1976 Drum Corps Recordings

My brother Jim Scheffler recorded the 1976 Wheaton Pageant of Drums, but unfortunately most of the tapes from that year have not survived. The Cavalier Cadets placed 5th at the show, and the Knights from Geneseo, Illinois won the show with a 56.30. The recording of the Argonne Rebels on this page might be from 1976, but the tape was not marked, so it could be from 1977 or 1978.

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I've included some other rare tapes from 1976, not recorded by Jim, including the Troopers 13th place performance and the Bleu Raeders 41st place show from the 1976 DCI prelims.

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The previous year, after we saw the Guardsmen at the 1975 Wheaton show, my brother Jim, knowing I was obsessed with drum corps, suggested I join a local corps like the Guardsmen and spend a year with them until I was good enough to join a "good" corps. During the winter of 1975-1976, I wanted to join the Guardsmen, but I "knew" my parents wouldn't let me, since I didn't have my drivers license yet. Then school was out for the summer, and I knew I had missed my chance to join the Guardsmen in 1976.

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The Bleu Raeders came to town for the annual Wheaton show in July, and I hung out with my brother's former corps, and made a few friends. One of the drummers told me I should join the Guardsmen in 1977, they were getting really good, but first I should join the Bleu Raeders for the rest of the 1976 season. The Bleu Raeders were desperate for brass players. I auditioned for soprano bugle, but couldn't even make a sound. The drum instructor invited me to join the drumline if I could play the large 24 inch cymbals. After taking pictures at the Wheaton show, where the Bleu Raeders finished 3rd, I was on a drum corps bus to New Orleans.

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I played cymbals with the Bleu Raeders on the August 1976 tour, performing at DCI North in the beautiful Pontiac Silverdome, and many other shows, and lots of prelims where we never made finals. Our DCI prelims performance in Philadelphia was on August 21, on the morning of my 17th birthday, where we placed 41st, broke 60 for the first time all year, and we actually beat the Bleu Raeders' longtime rivals, the Black Knights. We went to watch DCI finals that night, August 21, where we saw the Guardsmen perform in the finals for the first time. After that, I knew I had to join the Guardsmen.

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