1975 was the first year PBS broadcasted the Drum Corps International World Championship Finals.
The first three years of DCI's existence were not officially filmed for posterity, although a handful of performances from 1974 are available from DCI because an upstate New York PBS station filmed the Ithaca Finals for their own use. Unfortunately, the station recycled half of the taping for other purposes. Such was the lack of foresight back in that era. It's like NBC re-using the earliest tapes of Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show." Can you imagine the value to society had those first shows been saved?
I feel much the same way about the first three years of DCI's existence. No one suspected we might want a record of these events decades later, at least enough to make plans to have these shows filmed.
The Madison Scouts came into the 1975 season after an incredibly successful 1974 campaign. That year the Wisconsin corps never placed lower than second and won 14 of its 20 competitive events including the U.S. Open, CYO, DCI Midwest, Canadian Classic, and Big “V.”
Watch the 1975 Madison Scouts on DVD
While winning was important to the Scouts, it wasn’t the end-all-be-all of the corps’ existence. According to the 1975 DCI Souvenir Yearbook:
The corps philosophy is modified annually to maintain a high level of crowd appeal and to keep up with the changing moods of drum corps. But there is one aspect of the Madison philosophy that remains fixed — the goal of winning is viewed as the ultimate achievement, but without sacrificing the traditional pride, dedication, and friendship in this Madison organization in exchange for the top. This tradition runs deep into the roots of each Madison Scout, and they’re proud to be a part of this team which is among the best in the world.
But 1974’s success did carry right over into 1975. The corps’ performance was so intense and the execution (what we used to call "Performance") was so deadly spot on, Madison won the ’75 Finals despite Santa Clara Vanguard earning a perfect score in all three General Effect scoring captions. The Scouts got perfect scores in Bugle and Drum Effect, but fell 0.30 points short of a perfect score in M&M (Marching and Maneuvering) Effect. And had it not been for Vanguard edging the corps at the DCI Midwest Regional Prelims, the Scouts would have ended up with a perfect competitive record for the year. Madison finished with a 91.500, compared to Santa Clara’s 91.000.
Through the speakers, one can feel the loudness of DCI Hall of Fame member Jimmy Elvord's stellar horn line, even from behind the backfield line. In those days, the horns and drums had to start off the field, with only the guard allowed to start on the field. Yet, that horn line still shook the stadium.
I'll always remember that sound. The corps was performing as my corps (The Cavaliers) was getting ready to go on the field in the first-ever drum corps show in which I marched, the season-opening show hosted by The Cavaliers. Even from behind the stands, the sound of that horn line drilled right through one's soul.
When watching this recording, a few things may jump out at those who weren't yet born in 1975. Long hair ruled. Corps utilized only one set of flags the entire show. Drill formations were totally symmetrical to the 50-yard line and leg lifts were high, even during ballads. The only mallet instruments allowed were bells and xylophone and since there was no pit, those instruments had to be worn around the neck, as were the individual timpani. A timer's gun was shot off at the end of the judged execution section of the show, with only General Effect being judged until the end.
And the scariest thought for me: Many of the marchers seen in this recording are probably now grandparents.
The huge wall of sound in the opener of "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" hasn't lost its luster in the intervening decades. It seems as if the corps had an endless supply of soprano buglers who could scream in the stratosphere. One would be forgiven to wonder why the PBS microphones were set so close to the mallet keyboards, but they would also be forgiven for wondering about the gnome that we see sitting on the front sideline during the performance.
In "MacArthur Park," you get a great view of how the timpanists had to crank their individual timpani to change pitch, and "Rhapsody in Blue" (the other selection in the Scouts' 2010 show in addition to "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue") provides a glimpse of the high leg lifts that were standard even in the soft sections of shows back then.
Along with "MacArthur Park" and the closer of "The Way We Were," the drum solo of "Dueling Banjos" reminds us that in DCI's early days, pop music was not something from which corps shied away.
In "The Way We Were," you'll get a good view of the timer's gun going off, letting the execution judges know to stop judging.
The end of the show brought back horn arranger Raymond Baumgardt's massively loud tag to both the corps' 1974 opener and closer. With the impact this horn line had on the activity, it's no wonder both Elvord and Baumgardt ended up in the DCI Hall of Fame.
The 1975 Madison Scouts are a superb reminder of DCI's origins and all this time later, the entertainment value of this show is still at the top of the game. It's no wonder why a member of the corps that year, James Mason, decided to get back into drum corps after leading Star of Indiana to the World Championship in 1991, plus after enjoying many years of worldwide success with "Blast!" It's also no wonder why he decided — as program coordinator for the 2010 Madison Scouts — to redirect the corps into the future by paying homage to 1975 with his selection of music.
1975 Overview
Michael Boo was a member of the Cavaliers from 1975-1977. He wrote about the drum corps activity for more than 35 years while serving as a staff writer for various Drum Corps International projects. During his lifetime Boo wrote for numerous other publications including an honors-winning book on the history of figure skating. He also was an accomplished composer. Boo passed away in 2020 and was inducted into the DCI Hall of Fame posthumously in 2021.