20 Great DCI Moments from the 1980s and 1990s

My personal favorite DCI moments from the 1980s and 1990s. PLEASE NOTE - The Blue Devils are NOT included in this compilation because The Blue Devils organization doesn't allow clips to be posted by anyone other than DCI or themselves. Anyone who tries gets the video removed and a copyright strike on their channel. Don't blame the messenger.

[@TheRCNetwork]

The 1980’s will forever be the best and REAL drum corp.

[@okbrassman]

2 piston horns should have never been replaced, also did i overlook '85 Suncoast or did it not make ? '90 Star ? Blue Devils ? . . . . maybe i just missed a couple of segments?

[@ThatIsJustCrazyTalk]

The 90s weren’t so bad neither, IMHO.

[@rifle2563]

Nah the late 90s is the peak, drill in the 80s has nothing on the 90s corps

[@davidwarner3326]

Drum corps was declared dead...in 1971.

[@Mark-sj3xb]

Cadets, Garfield, Bergen County, Holy Name… whatever iteration they were at any given time, RIP

[@megbride5645]

Thank you for sharing! I was in drum corps from ‘90-‘95, some of the best years of my life and I will forever be grateful for the experience

[@kderek22]

I was at the World Championships when the Scouts did Malagueña…I’ve never been the same since…pure joy!!

[@waynestephens6505]

Thanks so much! 80's and 90's great! I marched in 70's (Guardsmen). 70's important for the start of DCI and gradual rule changes from the old VFW days to the new DCI. Some great shows then too, but the 80's and 90's brought out great creativity and fine precision at the same time! Will always love all eras of drum corps. The hard work of the performers and staff shines in EVERY season of Drum corps!! 😊❤🎉

[@2ToyBoys]

88 Bluecoats and their zillion member snareline. Oh, and cymbals on the field. They just look so good.

[@waynestephens6505]

I was at DCI finals in 1991 so saw that Phantom show. 16:00 when the guard did the splits, followed the big Phantom horn blast, the crowd went nuts, and cheered loud all the way to the end!!!

[@Nyssa337]

Still my favorite color guard move of all time. It was sultry and appropriately suggestive for the Bacchanale without being inappropriate, and those girls had done the splits part of the routine all season and changed the spread afterwards just for finals night. Epic and artistic.

[@waynestephens6505]

@@Nyssa337 I remember when I was in corps, at the end of the season we would tweek bits of the show that the judges had not seen before. I'm a big Phantom Phan since my corps folded many years ago, but I do love ALL corps!

[@Kanstulman]

@@Nyssa337interesting behind the scenes. That move was so visually suggestive. Probably wouldn’t fly in the 21st century…sigh.

[@tomlichnofsky.7048]

The Awesomeness!! 👊😎✊ DCI The 1980s!! 👍😎👌🍁

[@mmeeddddddozzzzzzz3421]

The promise of living is a beautiful Aaron Copland section from his composition calledThe Tender Land!

[@randyreid6953]

Thank you so much for this. It was a golden age that I was lucky to see in person at every finals.

[@gemgirl2000]

Best years EVER!!

[@jimbritt1471]

Every corp had a unique sound!

[@scott414b]

I was in miami witnessing the Cadets win their first championship that night. Crowd going crazy, East, East, East... A magical night that I will never forget

[@ronniemock72]

My first drum corps show was at Spring Valley HS in Columbia, SC. I’ve never stopped loving it.

[@Nyssa337]

Which year?

[@NJNYC67]

Drum corp was the best from mid 60s thru the 90s, hope drum corp gets bigger & more popular, again, my first opportunity to play in front of an audience

[@milescumminski8077]

I was there to see Phantom in 1996 and that show had built and built to become the most powerful end of a drum corps show I had ever seen live. It still is to this day, chills!

[@Nyssa337]

Shostakovich 5th does that. 😎

[@cartersayle4729]

Best collection I've seen yet! I remember so many of those moments! Thanks so much for this collection of memories! My son is a current Cavalier, so it was nice to see them come in there at the end, however, they won't be playing The Planets this year!

[@brettcody76]

Cavaliers in '92 was one of the absolute best shows...!

[@ThatIsJustCrazyTalk]

Playing G bugles was one of the highlights of my musical career. They set drum corps apart from marching band. We were the cool kids, and the marching bands were “band kids”. Plain and simple, we were better musicians because we could play and excel in both drum corps and marching band. Now drum corps is just super expensive marching band and I wish they would rename themselves to Marching Bands of America because I don’t think there’s an “international” element any longer, and they most certainly are NOT drum corps any longer.

[@Nyssa337]

They don't march either. It's all body movement and interpretive dance.

[@davidwarner3326]

Drum corps was declared dead...in 1971.

[@waynestephens6505]

5:16 I have always loved the shaker melody and song "simple gifts". My corps Guardsmen did a variation of it in 1976. Cadets version here is wonderful!❤

[@reedlarson3153]

Troopers did it in 95, one reason I decided to march with them.

[@deeaplw]

Great choices

[@homestead_diy]

15:59 I saw this in Natchitoches Louisiana in 91. It was amazing. at 16:38 when those bells started. It was the most amazing moment. And still one of my favorite shows to see live.

[@TheRCNetwork]

Had to leave one more comment…..after watching nearly the whole thing. No Blue Devils? I mean, come on….1986? 1982? 1984? All AMAZING years in Drum corp

[@Nyssa337]

The Blue Devils have a block on all of their content. Only the official DCI channel and the official Blue Devils channel are allowed to post any material related to the Blue Devils. Anyone else who tries will have the video blocked and a copyright strike placed on their You Tube account. Blame them, not me.

