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Band Day!


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18 hours ago, Felozano said:

Wow.  Has this been done before?  This has the potential for a massive crowd!  

Yes It has (& good Lord—how  many Texas HS band directors have a degree (or 2) from the UNT College of Music?

Even SilverEagle attended a few NT Band Days in the 60’s as a Decatur Eagles HS band member. Green Brigade MB Director Maurice McAdow knew what he was doing; just look at the 1963 NT Band Day picture from letsgiveacheer’s comment below).  That was before my time at North Texas & I think he retired in 1972 or 1973.  He was old school, but he was good.  Dreiboldt at SMU was also a local legend.  Back in high school, I saw his Mustang Band at the 1968 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl game (plus a few NT-SMU games).  
At that 1968 bowl game in Houston Smooo was coached by some feller named Hayden Fry.  

In 1982 the Highland Park HS Marching Band won the marching competition at Fouts Field the morning preceding the afternoon game.  Many were said to have enjoyed that event so named “Bands Over Texas.”  (I picked that name at an early planning meeting & Winslow/Fisher concurred).

 Some wondered why the event was not repeated the next year & the reason was Green Brigade MB Director Dr. Robert A.Winslow didn’t want to do it again.  
I attended UH’s Band Days annually in the 60s & here is one pic from 1966. The Tonight Shows Doc Severensen was the celebrity guest conductor as he led 13,000 bandsmen in a most impressive half time show, but the 50,000 seat Astrodome could work with those kind of numbers easily. 

•••I should back track & say I was on the “Bands Over Texas” planning committee with Bob Winslow & his GB assistant Dennis Fisher.  It was an interesting (yet overall) pleasant experience to say the least.  

FED2304B-7773-44BA-B619-CE7987D3B7F4.jpeg.5600f7fb20ab20a81c17186a09d92ea5.jpeg

Edited by PlummMeanGreen
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15 hours ago, drex said:

You see, Plumm, dreams do come true. 

Living the Dream, drex.😊
Actually, Don Hufstedler, a school administrator who we sadly lost last week, had convinced me back in the 80’s it had become difficult for public schools to do weekend bus trips & he was right (as he was so many times).  Not sure about the present climate for such.  

Don’t know how many HS bands the College of Music has in mind for this 2021 Band Day, but at least this is a good start.  Hope it turns into an annual event. 

•••North Texas had hired Dr. Robert A. Winslow away from USC (correction: UCLA) & he probably had a budget to do anything he wanted at the LA school.  
For the “1’st (& last) Annual Bands Over Texas” Winslow had wanted to feed a hot dog & coke to each visiting HS band member back in 1982, but that did not happen.  I think that became a big reason for him not to plan a “2’nd Annual Bands Over Texas” the next Fall.   Oh well—nothing ventured, nothing gained. 

❇️🦅❇️

Edited by PlummMeanGreen
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First, I had an excellent visit last week with Daniel Cook, the GB director and was very, very, impressed.  The program is in very good hands for certain; the organization of the first band day in over 40 years being just one example.

As Plumm and Silver mentioned, we used to have these each year starting from the 50's and ending in 77. They were a logistical nightmare to organize and also tough on the HS students as they all had their Friday night games which ended less than a few hours before they got on the road to Denton, depending upon their distance.  But they did fill Fouts and the bands and parents seemed to get a kick out of these. 

Plumm, one small error. Winslow game from UCLA, not from USC. When Maurice McAdow retired, there were 100s of applications for his job as you can imagine, even from the biggest of schools.

Band Day, 1963

 

 

Screen Shot 2021-05-20 at 9.14.02 PM.png

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letsgiveacheer, you have made my day with that photo!👍👍   Is that from the YUCCA yearbook or your personal collection?  (KUDOS TO YA’)! 

•••That NT Band Day was just weeks before Kennedy came to Dallas.   

••• Didn’t you once work with Maurice McAdow as an assistant?  Seems SUMG told me that one time.

•••Thanks for the correction on Winslow’s school before he got the UNT job.  
 

❇️🦅❇️ GMG! 

 

Edited by PlummMeanGreen
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3 minutes ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

letsgiveacheer, you have made my day with that photo!👍👍   Is that from the YUCCA or your personal collection.  (KUDOS TO YA’)! 

•••That NT Band Day was just weeks before Kennedy came to Dallas.   

••• Didn’t you once work with Maurice McAdow as an assistant.l?  Seems SUMG told me that one time.
 

❇️🦅❇️ GMG! 

 

Thanks very much. That photo is taking from the current GB's website which has many other photos of the various marching bands through the ages.

Yes, I was Mr McAdow's last assistant I am proud to say. He was authorized an doctoral candidate as an assistant but he was fired during my junior year so he asked me to fill that position. My senior year, he did not hire anyone so I got to do that year as well.  I recall I was paid about 150.00 a month. Big money in those days!

