Your bands best year, and what will it take to top that year?


Sometimes I get the impression that no matter how good a band is they will never be better than the bands of the 80's and 70's. The way some of you guys put it, no band will ever top an old skool band. No matter how good a band gets they will never be better. Is that fair to say?
 
It is possible, but the work ethic, drive, and passion have to be there. And it seems like those aspects are diminishing with each crab class.
 



JR said:
:lmao:


Yeah you graduated with Ron Sims sister Alva Sims at C'way and my boy Steve Powell's brother David. Derrick Donnell, Chan Leggette and them cats huh.
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:nod:



GoodFella said:
Sometimes I get the impression that no matter how good a band is they will never be better than the bands of the 80's and 70's. The way some of you guys put it, no band will ever top an old skool band. No matter how good a band gets they will never be better. Is that fair to say?
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I can only speak for JSU, but what we had back then is just not apparent today. The drive to put on the BEST, and I do mean the BEST is lost to winning in the stands. Little things like your hair hanging from under your hat just didn't fly back then. I can just mess on myself(:lol:) when I see the lack of uniformity with some bands today. The focus is on the DMs(all 17 of them) and that shouldn't be the case. But if that's what they want to be known for, God Bless'Em....:)

Things will one day get back but not until the leadership changes....well....:read:
 
GoodFella said:
Sometimes I get the impression that no matter how good a band is they will never be better than the bands of the 80's and 70's. The way some of you guys put it, no band will ever top an old skool band. No matter how good a band gets they will never be better. Is that fair to say?
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Yep!!! :lol: :tup:

I'm joking, but for real I'm with CeeDawgy on his comment. :tup: Among other things.....
 
CEE DOG said:
In order for bands to reach what they once were the hearts and minds of these youngsters must change. It has to be born in you.
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In AAMU's case, the bands of now would blow the **** out of the bands of the 80s and early 90s...... field shows are about the same, but dance routines use to be better (but thats the case with everyone since they cut down the minutes in a halftime show)....

btw.... some of yall are OLD as hell.... talking about marching in 78... hell I was BORN in 78.
 
^^Maybe the bands of the 80's and 90's from AAMU couldn't compete with the band of today from AMMU, but since you were not back then to witness others, you have nothing to compare to.

BTW, just pray that you get old as hell....;) By today's standards of life, hoping you make it to 40 is astonishing.
 
SLT said:
^^Maybe the bands of the 80's and 90's from AAMU couldn't compete with the band of today from AMMU, but since you were not back then to witness others, you have nothing to compare to.

BTW, just pray that you get old as hell....;) By today's standards of life, hoping you make it to 40 is astonishing.
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first of all I was just joking about the "old" thing.... nothing personal. I guess I should have put a smiley face...

second I was speaking only of AAMU..... I remember the old JSU bands from the 80s.... not to familiar with the old SU's. I remember Central State having a good program in the 80s and Alcorn State.
 
Gotcha! :tup:

Oh yeah....next time use some :lol: :D or some :swink:


And CHI96...you shut up! :lol:
 
GoodFella said:
Sometimes I get the impression that no matter how good a band is they will never be better than the bands of the 80's and 70's. The way some of you guys put it, no band will ever top an old skool band. No matter how good a band gets they will never be better. Is that fair to say?
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Frat, alot of things would have to change to top the old school bands. Look at the music scene now. Do you have an Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, Minnie Ripperton, Gladys Knight, etc all running around at the same time making hits? Do you have an OJays, Isley Brothers, Commodores, EWF, Parliement-Funkadelic, BarKays, Ohio Players, Roger and Zapp etc all running around competing against each other. You have to admit the musicality has been lost over time and that affected the bands and their arrangements to these songs now. The practicing is not the same. It was longer and harder then. No restrictions. Music programs were better in the HS and MS bands then overall. There is no money for band programs in alot school systems. Alot has happened to change the landscape. We also live in a different society now. More of a me society or instant gratification. So the answer is that society will have to go back to being like it used to be somewhat for alot of things to change. I doubt if you ever see a SU band that had a Branford Marsalis, Randy Jackson, Charlie Singleton etc etc type musicians all come through one era. I doubt you see a TxSU with a Joe Sample, Ronnie, Hubert and Debra Laws, Kurt Whalum, Everette Harp type talent roll through. Kids major in other things and the quality is not the same. Not saying folks can't play. But there are less and less cats in the band programs who are strictly about music. The band directors have changed as well. Most of the old head band directors were cut from a different cloth. The Hutch's at Gram, the Doc Greggs, the Prof Davis's and H. Haughtons, the Doc Fosters at FAMU or Graves at Tn State, Prof Butler at TxSU. These guys were trailblazers and innovaters. So they pushed the bands more......especially when they were young men.

