Blue Devils 1986 "Channel One Suite"

[@RickDawg527]

Back in 91 I remember my brother had started drumming in the HS marching band. I was in 1st grade. I'd always hear some loud music coming from his stereo but he'd never let me listen for myself. One day he was gone and left his bedroom door open. I snuck in and pressed play on the stereo.....this show started up and I was blown away! I had never heard anything like this. I stole his cassette with this show and others (82-89). It became my most prized possession when he gave it to me a few years later. We took a trip to the Grand Canyon and all I had with me was my Walkman and this tape. It was amazing.....

[@johnwernega4313]

Just like my older sister not letting me use her piano music to a Bach two-part invention.........so I decided to learn her pieces anyway, by ear. She was so pissed at me for doing that, LOL! She yelled at me, saying, "you're supposed to learn these pieces by reading the music (which she would not let me see)." Nice thing that she practiced so much, giving me plenty of time to hear the piece through.

[@johnwernega4313]

I was stuck on a Take 6 cassette I bought in 1989. I listened to that on a Walkman day in and day out. What a great lesson on chord progressions!

[@colindurham8923]

I'm a die hard Santa Clara fan but this is my favorite show of all time.

[@bringndaruckus6956]

On the field. Behind the scenes. Santa Clara was always class!

[@TheRCNetwork]

This is the show that convinced me to March in 1987. I saw this in Riverside and of course on TV in Madison. 1987, I marched with VK. Amazing times back then!

[@jaymizell9172]

This forever in my head.

[@tlewis10060]

My cassette tape of this show back in the late 80's wore out from rewinding and re-listening to the soprano solo at 3:09 hundreds of times.

[@ZestForLiving303]

GOAT. Nobody's ever made a sop sound better.

[@1990Tide]

Blew out the speakers in my car to this show. Or should I say blue out? :)

[@TheRCNetwork]

I didn’t even have to skip to 3:09 to know! I remember seeing this show in 1986 in Riverside - my band director took a few of us there (he marched 80-82 SCV). After I heard Mike Collins play that, I waited till fall and auditioned for VK (way closer to me) and marched that iconic year. My buddy brought his collection of DCI cassette tapes, and like you, we wore the hell out of them! 86 and 82 BD - strangely, Jay Long, the soloist in 82 was our Sop instructor for VK in ‘87

[@tlewis10060]

@@TheRCNetwork Was Jay Long the one that hit the super high note in the four soprano feature at the end of One More Time Chuck Corea? I've love to shake his hand. What a beast.

[@TheRCNetwork]

@@tlewis10060 Yep, I believe so....blond mullet (that was the trend back then! lol)

[@VodkaRob]

Still one of my favourite shows ever.

[@jenslindstrom3257]

Buddy rich,,, super nice to hear,, im astounded

[@mwbro123]

My favorite show '86

[@chestermarcol3831]

This has to be on the Rushmore of DCI shows. Just otherworldly, how tight they were that year. One for the ages. The low brass, loading up for 6:18 STILL, all these decades later, sends a chill up my spine, EVERY SINGLE GD TIME....

[@johns3106]

This show epitomizes that Blue Devil "sound" that tragically no longer exists.

[@michaelwenhold8117]

so true!!

[@Minchito88]

😢

[@matthewjplaner]

Exactly. Well said. That was a good time to be alive and respectfully enjoy what drum Corp was. This was an awesome year for field brass all across the score charts. Today no field brass judges and individual brass does not even compare with the way the scores are written and all the extra moving around. What may sound good from the stands, is not recognizable on the field. (Listen to a POV cam video and you’ll cringe).

[@BKSledge]

The year Suncoast Sound beat BD(and everyone else) in Field Brass.

[@TheRCNetwork]

John S exactly

[@ProphesytotheWind]

Still my all-time favorite show! I saw this as a recent convert from trumpet to perc the summer after my freshman year. I was hooked. Obsessed might be a better way to describe what this show did for me. While I only ever marched a small corps, I did audition for and make McDonald's All-American Band my senior year, and have now been a hs perc instructor for nearly 30 years, all thanks to the inspiration this show gave me.

