fill those seats and it would take a sell-out to look successful. After another year at Whitewater,
where fans were hanging off the rafters, they moved the championship to Ithaca, NY, to a larger
stadium, and one on the east." This last move was to keep the peace among the strong regional
loyalties.
State representatives in our government to this day are also fiercely loyal.
Finally, the 1982 program quotes Don Pesceone giving the dictionary definition of DCI:
"You would say DCI is the promotions and service arm of the competitive drum
corps activity in the US and Canada. We carry out the role through many methods, but
two stand apart: First we showcase each summer, the finest corps in North America;
second we administer a management systems based on a philosophy that the drum corps
activity leads itself, rather than abiding to the dictates of an outside party."
This, like the Declaration of Independence for the United States, defines the
organization. In an example of their success, in their first ten years, DCI went from seeking 18
contests, to sanctioning 75. Like-wise, the US eventually grew to 50 states.
5. Present signs of civil war.
In 1789/1971, a group of men came into power in America/drum corps. They did not use
their power to enslave others or to make great fortunes for themselves. They devoted themselves
wholeheartedly to building a nation/organization that would win the respect of its
citizens/participants and the rest of the world/activity.
Is the drive that made both the nation and DCI's Founding Fathers work so selflessly lost
now in the erosion of years? In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote: "All
governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed." This idea, that
governments were created to serve the people, can and should be carried to DCI, but has caused
"dissention among the ranks" with both fans and corps crying foul over what one corps director
called, "censorship of creativity" among some of the complaints.
The group of people who governed the nation in the years from 1789 to 1801 were called
Federalists. The Federalists worked hard for the adoption of the federal Constitution and were
not determined to see that it should succeed. They were strong minded men and not afraid to
express their differences. Some of them did not remain Federalists, but in time formed an
opposition party.
If you read the Federalists as the DCI Board of Directors equivalent, then you have a
parallel that is wrong today. The Board of Directors have differing opinions and few are
reluctant to express them. Like the Federalists, will the Board form an opposing party? Do we
see such dissension among the ranks that we are on the verge of a Civil War?
The 'censorship' aside, there are several areas in corps which are rallying toward this civil
war. The issues of electronics, elimination of competition, woodwinds, corporate sponsorship,
and art vs. entertainment are merely squirmishes but, they cast a death knoll to many corps -
corps who are desperately trying to survive. I fear the body count will start rapidly increasing as
this war heightens. We've already seen their names marked on the black granite: Bridgemen,
Blue Rock, Valley Fever, Guardsmen, 27th Lancers, North Star, Kilties, Seattle Imperials, and
the list goes on, and on, and on....
6. Conclusion.
As profound a document as it is, I had to laugh when reading the Declaration of
Independence opening:
"When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to
dissolve the political bands..."
I found humor in the parallel that even in 1776, separation of corps and bands were found
to be a necessity. However, my mirth grew when I further read (capitals are as written):
"...it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide
new Guards for their future security."
Is it purely coincidence that there is a close connection between our country and our
drum corps history? One merely has to acknowledge that the two were born during the same
decade to realize revolution is the American way; an ingrained love of justice which lead to the
sincere attempt of fairness toward corps and citizens alike.
The parallels are there. Now its the government and DCI's job to be aware of the past
while working toward a better future.
References.
1- DCI; 1982 Program.
2- Dudley, William (editor);"American Revolution: Opposing View Points", 1992.
3- Howard, Bill; phone interview w/Mavroudis, 9/4/95.
4- Mavroudis, Christina; various interviews with directors including George Hopkins, Len
Kruszecki, George Brown, Jeff Fiedler (unpublished), Dave Gibbs, Parker Silva, Gail
Royer, Doug Rutherford, Tom Hixon, etc., "Drum Corps World",1992-1995
5- Morris, Richard; "The American Revolution", 1985.
6- Morris, Richard; "The Founding of the Republic", 1985.
7- Popp, Jodeen; "Competitive Drum Corps: There and Then...To Here and Now", 1979.
8- Santayana, George; "Life of Reason", 1953.