Five Stick Friday

This. This is where it all started. Well…this is where I SAW it for the very first time. Drum Corps Interntional. August 4th, 1978. Chattanooga, Tennessee. I was 14 years old. Obviously couldn’t drive. So…on this day in 1978 I begged my best friend’s Aunt to drive me, him, and a friend to see this small DCI show about 30 miles north of my hometown of Dalton, Ga.

And while I’ve never marched in a DCI corps ( or any corps for that matter), this summer evening that was squeezed in between thunderstorms had a never-ending impact on my life. A $5.00 ticket to a 6-corps show was all it took to know that I would be a “lifer”.

As it turned out, the Bridgemen of Bayonne, NJ. and Spirit of Atlanta from Atlanta, GA were the two corps that totally grabbed me. Powerful horn lines. Precise guard. Drum lines that were in late season form because…well…it was late season. Unbelievable showmanship. And volume? Well…my ears rang for a couple of days.

The following summer, the 1979 Season, my brother David had earned a spot on the Spirit of Atlanta hornline and was touring the country playing shows. That didn’t sit well with me at first because he’d been gone the whole school year at college and I was looking forward to having my older brother home for the summer. But he had bigger and much better ideas.

I followed the tour that summer via 900-numbers that daily updated scores from the road. Much to my parent’s chagrin when they got the phone bill ( hey…I was only 15…I didn’t KNOW it wasn’t FREE!)

By the time Finals rolled around that year, Spirit was sitting in a semi-slotted 4th place but still looking to crack the medal podium. Back then, DCI Finals were broadcast on PBS public broadcasting. You can imagine my surprise, my pride, and my giddiness when Spirit of Atlanta snapped down their horns from the closer “Let It Be Me” and our TV screen in Dalton was full of…yep…David Henry!

My sister and I both screamed! My parents didn’t seem to know WHAT to do! That’s their son…on a nationally televised broadcast…with a closeup!

Which immediately prompted the question out of me…”Why aren’t we there? It’s in Birmingham? We should’ve BEEN there! ”

As it turns out, Spirit of Atlanta finished 4th place in Finals that year, 0.8 points behind Santa Clara Vanguard to appear on the medal stand. So close…but so far!

The following year, 1980, I was fully in tune with that was going on with DCI, the tour, who was hot…who was not… and I had the t-shirt collection to prove it… Spirit, Blue Devils, Crossmen, Phantom, Bridgemen, 27th Lancers…all of them were represented in my t-shirt drawer.

That summer, Spirit embarked on tour with hopes of not only being on the medal stand at Finals..but winning the whole shooting match. Jim Ott was in his third year with the corps and his innovation and arranging had Spirit on the map as one of the best brass lines on tour. The drums under Tom Float were in the same rare air.

You can’t write about Spirit’s 1980 season without addressing the tragic loss of Jim Ott to a truck accident on tour. He was tragically killed on July 8th, about a month before DCI Finals. To say this had an impact on the Corps was an understatement in any form. And yet, the corps pulled themselves together and fought harder.

By Prelims night, Spirit had fine-tuned their performance to be in the rare air of the Blue Devils, 27th Lancers, Phantom Regiment, and Bridgemen.

They finished 3rd that night with a score of 89.00. They were only 1.40 points behind the first place Blue Devils who had scored 90.40.

And that led to this…the 1980 Spirit of Atlanta’s Finals performance at Legion Field. With heavy hearts for Jim Ott, and the spirit of warriors ( pun intended), they left everything they had on the field.

This time, we WERE there! And to hear all of these corps, not just the top 2or 3 was an experience like I cannot explain. Big bragadocious brass lines. Slamming drums. The 27th Lancers Colorguard doing things you didn’t know could be done. The Bridgemen re-fighting the Civil War right in the middle of their show. Just an unbelievable night of Drum Corps on a sweltering night in Birmingham.

When the smoke cleared, Spirit of Atlanta ended up in 4th place with a score of 89.80. And to the level of competition? They were only 0.8 points out of FIRST. It was the be ( at least currently) the highest Spirit of Atlanta would ever finish in DCI Finals.

And it was where my 43 year love affair with Drum Corps was solidified.