[@neilpalmer5577]

Musically along with the BD 93 show this is them at their best.

[@rylandcook5301]

holy shit. I mean, in some ways you could say Blue Devils are overrated. But you absolutely cannot deny this amount of talent

[@dcbandnerd]

I hate to be one of those "THEY DON'T DO IT LIKE THEY USED TO" kinda guys but yeah - yeah, BD in their jazz/rock heyday were top notch. This show and the show that inspired it 10 years earlier are among my favorites, not only because of the power but the musicality. These were *jazz shows* played by a large ensemble.

[@PeregrineFalcon646]

My band’s playing an adaptation of this show for our season this year. Wish us luck!

[@johns3106]

Back to watch again for the 100th time!

[@jerrylanglois7892]

Best marching band performance I've ever seen in my 66 yrs !

[@sporluck]

If BD decided to go old school with the look, and back to that jazz sound... Lucas Oil would not be left standing.

[@billduncan8788]

maybe if they went back to G horns!They would not need amps!!

[@eddietucker7005]

could you imagine what today's students would do if they heard this live!!?! they would flock to BD!

[@eddietucker7005]

@Micah Lall-Trail it is definitely one to blast the speakers with!! let your friends hear it too! i'm really happy you're taking an interest in great drum corps, no matter the expiration date!

[@samsignorelli]

@@eddietucker7005 Uhhhh...BD isn't exactly hurting for applicants at ANY position.

[@eddietucker7005]

sam signorelli right! and their not exactly hurting for gold rings either, but they would always want more.

[@michaelbrowning2891]

Best DCI Hornline there has ever been. Soloists were incredible.

[@neilpalmer5577]

Outstanding hornline but not the best.

[@natehollenbeck6348]

Yeah hard bet there. The Cadets, Star of Indianan, and Carolina Crown would like to have a word with you.

[@viewfromwilmington]

I saw them at Camp Randall in Madison, WI that year. They were the epitome of cool.

[@neilpalmer5577]

What I like about the drum feature in Channel One Suite is that it makes sense, exciting and gets your head rocking. Todays stuff rarely has that feel.

[@ImVee10]

Neil Palmer: and it was battery only. No pit!

[@robertcozart]

Last gasp of the old school to me. Cadets style dominated from this year forward. What we have now is a far cry- not necessarily better but different for sure.

[@johns3106]

Lean back and wail at 3:30...now days this moment would be so carefully choreographed that all the passion would disappear.

[@neilpalmer5577]

Now they play solos like the salvation army regarding posture. Horn to the floor and not playing to the audience.

[@calebr6840]

Clean double g too

[@rifle2563]

No it wouldn't, jam sections still exist

[@kevinkaszas5628]

An absolute machine

[@TheImaginaryLens]

10th anniversary of those tenors.

[@cammarks6599]

One of the first 10 brass players who met, for the first brass rehearsal at Larson's Music store, in 1970. I aged out in '75 but even then we could see a gradual change coming. Mel Stratton, our first M&M instructor and drill writer said, that he could foresee, some day, the musicians becoming merely accompaniment to the color guard performance. He was right. Might as well dress the musicians up in all black, like Kibuki Theater, and have twice as many dancers on the field as musicians, and have at it. 1970's; over a thousand drum corps across the US and Canada. Less than 10% of that now. Sad.

[@salcipres8556]

I so miss these days of drum corps. It was musical and entertaining. Just wonderful stuff from the arrangement to the execution. So much more with so much less than today. It was exciting to hear and watch. Not the case today. And, each corp had their own style and signature sound. That is all gone now with too many notes and no really percussion feel just a bunch of unison playing from every section. Stunningly boring after the first one you hear because they all sound the same after the first one. Having chops is not the only thing that matters. You got to have soul!

