the band fan
Baseball Fan
2005 - 2011 were strong NOLA years. N Phi O (band frat for NOLA natives) were deep those years. I'm not sure if the 80s/90s were strong NOLA years but I do know the Houston area public schools had strong band programs then. Since the 2010s, the Houston public school band programs have been on a major decline .... especially at the black school hence is why I feel our band declined a bit. Also our band recruiting sucks ... we lucked up with NOLA transplants joining our band.
you hit the nail on the head. In the 80s HISD had bands all over plus TSU was open admissions and always appealed to outsiders from other urban areas in the South so that was a perfect combination to build off on.
The Bayou Classic being televised in the 90s plus folks now getting access to other bands thanks to VCR changed things.
The Japan incident was a major black eye to the band in 92. They killed the band for a few months to bring it back but it was a small ensemble basically with an alum who came from the MEAC. By then, HISD bands were on the way down and the power resided at Willowridge but that incident caused a lot of folks to think twice about going there. Prairie View started to gradually pluck a lot of band folks but Southern started to infiltrate and stake its claim plus the Tennessee States and Jackson States.
Once Willowridge took a major hit, there hasn't been a strong black band presence in the city unfortunately that can drive enrollment to a certain place. Blacks that have resources move to the newer and further out burbs but they ain't letting "us" take over their bands no time soon so those kids either drop out of band or deal with the other system until college.
No coincidence Prairie View's band enrollment has grown as it has become a safe alternative for folks no matter what style they come from.
TSU thrived on aggression in the old days and being in the city, you gotta stay more aggressive but also you become the "face" of it also if done right. The Ocean was that at one time.