CALIFORNIA MARCHING YOUTH BANDS FROM THE 70'S AND 80'S

Topics and polls that cover the overall marching band activity

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Camaro guy
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Southern California Youth Bands

Post by Camaro guy » Mon May 26, 2008 8:50 pm

Hey Russ - California Cavalry brings back fond memories. I wish we were still that young. It was an honor to serve as the band's first drum major back in the "formative" years. But before CCYB I used to enjoy competing with you (d.m. for Whittier Elks Cavaliers) while I was the d.m. for the City of Commerce Youth Band and East Los Angeles College. Those were the days!
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Post by clarinetking » Mon May 26, 2008 10:18 pm

OK Mr. Camaro Guy....who the heck are you? I also wish I was that young but being old beats the alternative.
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Post by Camaro guy » Tue May 27, 2008 7:53 am

OK Mr. clarinetking...more clues - CSULB '70-'73 - trombone player - Phi Mu Alpha - Varsity Pep Band. Give up??? :roll:
Don't make things harder than they really are. Emphasis on the basics of musical performance will fix many problems.

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Post by vore » Tue May 27, 2008 9:06 am

I figured out who he is...

vore 8-)
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Post by clarinetking » Tue May 27, 2008 9:32 am

LARRY? you old dog you. How the hell are you?
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Post by clarinetking » Tue May 27, 2008 9:33 am

You are smarter than the average bear ya know!!
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Southern California Youth Bands

Post by Camaro guy » Tue May 27, 2008 12:34 pm

Hey Russ and John - I knew you guys would have me "pegged" in no time. In keeping with the topic, I wish I knew what happened to the instruments the old City of Commerce Y.B. had. There were a couple of Selmer Mark VI tenor saxes, a couple of Selmer Super Action 80 alto saxes, and at least 1 Chicago Benge trumpet. Drool...
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Post by clarinetking » Thu May 29, 2008 5:49 am

Hey Larry,

Nice to see you again my friend. I'm not sure what happened to all of the city of commerce instruments but I do know that the California Cavalry purchased a bunch of instruments from the city and got a ton of stuff for like $500.00!! The list you have was not in the warehouse but we did get a brand new baritone horn, a sousaphone and a bunch of other stuff. Ahhhh....back in the day.

Hope your retirement is going well.
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The American Indians found out the hard way what happens when you don't control immigration.

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Youth Bands

Post by Camaro guy » Fri May 30, 2008 10:53 pm

It's good to see that some of the instruments of the old City of Commerce Youth Band were put to good use by the California Cavalry. I had no idea. And speaking of youth bands...I was a member of the C.of C. Y.B. from 1965 up to when it folded in 1970. The band was made-up mostly of students and alumni of various high school programs (and a few Jr. Hi students too). Band and auxiliary unit members came from schools in the cities of Montebello, Monterey Park, Bell Gardens, Alhambra, Pico Rivera, and from several schools in East L.A. We even had a couple of musicians from as far away as Arcadia. The best thing about the band was that the City of Commerce was, and still is, a very financially sound (wealthy - actually, stinking rich) city because of all the industries located there. Everything was paid-for by the city. We never had dues to pay and we never had to pay for transportation or hotel costs on the overnight trips. We never traveled very far on the overnighters but they were fun and we looked forward to them every year. They included the Helldorado Days parade in Las Vegas; Old Spanish Days in Santa Barbara; and we did the Chinese New Year's parade in San Francisco one year. That was the WILDEST parade I ever marched in. By far.
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Post by thebigcheese1993 » Fri Jul 11, 2008 9:21 am

For anyone interested.
There has been a South Gate City Youth band Alumni Group created on MySpace

http://groups.myspace.com/sgcyb

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Re: CALIFORNIA MARCHING YOUTH BANDS FROM THE 70'S AND 80'S

Post by terryobrien80 » Wed Jul 16, 2008 11:43 am

LBRSR wrote:Ok, here is a good place to remineice... ...it would be fun for those who used to be in parade youth bands in California in the 70's and 80's to share their moments in this forum.....
Here are some of my moments from the 70's, in pictures:
http://www.geocities.com/armijosuperband/index.htm
Terry O'Brien - Armijo HS class of 1980

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Post by Hostrauser » Wed Jul 16, 2008 12:37 pm

The Armijo Superband was not a community youth band.

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Post by terryobrien80 » Wed Jul 16, 2008 5:19 pm

Hostrauser wrote:The Armijo Superband was not a community youth band.
Oh. Sorry. I saw "MARCHING YOUTH BANDS" and figured it meant schools. I didn't know there was such a thing as a community youth band. Ive never heard the term before. I guess I'm not into this as deep as some of you all are. :)
Terry O'Brien - Armijo HS class of 1980

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Post by Bandmaster » Thu Jul 17, 2008 4:05 am

terryobrien80 wrote:
Hostrauser wrote:The Armijo Superband was not a community youth band.
Oh. Sorry. I saw "MARCHING YOUTH BANDS" and figured it meant schools. I didn't know there was such a thing as a community youth band. Ive never heard the term before. I guess I'm not into this as deep as some of you all are. :)
So what, you didn't bother to read any of the postings in this thread before you decided to chime in? I generally like read the conversations before I comment, otherwise I might put my foot in my mouth.
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Glendale Youth Band

Post by OCDM » Thu Jul 24, 2008 10:26 pm

Fun topic.

Dave Schaafsma actually mentioned the "Glendale Continentals," a name I've not heard in years. I can give some of that history.

I believe the old GYB was an outreach of the City of Glendale's Park & Recreation programs. It was sponsored by the City. I don't recall the founding director, but my very, very, very hazy memory is that he was the director of one of the Glendale high schools. But I'm not so sure about that.

The band went on the skids in the early 1970s. Dave Bellis, who I believe taught at one of the Pasadena Jr. High Schools (and whose son was a professional musician?), became band director in 1971 or 1972. Bellis was in his 60's at the time. He only lasted a year at the helm. The Board then hired Doug Coe, who used to be the band director at La Canada High School. Coe directed the band for two or three years. Coe was a popular director, and went about "reinventing" the band. It changed from GYB to the "Glendale Continentals" -- a reference to the George Washington's Continental Army -- changed colors to red, white and blue, and marched with a live musket, which a Betsy-Ross type character aimed in the air, and shot at the beginning of competition -- a la Orange Glen. The color guard marched wtih the original 13-stars-in-a-circle American Flag. This was in the time period of the bicentennial, so the change made sense, I guess. The problem was that the band still marched in the old GYB uniforms, which weren't exactly true to the theme -- unless one compares shakos favorably to tri-corner hats.

The Pageantry Productions folks didin't like the gun, much. It scared horses. But it was very popular with the crowd. Not sure you could have that after 9-11.

The band at its height marched 60+ members plus a color guard of sorts. I think it did some traveling, including a trip to Hawaii. Musically, the band did okay; it didn't touch the Winds or the Royal Cavaliers, but it held its own over time.

I believe funding dried up (sound familiar?) some time in the 1980s. However, I wouldn't be a good reporter on this issue.

I probably could find pictures somewhere . . . .

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