[@agentpebble1094]

Will Riker playing sop at 3:18 is pretty sick

[@samsignorelli]

Mike "The Bearded Wonder" Collins....was in the flugel section in 84....don't know about 85.

[@bringndaruckus6956]

@@samsignorelli 'Bearded Wonder' seems to be on t-shirts now. Great soloist.

[@samsignorelli]

@@bringndaruckus6956 Heh....he was on bumper stickers with that same image only a couple of years after aging out. A friend of mine thought the image was of ME until I pointed out no glasses.

[@_nyy]

1986年にYAMAHA使われてるの改めて日本の楽器本当に上質なものなんだな

[@chippy010205]

That’s a top-notch drum line.

[@samsignorelli]

4th year of the 4 -peat.

[@dreamsspng5721]

Press F to pay respects to the color guard that messed up at 1:08

[@evanlin1660]

F

[@ImVee10]

Yet somehow, they won a Best Guard over Spirit of Atlanta. 🤔

[@birdoclock8736]

Vee 10 just because there is one obvious mistake doesn’t mean that it was not genuinely clean also this might have not been the finals Also f

[@Minchito88]

F. C+ for recovery

[@ImVee10]

Gabe H. That was Finals. I have the tape. “Recovery” was on the sheet, and hers was awful. That judge (D. Torchia) told me years later that Spirit lost because of “staging.”

[@k.coleman9317]

As with Copland and Bernstein in Garfield, I wonder if Buddy Rich ever heard these shows...can you imagine?

[@1BlueLotusBlossom]

Awesome, blue devils are awesome

[@wise_up_dems.]

I was a "horn guy" but, I remember being about 10 rows back for the encore in 76 and to me, that drum fill was legendary. That roll with the rim shots was hypnotic. But, in 86, at that speed, it just didn't have the same feel to it and the "spats". What were they thinking?

[@corpsmaster]

I love the spats! It adds to the jazz style that BD should still have. They need to use these uniforms again next year. Maybe with white shoes instead of spats.

[@gak27scv]

@Micah Lall-Trail the white cover over part of their shoes. Several corps wore them BITD.

[@bringndaruckus6956]

I agree with you about the Spats. At that time the General Effect score was key. Garfield and Vanguard both had white shoes. Visual ‘aid’

[@wesleydecasere9832]

1:13 oh those 80s camera angles

[@stevebrown5054]

Great uniforms!

[@MichaelPuterbaugh]

Five players on quads AND five players on the North tri-toms. 10 tenors. Hundreders.

[@tsan3796]

this is my standard for Drumlines from ensemble performance and subtle yet precise stick visuals lines then just seem more musical and inventive then today sure the notes they ram out today are crazy amazing but something is missing soul and groove perhaps and less players - BD you need to bring back Cymbal I love to see what you'd do SCV still has that nailed down better then anyone.

[@maxdominate2481]

The lines of today only do easy things fast: paradiddle stuff and roles...yawn.

[@maxdominate2481]

@Micah Lall-Trail - Yes to that!

[@ImVee10]

No pit in the drum solo. Quite innovative if you think about it.

[@Mright4]

THE STADIUM MOVED.....

[@mickeyscv67]

Love those NORTH DRUMS

[@mickeyscv67]

Love those NORTH QUADS

[@tommytimp]

Triples, but yeah. The quads are Yamahas.

[@keithbarnes9419]

Those mothers were heavy as f***

[@CJHissle]

Great audio

[@hturt4]

Wait, how can anyone in their right mind thumbs down this? SMH.

[@declandougan7243]

It would help if the comment section wasn’t full of elitists.

[@StGeoRUSH619]

FMM: Cavaliers '77 - '87 (Baritone/Contrabass) I gotta admit, before this show, I really didn't appreciate jazz. What a f#@kin' horn line ! ! ! The best day of my drum corps career, was DCI Finals night, 1987, when we "finally" beat the Blue Devils for the first time... in a very long time ! ! ! We may have taken 3rd, but for me, it felt like 1st. That feeling has never gone away. SPLOOIE-4-Life

[@Ryan-dz7mg]

George McCormick 11 summers?

