Ahhh...the 70's. We need more stuff on this site about the 70's. There have been several references (myself included) to stay away from talking about the 70's....mainly because it's hard to avoid the politics of whatever day (or year) we were a part of.

It sounds like the early 70's were really hit and miss one year to the next. Just listening to the audio of the 70 and 73 shows, there seemed to be so much potential. Yet, Bob mentioned a big improvement from 1972 to 1973. What was different in 1973?

Was there a drop off in 1974? Did it continue to be hit or miss throughout the 70's? I remember reading that the cadet Corps became the "A" Corps in the mid 70's. What year did this happen?

Also, I hope someone can answer this one. It's a little political...but it's also something I've always wondered about. In 1979, we did a lot of local shows..mostly in IL and WI. We didn't seem to compete in shows with a lot of the top DCI Midwest contenders of the time. For example in 1979 (according to the score sheet handed out at the banquette) the Imperials competed in 19 shows that summer. Of all those shows, we saw the Cavaliers, Phantom Regiment, Madison Scouts, and Blue Stars no more than twice all summer. If you take away DeKalb, we didn't see any of these Corps past the third week of June. Was this the way it was throughout the 70's? I'm not looking for a why...I'm just wondering if that was the way it always was?

By the way...I can't think of a more appropriate string to add as many happy faces as need be..

What years were you a Corps member? 79 Sop

The 70's were a strange time for ALL of drum corps - lots of changes, and lots of former champions didn't survive to see the decade out (Royal Airs, Sac, Kevin's, etc.). As for Norwood, it WAS a very up and down decade, but at least we saw it all the way through. '70 was a strong corps, '71 was not. '72 was a little better, '73 was MUCH better. But then everything fell apart in '74, and since I wasn't there I can't really say why, although I certainly saw the handwriting on the wall during the '73 season. I really lost track of the corps - other than seeing them at VFW Nationals in Chicago at the end of the '74 season - until I returned in '78, so I can't say what happened during that time. All I DO know is that the corps didn't die, although I think it was on life support a few times...

As for '79, we KNEW we weren't ready to compete with the DCI corps, so rather than have our heads kicked in every weekend, we went where we had a better chance - not only competitively, but to get the kind of feedback we needed to move forward. In the 60's and early 70's they called that kind of corps a 'B' corps - that's how Guardsmen and others started. There was no shame in it - just the acceptance of reality that Norwood wasn't going to be a national contender again, at least not at that time.

I guess what I'm proudest of is that the corps kept going - made it to the field every year. And while some years were obviously better than others, we were never an embarassment and we kept trying, while lots of former top corps just called it quits.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73, 78-79

I'm also very interested in hearing individual year bragging rights from the 70's. The Corps may not have always been equal from year to year...but every Corps accomplishes something during a season that sticks with you forever...

At the 1979 State Fair show we won prelims - but lost to the Geneseo Knights in finals. I remember seeing Bob and Judi running back to the Corps with our prelim score in full uniform. Bob was so excited and was running so fast, he fell down trying to turn a sharp corner, his white bucks lost traction on the gravel trail he was running on (sorry Bob!!). For the rest of the afternoon, we were THE Corps to beat. We all walked around a little taller. Very proud.

Another bragging right from '79 was that we won American Legion State....beating those same Geneseo Knights in a very satisfying victory. Thanks to Rose, I was recently able to re-live that memory from a different prospective. I'm transferring some of Rose's Drum Corps tapes to CD for her..and on one of the tapes Rose's father recorded that contest and the finale. It's really fun listening to the fan reaction after they announced the Geneseo Knights finishing second. and then how excited everyone was when it was announced we had won! Very cool...listening to it now still brings a rush.

What other "bragging rights" are there from the 70's?

What years were you a Corps member? 79 Sop

Bob Schreffler said one very important thing about the corps in 1979... they were smart enough to set specific goals and NOT try to be something they weren't.

Instead of pretending they were "top flight", they picked their appearances carefully and tried to teach the kids and learn from their experience. Smart!

If the Corps had done things like this more often, they would not only still be here, but they could have progressed to the top levels again!

What did you do in the Corps? member 1958-63

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63 drum line

Bob is right, the corps fell apart in 1974. We were not able replace the members who quit with new ones and no one was coming up from the cadets corps. Jack McNulty (RIP) took the managers job and got a bunch of the old guys back and we made VFW finals that year, only becuase there was not much competetion. Jack wasn't really manager material and didn't make it much into the '75 season before he was booted out. We got a new horn and drill instructor in '75 (Cliff Colnot and Steve Buglino) but still membership was down and no one was coming up from the cadet corps. And with the 70's being what they were, the membership was pretty much out of control. Much of what was left quit during and after the '75 season. (Notice how Cavaliers, Guardsmen and Phantom Regiment improved in 1976).

Cliff Colnot and Steve Buglino both migrated to the Cavaliers along with 8 or so horn players - there were already 8 or so former Imperials in Cavaliers so it wasn't much of transition for the rest of us. Guardsmen ended up with some horn and drum players. Actually Phantom Regiment only ended up with a couple guard gals from Imperials, as they were already on their way to bigger and better things.

I believe that they finally let the cadets corps kids move up in 1976 as the Imperials began to rebuild.

I aged out in 1976 and stayed away form corps for a couple years. I never did see the corps perform again, although I knew they were back on the field.

It's easy to see now what a complicated mess it was back then. There were several attempts to right the ship and if the internal structure was there to support the corps they might have worked. The wild decade of sex, drugs, and rock & roll took its toll on an entire generation and the Imperials were on the casualty list. Anyway, that's my slant on things.

What did you do in the Corps? soprano

What years were you a Corps member? 1972-75