 

 

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1 minute ago, letsgiveacheer said:

Thanks very much. That photo is taking from the current GB's website which has many other photos of the various marching bands through the ages.

Yes, I was Mr McAdow's last assistant I am proud to say. He was authorized an doctoral candidate as an assistant but he was fired during my junior year so he asked me to fill that position. My senior year, he did not hire anyone so I got to do that year as well.  I recall I was paid about 150.00 a month. Big money in those days!

I think I also remember you from First Baptist Church, Denton, where I had a part time job as custodian to pay the bills.  Were you & wife in Bill Shadle’s “Living Christmas Tree?”  

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Ha! I was a knee-bending Episcopalian. St Barnabas on Locust St. comes to mind. But, I was hired to play in the FBC orchestra when they did that crazy Christmas tree but I doubt that you would have met me, unfortunately, as I recall they only did one rehearsal with the orchestra before the performances.

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9 hours ago, letsgiveacheer said:

Ha! I was a knee-bending Episcopalian. St Barnabas on Locust St. comes to mind. But, I was hired to play in the FBC orchestra when they did that crazy Christmas tree but I doubt that you would have met me, unfortunately, as I recall they only did one rehearsal with the orchestra before the performances.

Whoops!  Wrong guy then!  (Sorry ‘bout that).
Didn’t Bill Clinton once call GWH Bush (who was also  an) Episcopalian, part of the—“the frozen chosen?”🙄😆

I guess that made Clinton—“an extreme backslid Baptist?” 🥶

🗣I forgot, Harry, no religion & politics.

🙄😊

Edited by PlummMeanGreen
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20 hours ago, letsgiveacheer said:

First, I had an excellent visit last week with Daniel Cook, the GB director and was very, very, impressed.  The program is in very good hands for certain; the organization of the first band day in over 40 years being just one example.

As Plumm and Silver mentioned, we used to have these each year starting from the 50's and ending in 77. They were a logistical nightmare to organize and also tough on the HS students as they all had their Friday night games which ended less than a few hours before they got on the road to Denton, depending upon their distance.  But they did fill Fouts and the bands and parents seemed to get a kick out of these. 

Plumm, one small error. Winslow game from UCLA, not from USC. When Maurice McAdow retired, there were 100s of applications for his job as you can imagine, even from the biggest of schools.

Band Day, 1963

 

 

Screen Shot 2021-05-20 at 9.14.02 PM.png

If this is 1963, then I'm somewhere in this group.....carrying a base drum. The majorettes (wearing light blue with white fake fur trim)  standing closest to the directors podium look like the ones from the Decatur Band . The band wore dark blue unis.

We never called it "Band Day". We just called it the North Texas homecoming game. I don't know if this was the year, but one year our Drum Major fainted when she got to the end of the parade up on the square. In all fairness, it was a bit warm that day. The HS Band that came from the furthest location that I remember was the Waco Carver Band (yes, it was an all black band). They were the second best band in the stadium that day.

From WiKi about the Waco Carver Band.

Quote

In 1967, the band, under the direction of Mr. Robert E. Lee, traveled to Montreal, Canada to take part in the world’s fair, known as expo ’67. They took home the marching band grand prize of $1,000 and two trophies for “best high school band” and “champion American high school band.” Carver was closed in 1970 

I too am very impressed with "Fessor Cook". He has already done two historical things. 1. He had a "North Texas" fanfare written and incorporated into the Band's entrance (it should have been done during the McAdow era), and 2. he has the Band form the outline of our oldest spirit icon.....the curfew/victory bell. 

Edited by SilverEagle
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19 hours ago, SilverEagle said:

If this is 1963, then I'm somewhere in this group.....carrying a base drum. The majorettes (wearing light blue with white fake fur trim)  standing closest to the directors podium look like the ones from the Decatur Band . The band wore dark blue unis.

We never called it "Band Day". We just called it the North Texas homecoming game. I don't know if this was the year, but one year our Drum Major fainted when she got to the end of the parade up on the square. In all fairness, it was a bit warm that day. The HS Band that came from the furthest location that I remember was the Waco Carver Band (yes, it was an all black band). They were the second best band in the stadium that day.

From WiKi about the Waco Carver Band.

I too am very impressed with "Fessor Cook". He has already done two historical things. 1. He had a "North Texas" fanfare written and incorporated into the Band's entrance (it should have been done during the McAdow era), and 2. he has the Band form the outline of our oldest spirit icon.....the curfew/victory bell. 

Curfew/Victory Bell? 🔔 
I’m sure Dean Imogene Dickey would have been very proud of the curfew focus.🙄

Hearing from some of you🙄 “old timers” thru the years her title probably should have been “Generalissimo Dickey.”🥶

❇️🦅❇️ GMG!

•••Preserve history—then don’t repeat the bad stuff.

Edited by PlummMeanGreen
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