1979 Drum Corps Recordings

My brother Jim Scheffler's tradition of recording the annual July 3 Wheaton show ended in 1979 when the show was rained out. The following year, he moved to California to further his career as a professional recording engineer. 
 

1979 was the greatest year ever for the Guardsmen. Our hornline, led by Tim Salzman, was one of the best in drum corps that year. But as the season began, our drill was a mess. The hornline was spread all over the field during the first minute of the opener as they played isolated solo notes back and forth. Sometimes someone would come in a little late, and the next horn player would be even later, and the music would fall apart into complete chaos until my timpani solo brought everyone back together on the same measure. This happened at several shows in June. 
We were in Geneseo, Illinois, on June 17, 1979. I asked snare line instructor Bill Snyder to record the show for me on my little cassette tape recorder. Bill recorded a funny intro for me before the show began. That night, the opener fell apart again. It was a complete mess, people were on several different beats, and I nervously looked at our drum major Kevin Hagopian to figure out exactly when I should start my solo. Once I played my timpani solo, everyone was back together.
In these highlights from that June 17 show, you can hear our first drum solo of the season, The Battle of Agincourt, which followed Tim Salzman's arrangement of Henry the Fifth. The Battle of Agincourt also came from the Henry the Fifth film score by Sir William Walton. Halfway through the season, Jim Campbell decided to replace The Battle of Agincourt with the Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla by Michael Glinka. Everyone just called it Glinka, and it was a lot more fun to play than Agincourt. 

1979 DCI Prelims, Percussion G.E. Judge Tape.

Although we finished a disappointing tenth place at the 1979 DCI Prelims, our hornline placed fourth in execution behind Blue Devils, Spirit of Atlanta, and Phantom Regiment, and we beat Spirit in G.E. Brass and Musical Analysis to finish third in those captions. On this Percussion G.E. judging tape, you can hear a hornline on fire, and you can hear the nearby Brass G.E. judge going nuts over our hornline. Marching and drum execution put us in tenth place in the prelims. Did the jet flying overhead during Greensleeves have anything to do with it? We came back with a vengeance in the finals, beating Madison Scouts and placing seventh, the best finish ever for the Guardsmen at DCI.