i was 13 yrs old in my first yr in band when i happen to turn to PBS and saw this live...i was hooked in music from there.This is what DCI should be...hard driving...hard sounding music that you can feel.
1975 and 1976 were such surprising years. No one understood how good anyone was,,every corp surprised itself. WE competed to beat ourselves, and we had individual themes. Good times....good challenges.
This was our signature song for that era. BD 76 was quite a year. First Championship, swept all captions at finals, 10 snares, North tenors, and believe it or not, even using the color white for the drums was different - chrome was "the" color of the day. The crowd's response was incredible from the field.
I remember the 32 count roll with the snares with the exclamation "Balls" for the warm up on the field before every show. You were also an amazing instructor!!!!
As a newer fan of DCI and drum corps in general (only been big in it for a little over 3 years), I do have to give respect to the new talent coming through the DCI system. But I also realize that DCI wouldn't exist without knock-your-socks-off old-school moments like this. Kids nowadays play with their soul. These guys played with their entire being. They lived for the corps. Even now, those kids who march give it all they've got every show. I respect that. Who cares about the change? Just let the kids play.
And if you liked the mellophone solos, the first was played by John Berke and the second by Bonnie Ott. The soprano screamer at the end was Jim McFarland.
I love this song and still remember everyone trying to incorporate elements of this show into their own. I like the old school style of the BD better than today's style and that may be just because I am from the earlier era. I think the modern style just takes too much from the instrumentalists. I love the deep brass and the new amplification and organ take away from that deep natural sound. Have to wow the crowd as well as the judges.
As a person from a newer generation, I have to agree with you on the sound effects! The carolina crown show’s sound effects were too loud and took away from the impact of the brass!
Just so bad ass! ❤️ My brother marched baritone in this show. I watched it many times in rehearsal and in performance. These were the early years of Blue Devils really hitting their stride. So proud of them and their longevity! ❤️BD💙💙💙💙💙
Just a stunning performance. Love BD. I joined AK and marched in 77-78. Loved to see and hear BD. Many of my mates ended up in BD and SC when AK folded due to horrible management and money issues. The talent was there but the leadership was not. Such a shame given the 72-74 era of AK. They set the standard that many corps emulated after that time.
Without question, this is my favorite concert section of any year of DCI since 1970. The arrangement absolutely kicked ass, and IMHO was an improvement over the original composition. How can anyone NOT love this piece?
Every time in the dark, cold days of Winter when I need my drum corps fix I come to this performance, a beaming light that opens from the heavens. And when that light returns again in the Spring this clip is like me strapping on my running shoes at the start of the drum corps marathon race to the August championships. UPDATE: Here I sit listening once again on one of the longest nights before the Winter Solstice 2023. It is drum corps that keeps me sane in the darkeness and depths of late Autumn.
Well said, L legend was in the making. Knew it well from recordings And I as well have the time in my life hearing it ‘99! I was loving it just as much as he did. Nothing like hearing that kind of brass and percussion live! Unfortunately, I never play like that in the future. Unless your senior corps actors still want to play in G. he may not have anything to do with key, however, two completely different sounds. One not might not be called perfect, that’s why I like the sound of old school drum corps!!! He, The drum major, had the best hearing of the power of that right there on the front side!
One of my old time favorites of the Blue Devils. That female mellow phone player, Bonnie Ott, sure has a set of chops on her. I wonder where she is today !!!
@BDTrooper76 OMG BD you just made me cry.... I didnt appreciate BD until i bought the "albums" and laid back and listened to exactly why they got the praise they deserved...we were never competitors...we were part of something that anyone out of drum corps could never understand....we are part of something special...i still have the same friends I had 30 years ago... I love this activity...and I could never give back what this activity gave to me...so BD xoxoxoxo and many more!
August 1976 Drum Major Camp in Reading PA just days before DCI finals in Philli. The Corps came though as part of the camp, and I had NO CLUE what to expect. The first note from a Drum Corp I had ever heard. Semicircle formation, Blue Devils in practice. F-tuning followed by this magnificent show start to finish. From the very first note, my hair went STRAIGHT BACK, and I was forever hooked. BD will always have a place in my heart, as will the late George N. Parks who started all of this in me!
Absolutely my favorite musical piece of any era...I marched in the 70's and 80's...most notably with North Star 1980 and then the One More in 94 with 27th Lancers...loving Bonnie Ott's Mello solo here!
After posting this link on facebook, it got comments all over the place! People love this show! Drum Corp fans born in the mid 80's are posting this link on their facebook pages. That says a lot! I think out of all the countless shows I have watched, this 1976 Blue Devils lineup has to at the top of my list. The drum line left a legacy that year that is tough to follow. I still hum this tune every now and then. Thanks to those who sweat to make these memories for everyone!
This was the show of the century. It will never be matched again I think and the musicianship was incredible. This was my favorite corps that year and still remains today. No one can match that west coast sound. Jim Ott rest in piece and Wayne Downey are remarkable Brass teachers who know how get the best out of you. Percussion wise what can I tell you They always have smokin lines even in 2011. I wish I lived on the west coast. This Is the corps that I would want to be part of -Yes Sir!
I was blessed to grow up in Concord, CA and go through C- Corp, B-Corp, and A-Corp as well as all my sisters. My whole family was involved with the Blue Devils
Valve and rotary bugles.....this is how we played the game!!!! for all you young'ns out there, this part of the show was called the "concert" ( it's why theyre not moving) that which usually followed after a drum solo and the 'Off the Line" more commonly known as the "opener" these days
Cant tell you how much I LOVE this piece...I didnt appreciate the Blue Devils when I marched against them back in the day...but when I go back and listen and watch...they were AH-MAZING!
