What one song says "Drum Corps" to you?

Wow. This is rather difficult for me but here's my little take: Community based corps are pretty much gone. DCI is here to stay.
That means there will never, ever again be the kind of individuality we found in the corps from the mid sixties to early seventies.
Has the difficulty of the music increased? I don't really know was Boston's Unsquare Dance in 1969 any more difficult than the Troopers version in 2007? Or any one corps who have played their version of Malaguena during the past 3 decades?
Is Promanade from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition we played in the late sixties any more difficult than Daphnis and Chloé by Maurice Ravel?
Maybe not. But if you look at the repertoires from back in the day, you will see songs of the times - songs that the crowds could easily recognize. Aquarius (anything from Hair for that matter), Big Spender, Hang 'Em High, Eleanore Rigby and hundreds more.
Now don't get me wrong, I loved the music like The Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto Number 1, Gershwin's Concerto In F (which was also played BITD, BTW) and all the long chord music being played - they are very pleasing to the ear and I know difficult when played by an orchestra - The current drum corps charts are designed to accommodate very, very intricate drill patterns (is it true that they have spots marked in paint on the field - I read that somewhere once ... hmmm)
But I'm going off topic, so back to the songs:
Someone once wrote: "To me, no other song says Drum Corps like Battle Hymn of the Republic!"
I couldn't agree more but as someone else said - it probably hasn't been performed since DCI chopped anything patriotic from the current shows.
I think the guy who wrote the above in quotes got it right, though - only the wrong song.
If you go by who has played what and how many times - and this is just a quick tabulation from my own CD and mp3 files - Malaguena has been performed often (by about 30 different corps and by my count on average 3 or 4 times each by every corps that ever played it once.) For instance I've got 7 different recordings from 7 different years of Madison. The Muchachos a few times, same with Velvet Knights, Blue Devils, North Star and others. The Cabs on the senior side have the record for 12 times in 12 different years over a full decade.
Even Internationally there are many corps who (nice catch on the Yokohama show, BTW) have played it multiple times over multiple years.
I've got the Cambridge Caballeros from 1960 on wax - they played it 3 years in a row.
Great rule of thumb - if the corps has any kind of Spanish sounding name = they probably played it.
What I'm getting at here is that not that it's a bad tune - some versions have been down right fantastic -others, not so.
But - And I'm going out on a limb here - what do you think every time you hear for example:
Pop Muzick by M
Oops...I Did It Again by Britney
Who Let the Dogs Out by BaHa Men
I know what you think: OMG! Not Again.
Just because you hear something often doesn't make it great. For some corps it's a good fit but you won't hear versions by SCV, Phantom, the Troopers or Star - just off the top of my head.
But here's why my choice of Leonard Berstein's Maria doesn't fall into the same category:
Nobody - I marched in the absolute worst corps ever in 1963 (St. Catherine of Sienna Queenaires) we were booed at every show until we played Maria as our exit. (yes, the irony isn't lost on me!) - has ever managed to mangle that tune and of the over 100 different corps who played it from 1952 to 2008 they always found a fresh twist on it. As part of a medley, as a concert piece, production number - solo, duet, trios or section and yes as a hankie grabbing exit.
To me, I hear Maria and Drum Corps comes to mind.
Sappy, no doubt. But you will know how good your horn line and your arranger is.
Anyway, yeah it's different today, but don't disregard the that we worked throughout the fall winter and spring to put a full 12 minute show on the field in early April. We had to be musically prepared for shows like Evening With the Corps in March.
And yes, we walked to school in the driving snow uphill, both ways.
There ya go.
Puppet