[@StGeoRUSH619]

No, actually I joined the Cavalier Cadets (feeder corps) late September of '77, marched with them until '82, (we won '81 CCI-Cadet Corps International) then moved up to the Cavaliers in '83. So technically, 10 summers. All with the Cavaliers... SPLOOIE-4-Life P.S. I knew some with 15 summers, and all with the Cavaliers... PEACE Ryan

[@johns3106]

George McCormick Man...you got to participate in some of the greatest years of this activity!

[@renorailfanning5465]

I love Cavaliers from 1983-1987. Made a CD with those shows on it and listen to it often. '85 Planets blows away '95 Planets. The second songs from '86 and '87, were you guys played facing the back of the stadium, has some of the best lower brass sound and beautiful melodies I've heard in drum corps. Not a fan 1988 but 1989-1991 are my favorite Cavaliers. As a matter of fact, I like every year of the Cavaliers pre-2009 except 2004 :) I marched 1988 Suncoast Sound, great times, and aged out with Orlando Magic 1990, crappy times. After seeing Cavaliers in1990, I wished I would have marched with them. Edit: I actually have multiple CD's of the Cavaliers with every show from 1983-2008, except for the ones I can't find ;1994, 1996,1997,1998,1999 and the one I don't like; 2004. I know someone who is getting me those 5 shows and then my Cavies collection will be complete.

[@StGeoRUSH619]

Todd Peterson: The Ballad from 1986 & 1987 is called Variations on a Korean Folk Song. ( Listen to this recording all the way through: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4vcn2V8edupr5I ) The overtones bouncing off the back stands, especially at Finals was incredibly beautiful, and a joy to play. Oh, before I forget, as a brass player, I have to say this... during the '80's, Suncoast Sound had some of the most AWESOME horn lines, and 1988 was no exception...RESPECT (truth be told, we always looked up to your horn line... AMAZING) So thank you for driving us to become better players...SPLOOIE-4-Life

[@TheImaginaryLens]

I remember marching Dutchboy in 80 on the snare line with those projector scoops on the snare. Would always bang my knees lol. They did the job though.

[@TheImaginaryLens]

Wasn't the greatest to move around in. The year I marched our snare line had the full half scoop which added some weight too. The knees were a little banged up that year.

[@tsan3796]

ha I still crack( no pun intended ) up when tenor feature players do blow line snort... curious how many viewers miss that little visual

[@BCISTUDIOS]

is there a high cam version

[@tedrickenator]

when you opener is 7:12 long... I wonder if 2nd place thought they got ripped off back in 86? I'll go check DCP... oh wait...

[@bringndaruckus6956]

1.8 difference Nope.

[@GEM850]

Does anyone even do a high mark time like the drum majors were doing anymore?

[@keithbarnes9419]

@Micah Lall-Trail SCV still does it on occasion

[@SithScorp]

When the musicians made the sound, not a plugged in device.

[@SithScorp]

@Micah the Nerd Saxophonist unplug and see how good it is... I am talking about human power, not electronics. Too much is used today. It actually covers up the acoustical instrument sound.

[@declandougan7243]

@@SithScorp But very few corps use full-ensemble amplification. Almost all go without them except on soloists.

[@SithScorp]

@@declandougan7243 Amplification of the front ensemble with synthesizers supporting the harmonic structure and bass line. The lines played by winds are nothing like they used to be. Unplug everything and see which is best. My vote would be for old school.

