Our corps hall was in a condemned building on the grounds of psychiatric facility for individuals involved in the criminal justice system, among others. That should tell you something about the Florida Wave right there.
The Wave’s lineage dated back, with twists, turns and a few breaks, to Cesar LaMonica and the Miami Boys Drum & Bugle Corps of the 1930s. The version known as the Florida Vanguards (yes, that’s with an “s”) last hit the field in 1980. The corps had some serious troubles. When Drum Corps International public relations director Don Whiteley asked me to “help them out” upon moving to Miami for a TV news job, I had no idea how serious.
After the 1980 season, we decided to take things down to ground zero and start fresh for ’81. With the help of a wonderful lady known and loved as “Jo Mama”, Jo Wessman, and some incredibly dedicated parents, the Florida Wave was born on the proverbial shoestring.
We didn’t want to put just another drum corps out on the field. We came from a unique place and we wanted the corps to reflect that. We also wanted us to be fun and entertaining. Our catch line would become “Lightly Latin and Tastefully Tropical.” The kids and staff readily bought in.
The first uniform was built around surplus valet tops from the Sheraton Hotel. Our helmets were “custom made” by staff member Ron Coleman, who worked in a place that made airplane seat parts. He used excess plastic to make the helmets with a mold fashioned after a local marching band. Corps members then punched holes and clipped on plastic chin straps. It was a noble undertaking that got us through, but one of the kids said we looked like those little scrubbing bubbles from the animated commercial back then. The visual stuck.
Bad Luck Magnets
The Wave was a scrappy bunch. But it often seemed if we didn’t have bad luck, we’d have no luck at all. We hit the field in 1981 with 42 kids who really wanted to be there and believed in something bigger. We fit on one bus — which caught fire as we were leaving Florida.
Recalls charter member Jim Lussier: “The bus had a tricky clutch. After grinding the gears a little while, a small fire erupted in the engine compartment. Gino (Cipriani) and Bruce (Longsworth) were in the back of the bus. In the most lowkey way possible, one of them simply said, ‘The bus is on fire.’"
Everyone got off safely. The damage turned out to be minor and we were back on the road in a day. Our goal was to survive the season and show some potential. We did and we did.
1982 – “We Were Robbed”
We’re not talking judging here. We got bigger and better in ‘82. We took off on tour with great optimism. Our second stop was in Birmingham, Alabama for the Drum Corps South Championship and bad luck hit again. First, we left rain-soaked Legion Field to find that one of the buses had been ransacked while we were performing. Then we got back to our housing site at Lawson State College. It had been hit too. Thieves tossed the place. It was bad.
I was getting panicked calls back in the Channel 7 newsroom in Miami. Would we have to scrap the rest of the tour or could we get together enough money to replace what the kids and the corps lost? We decided to keep going for a few days and make the call. Kids were sharing clothes … yep, even underwear. Fortunately, after word got out, the people of South Florida and Birmingham came through with funds. Our buddy Pepe Notaro, a staunch supporter of the smaller Class A and A-60 corps, even took up a collection among the groups he was working with. We loved that guy! We were able to finish the tour and made Finals in several Class A shows, including the DCI World Championship in Montreal.
And the DCI Championship was coming to Miami in 1983!
The big show on our home turf. We had a good winter and continued to pick up members as the season unfolded. Dean Dukes, who became one of our premier soloists, remembers: “Bull (Richard Wooley) taught me how to play a G bugle three days before we left on tour.” We came out strong. Our young staff tailored a show beautifully honed to our growing talent level.
1983 was going to be our year. Nothing would deter us. The staff would wear garish Hawaiian shirts to shows, we’d toss oranges to the crowd as we came on the field and get a beach ball or two going in the stands. The fans liked our uniqueness. The competition was tough, but the season unfolded beautifully with Class A Championships at DCI East, DCI Midwest, the U.S. Open, Key to the Sea Open, and American International Open. To win the DCI Class A World Championship at home in Miami would be the perfect ending!
Wait, they changed the rules!
Yep, and it was one convoluted process. Over the winter it was decided that everyone but the Top 25 would compete in one big Prelims at the start of the week in Miami. Follow along here, because it gets a little complicated. Under this system, the Top 25 from ’82 wouldn’t have to compete until Thursday; they were seeded. The rest of the corps would duke it out in Prelims in one big group. Based on the scores, corps placing 1-15 in Prelims would go on to compete with the big guys in the Thursday Quarterfinals. Corps 16-26 in the Prelims would compete for the Class A title Wednesday night. Strictly by the numbers, no choice involved. Still with me? It’s even more confusing as the final results reflected a shift from the original plan.
No Man’s Land – The Law of Unintended Consequences
The Wave was too good for its own good that week. We weren’t an Open Class corps. We weren’t ready to be an Open Class corps. We didn’t want to be an Open Class corps at that point in our development. But an eighth-place finish in the Prelims pushed us out of Class A. It was followed by 16th in the Quarters. That left us 28th overall, which was … nowhere. We weren’t Top 25 and we didn’t have a chance to go for the Class A title at home. The kids were bummed and a certain DCI broadcast host had to bite his tongue.
Wisely, the rule was changed for 1984. We had a decision to make.
Let’s Go For It
We decided the kids deserved a shot at that DCI Class A title in ’84 (changed to Division II that year) no matter what the off-season brought and how strong we came out of the gate. I loved that ’84 corps and that musical book. The punch in Antonio Carlos Jobim's “Wave” remains one of my favorite moments. We had a great “coming of age” season and came into Atlanta and the World Championships ready for business.
From a field of 25 corps, we won the Div. II Prelims that Monday by 7.5 points, surprising even ourselves. Those Canadian Knights in second were good. Determined not to let up, we won the Finals on Tuesday by almost nine points. Yipes! The kids finally got their hard-earned DCI title.
What happened after that was totally unexpected and pure gravy. We were going to have fun, let it fly and see what happened.
Darn, if we didn’t win the Division I Prelims on Wednesday by 3.5 over the Blue Knights. Thursday’s Quarterfinals saw the Wave in ninth place. The buses were burning a lot of rubber between the housing site and Georgia Tech. Friday’s Semifinals earned a 20th-place finish behind Boston. We were a Top 25 corps but I can honestly tell you it meant much more to the kids to be Division II (or Class A) champions which gave them the opportunity to do an exhibition performance on Saturday night.
Six performances in six nights. A DCI record, and the Florida Wave would be remembered as DCI Champions. Jim Lussier, who weathered that first-year bus fire was still playing in the snare line in ’84: “It was, and still is just a fantastic story regarding the Wave. The fact that the reverberations are still being felt 40 years later is the true testimony to what we all experienced.”
Pretty cool for a bunch of scrubbing bubbles based at a mental hospital at the far end of the drum corps world.