That is not saying it will never happen. But not soon. The landscape in music and society will have to change and then you will see bands that may rival the drive and passion of the 70s and 80s. I look at my own band and they are still good.....but I see things that never would have taken place during my run. But some of it is the way things are. Changes are inevitable and time moves on. The key is not to try to be as good as the 83 or 85 SU band. The key is for them to be the best they possibly can under the circumstances. It is unfair for them to be judged on the 80s or 70s. Now if things were still the same and business as usual like back then......then I could see folks judging them. My only thing about the new school is the inability to do something new and not just go through the motions in a show. I see that across the board. No sense of urgency. But that is on the band directors and staff at our schools.
 



ClevePVAMU said:
It is possible, but the work ethic, drive, and passion have to be there. And it seems like those aspects are diminishing with each crab class.
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Thou speakest the troof! Instruments are better, instrumentalists are better, private instruction is better ... but the work ethic and drive to be exceptional are simply not there at the present time. Perhaps other Jedi will come along in the future.
 
I am better than ANY band before me or after me.....ALONE. A band



of ONE. Field shows, stands, marching in, marching out, dance routines, ballads, drills, one-man parades with a kazoo and kangaroo hat. NO ONE can top me. Not even old school me. Shoot, don't believe me?




PULL MY FINGER!
 
dacontinent said:
Thou speakest the troof! Instruments are better, instrumentalists are better, private instruction is better ... but the work ethic and drive to be exceptional are simply not there at the present time. Perhaps other Jedi will come along in the future.
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There is a great disturbance in the Force at this point in time...
 
JR said:
Frat, alot of things would have to change to top the old school bands. Look at the music scene now. Do you have an Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, Minnie Ripperton, Gladys Knight, etc all running around at the same time making hits? Do you have an OJays, Isley Brothers, Commodores, EWF, Parliement-Funkadelic, BarKays, Ohio Players, Roger and Zapp etc all running around competing against each other. You have to admit the musicality has been lost over time and that affected the bands and their arrangements to these songs now. The practicing is not the same. It was longer and harder then. No restrictions. Music programs were better in the HS and MS bands then overall. There is no money for band programs in alot school systems. Alot has happened to change the landscape. We also live in a different society now. More of a me society or instant gratification. So the answer is that society will have to go back to being like it used to be somewhat for alot of things to change. I doubt if you ever see a SU band that had a Branford Marsalis, Randy Jackson, Charlie Singleton etc etc type musicians all come through one era. I doubt you see a TxSU with a Joe Sample, Ronnie, Hubert and Debra Laws, Kurt Whalum, Everette Harp type talent roll through. Kids major in other things and the quality is not the same. Not saying folks can't play. But there are less and less cats in the band programs who are strictly about music. The band directors have changed as well. Most of the old head band directors were cut from a different cloth. The Hutch's at Gram, the Doc Greggs, the Prof Davis's and H. Haughtons, the Doc Fosters at FAMU or Graves at Tn State, Prof Butler at TxSU. These guys were trailblazers and innovaters. So they pushed the bands more......especially when they were young men.

That is not saying it will never happen. But not soon. The landscape in music and society will have to change and then you will see bands that may rival the drive and passion of the 70s and 80s. I look at my own band and they are still good.....but I see things that never would have taken place during my run. But some of it is the way things are. Changes are inevitable and time moves on. The key is not to try to be as good as the 83 or 85 SU band. The key is for them to be the best they possibly can under the circumstances. It is unfair for them to be judged on the 80s or 70s. Now if things were still the same and business as usual like back then......then I could see folks judging them. My only thing about the new school is the inability to do something new and not just go through the motions in a show. I see that across the board. No sense of urgency. But that is on the band directors and staff at our schools.
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Good reading!!!! :tup: That is what I'm praying for. I got to be honest,...I am very worried where music is heading. That has and will always be a major concern of mines. I'm waiting for those special someones to finally stand up and take us back to when music was musical. I'm longing for the passion.
 
JSU said:
I grew up three blocks from JSU campus; I remember hearing the band practicing sometime @2:00 a.m. in the morning! We used to watch the band practice at Cade Field, the baseball field and the T.B. Ellis parking lot. 1976-1982, 84-90 and 2000 were the best versions of the Sonic Boom. The "Big Band" sound is what I miss the most when I heard today?s ?Sonic Boom?, back in the day, bands had there own sound, today they all sound very similar. I think some Band Directors need to retire. But what do I know, I never played in a marching band, I played the violin.
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I co-sign.

I was never in the band, but I grew up on JSU football and the Sonic Boom. 1985-1989 were the best versions of the Boom. Nothing better than watching Ira Vaughn (former drum major) doing his thing. :swink:
 
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