[@supersop]

Like a healthy chunk of you, I'm old school. I prefer this style show. But I've taught long enough and been around long enough to know ....... You can't play this much meat in a horn book AND do modern visual demands. That's why brass meat started going into the pits around 2000. Then shows became more snippets and motif's and less about entire works of music. If the day ever comes around where you can march an entire show at 8 to 5 or smaller step sizes .... then you can write a brass book like this. But that isn't going to happen. The new "STAGING" phase of drill design has helped .. but not enough.

[@declandougan7243]

Crown 2012 and 2013 don’t count?

[@rifle2563]

Watch crown

[@diver27707]

is it just me ..because I see the corps member looking much older back then.. then what they look now

[@gheilers]

More facial hair present back then?

[@gheilers]

I was in high school band just a few years before this. Back then, we did not even KNOW of "sun screen"...let alone use it...not even in Central Texas, in August. :-)

[@corpsmaster]

No kids just look younger... it’s unappealing to look grown up and more desirable to look young. Idk why

[@jamesshaw435]

What’s very telling is who is not on the list. This should knock some egos down to size.

[@lukasmccartney2860]

Awesome show, but seriously, how can you have channel one without saxes? It just doesn’t work for me

[@darionnylon72]

Yes

[@nickbell8353]

My jazz bone teacher is somewhere in that baritone line.

[@bringndaruckus6956]

Who his your badass bone teacher? That is awesome. As I'm sure your teacher is.

[@nickbell8353]

@@bringndaruckus6956 Ryan Haines: he also played in the air force band... REALLY helped out my improv and my ability to read changes.

[@bringndaruckus6956]

@@nickbell8353 Awesome. Appreciate the info.

[@nigelgreen3516]

This is amongst the best.With Garfield 83,84,Madison.88 ,Santa Clara 89.Could the Corps of today cope with no amplification and the demanding drill shapes.

[@elevenvideola]

This is amongst the best.With Garfield 83,84,Madison.88 ,Santa Clara 89.Could the Corps of today cope with no amplification and the demanding drill shapes.

[@missioncreekstyle3814]

OK, is that the biggest tenor line in the history of DCI? I marched SCV in '80 when there were 8 tenors, and I thought that was crazy....LOL

[@eddietucker7005]

Hey, BD! now THIS is a drum corps sound! play this again, with envisioning today's visual standards, and there will much fainting, wailing and gnashing of teeth... but ONLY if ya'll want another gold ring!!

[@declandougan7243]

Watch metamorph. They pull this exact sound out at certain points. But make sure it’s the finals run and not the encore.

[@rifle2563]

@@declandougan7243 no one gonna acknowledge that

[@stevenlee5138]

Major guard drop

[@JamieSmith-fz2mz]

If I could change one thing about today’s corps, it would be to make the bass drums sound like these ^^ and not like cardboard boxes.

[@jomarluke]

Is that Bubbles on timpani at 4:12??

[@tommytimp]

Does Bubbles have a real name?

[@samsignorelli]

That's Bob Bollman....was the tymp dude at Xmen in 84. Don't know if he had the nickname "Bubbles" in 86. When I was in BD in 1984, "Bubbles" was a fellow soprano named Rick Haller.

[@gak27scv]

@@samsignorelli before Xmen hi marched with the Royal Crusaders for a couple of years...

[@Minchito88]

He is REALLY enjoying himself though.

[@yachtboy6756]

Yay...triple toms.

[@DennisJohnsonDrummer]

North drums!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@wdmartini70]

They got music idea from the 1985 Lawrence north regime Indiana State and Midwest reginal champs

[@bringndaruckus6956]

Where did 1985 Lawrence North Regime Indiana State get it from?

[@michaelbrowning2891]

Actually, they did the same show in 1976, so.....

[@Automate_Nate]

To be honest, loved the show but against DCA corps of this time they don’t even compare. The level of difficulty and sound quality from DCA Corps at this time was just at a new level.

[@douglasroberts6316]

Hard to believe they won horrible marching ..that tenor drums break atrocious... major horn phasing issues ...

[@DillonM-mc6yw]

Thank you for the insight! How long have you been a dci judge?