1976 was my first year in DCI with the St. Paul Mounties (Stillwater Mounties/Rivermen). Watching the Blue Devils performance from that year still gives me tingles. Thanks for posting this great performance.
This video brings back special memories. In 1977, I was the drum major of my high school marching band and we performed "Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor" for our concert feature. I directed the band in much the same style and swag as the Blue Devils' drum major, Dave Dugan. The audience loved it as well as the judges as competitions. In the 1970s, the drum majors were expected to perform with lots of energy and passion.
This song will never get old to me. I tried out at my High school for Drum major to this song, (didn't get down to this song as MUCH as this guy) but I tried hahaha. I also got it by the way. And I still think this song, when I first heard it my 9th grade year, was the reason I want to be a band director so badly.
6/23/23. I have a audio tape of this performance made in Stillwater, Minnesota. The weather had very low hanging clouds. The audio is fabulous in that tape!
@funkywhite I marched/played mallets for BD '80-'82. 1980 was the first year that grounded timpani were allowed. 1982 was the first year for the Pit with grounded mallet instruments, so I both marched (1980, 1981) and played in the pit (1982). BTW, I loved Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor. Before I made it to the Blue Devils, I played in a small drum and bell corps that did our own rendition of Legend.
Paulette, I'm pleased to hear a compliment from a former competitor, and stress that this doesn't happen very often. I wish this was more prevalent within this activity, as there have been many things that tug at my drum corps heart. Seeing you are from Boston, one of those things was "Once more in '94". It wasn't just Danny Boy either, but the whole show. Takes me right back to 'our' time. There are a great many others, from Blue Rock to Kingsmen, and a great many more. Thanks.
Wow....it's great to see good ol' style marching again....leg lift, marking time, instead of all that jazz run stuff you see these days, not to mention the marching "pit" ....Bugles man!!!! these guys are wailing !!!! That was Drum and Bugle Corps....And I saw it Live....which meant I wasn't in finals!!!!!
OH MY GOD this is back when the sopranos only had one piston valve and a rotary valve!!! Hahah thats so cool. And they do a pretty good job at keeping them in tune, too. Also, lmao at the tenors aimed forward
I tell you this --- I know of a *lot* of just *unbelieveble* old-school stuff, and, while I'm not particularly a BD partisan, *this* is the most *smoking-hot* three minutes of any drum-corps show, *ever*! I almost believe it could raise the dead --- Go, Bonnie! GO!!!! :-D Thanks a million, trumpet-slayer!
thank you to whoever uploaded this. I didn't know they've been playing this song for so long. I first heard it in the mid 90's, and heard once live in Buffalo NY. this is one of those songs that only the BD's can do this great, and have to turn the volume up the whole way on my mp3 player and keep repeating this song until my ears bleed. only Devils do jazz....love it.
@HomicidalTh0r Dave Dugan was the charter DM for BD...71-76...so the corps had a lot of time to get used to and feed off of him. One early alum said of him "if anyone could keep us together, Dave could." A DM being distracting only happens if you let it...his emotion can feed that of the corps...and Dugan did a great job of it here (conducting pattern's backwards, but that might've been a typical technique in the mid 70s.)
This is just so hype, I’d love to be playing in this drumline on this song: even the back breaking North tenors.😂. So much better than all of the band instruments, synth sludge, electric guitars and endless mincing and prancing around of today. The emphasis was here on the music and powerful it was👍🎵
The mellophone soloist is incredible, starting at 1:45 and wailing at 2:10. I think it's a girl, isn't it? Any bio on this musician? Just so passionate, so elegant, so mad with intensity. Just a soaring performance.
+Channel Three Bonnie was actually playing with the Jim Ott Brass Ensemble at DCI SoundSport finals in Indianapolis last year. They played this tune and it was just as flawless there as it is in the video. It was amazing to see her play it live.
Yes Bonnie Ott. She was an instructor in 1980 with the Capitolaires, all girl corps out of Madison. I saw her walking by in a powder blue corps jacket and she was insanely pretty.......at least to a drum corps newbie like me.
Awesome! Brings back great memories. I miss the show band aspect. I played this song on the field in the late 70's while marching with the McCullough High School Band in the Woodlands, TX. It was one of our staples. That's entertainment baby!
Are you all ready be turn green with ENVY?? The Jim Ott Brass Ensemble will start rehearsing this tune this week. Bonnie Ott will reprise her solo. JOBE (as we are also known) is comprised of former Stockton Commodore, Concord Blue Devil, Santa Clara Vanguard and SF Renegade alums. Yesterday we played the pregame ceremonies for the Oakland Raiders, earlier this year we opened for DCI West at Stanford. If you're interested in joining search for us on Facebook.
@Firaje - I own two rotary valve baritone G-bugles (a Getzen Titleist and an Olds Ultratone), and play them both with my alumni corps., Ol' skool, baby.
Nice to hear some elements of the NY Fantasy tag ending I played with the corps in 84...the "darrls-bar" lick from the battery, the last 3 notes...and I suspect the #1 finger we ONLY put up at finals came from that sop soloist at the end.
djohnso7, the opener of '76 was Channel One Suite, very close to the Bill Reddy chart played by Buddy Rich. This chart does NOT go back to '74, as the opener that year was one called Chant and Jubilo. We may have done Legend back in '74, but it was the concert number, not the opener. I know, as I marched Blue Devils from '74 thru '77 and have two rings to show for it.
