I'm one of the Cavalry Trumpeters of the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards on here. 2 Weeks rehearsals, 4 Weeks performances. Long job. Lost a few pounds.
Nice to read that, and thank you for your service! Above I commented that the Keep surmounted the DVG rather than the Crown, on those cloths of the fanfare trumpets. Your band ended in the 1990s, I see, and today there are not even Cavalry Bands at all... Ah well, everything changes...
wow the french Guard dared to perform "La marche des Soldats de Robert Bruce", it was a song unifying France and Scotland in the Auld Alliance, in front of THAT crowd !
Great to see this vintage year. I have only heard this on my LP for this year. Wonderful to see entire show. Format was so much better. It was a real Tattoo in those days. All those old regimental bands which are no more now. Great and poigant to see there here. Please share any other years you have. I can post them on my military music appreciation page on FB. Many thanks
0:59 - Fanfare Trumpeters of the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. Mostly the 5(V) DG letters were surmounted by a crown, and not by the castle keep we see. Whole bands on the ramparts that we never even get a proper look at (probably 1st Bn the Kings Regiment and 1st Bn the Royal Regiment of Wales). In the (admittedly crazy) days when every Batallion had bands. Now whole Corps don't have bands. The Iniskillings lasted until 1993. Apart from the Household Cavalry, the idea of the British Army having Cavalry Bands disappeared finally a couple of years ago, when most of us were trying not to die of COVID. Wikipedia bats not eyelid as it tells the following story: As part of the 2019-20 reorganisation of the then Corps of Army Music, the band of the Royal Armoured Corps joined the Band of the King's Division and Band of the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers to form the new larger British Army Band Catterick. However, the bands still maintain their individual traditions, while their uniforms have become standardised. So basically the last Cavalry band was shoved together with an infantry band and a Corps band to form one of the "British Army Bands" (of which there are just 4), with a standardised (not-too-inspiring) uniform, even as the regimental traditions are maintained ... NOT. The bands are good and acquited themselves very well indeed at Her Late Majesty's funeral and the Coronation... But the powers that be did not bother to save any Artillery Band in the professional arrmy (there are Reserve military bands). When I was a kid, the Royal Artillery alone still had 3 bands, and large ones too! Well, I really don't hanker for the past, and nostalgia is abolished in me. But somehow the truth about what happened was never really presented to us ... one day we just realised that bands we had taken for granted (say of the Paras, Engineers, Army Air Corps, or you name it) were no longer there ... AT ALL.
Feminism , woke, genderism and lgbqt., inclusivism, tolerance with everything and pc correctness , oh I mustn't forget BLM the evils of colonialism, that s what's gone wrong.
what do you mean by 'professionally done'? Professional just means to make money as a profession. By doing a trade. In which regsrds todays tattoos bring in so much more revenue that the 1870s tattoos! So which is really more 'professional. As someone who has performed on the tattoo several times recently, sorry there older tattoos are so dry and stiff upper lip! If the Top Secret Drum Corps were on this tattoo,THEN it would be a show!
@@walkernick86 I am not critical of the show today. It is an entertaining show. However, it isn’t really a Military Tattoo anymore. A Tattoo is a ceremonial military parade signalling the end of the evening. You mention “Stiff Upper Lip” in a disparaging way. Believe me, if our soldiers are ever to come face-to-face with Putin’s lads they will need very stiff upper lips indeed!!! That is what being military is all about. The Edinburgh Tattoo is now a misnomer- it is now “Showtime at Edinburgh Castle with a bit of military involvement” - nothing wrong with that - but it isn’t strictly speaking a martial event of ceremonial tattoo. I like stiff upper lip military events like Trooping the Colour, Guard Mounting etc and a Tattoo should be the same in style and presentation. Today’s “Showtime at Edinburgh Castle” is excellent, but it is a show, not a military parade. That was my point that I admittedly put clumsily….
It's not really a military tattoo any more, for the simple reason that Western armies are much smaller (and consequently military bands far fewer) than they were pre-1990. It's more of an 'entertainment event' in which some of the performers are military bands.
there is no comparison with todays military tattoo I am afraid. I have been watching the EMT since the early 1970,s and really lost interest in the late 1990,s . today I don't even bother with it . tnx for the post !!!
Gotta move with the times I'm afraid! Sorry. If we went back to this dry format, the REMT would go bust! The more modern format introduces new young blood to the world of military music and cutlural arts!
@@walkernick86 Its true that military music has always been a mix of deep traditions and popular taste , even in the 1920s and 30s at the great tattoos they played "modern popular" tunes as well . Maybe it is me that is out of joint with the times we live in now but there it is . its not for me any longer.
Chez I remember that as if it was yesterday brought a tear to my eye and a lump to my throat even managed to spot myself and all my brothers pity it cut of before the final when we formed EIIR in honour of HM The Queen PER ARDUA
Chez, very interested to know if there are other full length videos of the Tattoo from around 1965 to 1980. I know BBC did annual productions of all these years and wonder if anyone like yourself has access. These were the golden years of the Tattoo for sure.