[@TheRCNetwork]

@@Nyssa337 Oh, gotcha...there's (likely) one guy posting literally every top 12 corp through the years under Terry Tuba and Barry Baritone (might be others). He's still small potatoes for KZbin though.

[@Dubai646]

Good😂

[@okbrassman]

@16:18 . . . could they still get away with that ? I was thrilled with the act, of course I don't recall seeing one since then. And as a band director (showing this to band classes) I remember fast forwarding that section. Kids asked, "why did you do that?' I replied, "it was a boring section, you wouldn't like it"

[@KBisDOC]

88 Scouts Malagueña!!!! Favorite show

[@danhoblify]

Please bring g bugles back...

[@Nyssa337]

I'll settle for unplugging the electronics.

[@waynestephens6505]

I think the g bugles put out more sound. These shows no amplification required! I'm not against all amplification, I like it to hear the soloists better. Since I marched in 70's, check out some soloists in that era!

[@americanspirit8932]

Absolutely no electronics and no props whatsoever

[@scvanguard1]

If any corps could do G bugles and be successful it would be BD. Have them play their 78 show again. Still don’t see how that got 3rd.

[@davidwarner3326]

​@waynestephens6505 , it's not the horn, coming from someone who marched 2 and 3 valve G and 3 valve Bb.

[@jimbritt1471]

Also…… Arrowhead stadium is the perfect acoustical venue for DCI!

[@jimbritt1471]

It was amazing how loud small corps were! The big ones were unreal! The first hit 88 Star….jesus. The single loudest thing ever.

[@jimbritt1471]

Imagine star 91 at Arrowhead!

[@brianlamb163]

I was lucky to be involved with drum corps during the great corps era of the early 1980s today's corps is just Broadway in12-20minutes

[@jeraldmcwilson2189]

Nice band nice. Sound

[@Daveinbrewtown]

Intense

[@DrJAFox]

You have to love company fronts!

[@sanderschat]

No Madison Scauce? 1995/1996? the power era but great list! A lot of nice memories

[@Nyssa337]

Yes, Malaga almost made my cut but I didn't want the video to get too long. :)

[@drumcorpstea]

Putting a commercial in the middle of Bacanale is blasphemy. Good picks 🤍🖤

[@Nyssa337]

I agree. Sorry, I don't have control over that. :(

[@infostorm618]

1988 has too many good shows. ;)

[@Nyssa337]

It was a great year.

[@boomer77ups]

Not a fan of BD, huh? LOL Good list, but 1994 BD belongs on any list of great drumcorps, strong argument for 1988 and 1993 as well.

[@Nyssa337]

You need to read my comment in the video description regarding the absence of the Blue Devils.

[@kevinskoien6165]

Don't forget '86.

[@americanspirit8932]

We no longer have real drum and bugle Corps they have turned the activity into a marching band competition and I have nothing against marching bands but it is not a drum and bugle c o r p s.

[@Nyssa337]

I’m not even sure if you can call it “marching” anymore. More like body shaping and interpretive dance with occasional running around while the electronic keyboards play something for ambience. 🙄

[@americanspirit8932]

I agree with you 100% they destroyed the activity that was one of the greatest youth activities in North America for many many years they never encouraged kids to go on to a senior Corps once they aged out at the age of 21. I remember I was so excited when I was able to join the Long Island sunrises in 1964. Senior drama bugle Corps were much better than Juniors at one time only because their members primarily came from Junior course with all sorts of experience pause my encouraging kids to go on to senior, drum c o r p s it perpetuated the activity even that much further in the New York metropolitan area there were drumming people called competitions at least two or three every single weekend that you could drive through within an hour or two. You got to see the top drum and bugle Corps as well as the ones that were up and coming, it may for an exciting evening, and the stands were jam-packed, mini competitions standing room only

[@Iliketoboard]

Plus it’s become prohibitively expensive. Corps are disappearing because no one can afford it anymore. I think Glassmen was 6 or 700 when I marched with them.

[@davidwarner3326]

​@Iliketoboard , disappearing because it's too expensive to march? That's ass backward.

[@mikesecor6074]

to bad about the ads

[@Nyssa337]

That's YT unfortunately. Nothing to do with me.

[@Iliketoboard]

That turn at 4:10 !!!

[@Iccarus72]

That pivot is so damn good

[@MiniAl3737]

I miss the concept of uniformity and the elegance of the visuals of this era. Today's by comparison are gross and reek of narcissism. I feel like I need to take a shower after watching.

[@supersop]

2 of the worst decades to leave BD out of a compilation. They did some good stuff back then. I'm kinda surprised ... and I'm not a fan lol

[@Nyssa337]

The Blue Devis do not allow anyone except the official DCI channel and the official Blue Devils channel to post clips on KZbin. Anyone who does receives a copyright strike. Blame them, not me.

[@cartersayle4729]

Yeah, they were great back then, but it's nice to see some other moments featured. Blue Devils won a lot, but they rarely captured my heart like many of these did. Although, I do remember their '86 show was smoking hot!

[@Nyssa337]

@@cartersayle4729 Interestingly my peak interest in DCI was from 1987-1993 (my high school and college years). In those seven years the Blue Devils won no titles and were usually 4th or 5th every year so although I liked their shows, I was much more of a Cadets, Star, Vanguard, or Phantom fan.

[@cartersayle4729]

@@Nyssa337 Ha! We must be the same age! My college years were also '87-'93. It was delightfully competitively diverse back then!