History Buff’s BOA history v.2

[madisonbandman1]

Save the info! A couple hundred posts gone! Wow.

[LeanderMomma]

I’m still so sad about this. So much hard work just gone.

[madisonbandman1]

I know!!! I hope we can get this all worked out.

[Scarlett]

Yaaaay!!!!!!  A new forums!  

[madisonbandman1]

Re: BOA History Buff:
THE ART OF EXCELLENCE

From the ashes of the MBA/BOA Historic Results thread is the second iteration of the MBA/BOA History. Like the last one, this will be part blog post and part discussion forum and will build over time. All of my posts will be saved to easily create a new thread should this one also meet its demise.

This will be organized a little differently; in 4 Main Parts in the following order:

THE DECADES; will give a brief summary of how the activity has evolved over the last 5 decades.

TIMELINE; will be a brief look at significant moments in BOA's History

RESULTS; will give the regional champs and regional class champs, and the Grand National results, including finals scores and placement, for every year since 1976 (this will take some time to complete).

SEASON REVIEW; Will give the highlights of the competitive season, some details about the top bands, a few brief highlights of some of the more memorable aspects of some of the performances and will give a few interesting factoids. This will be done for each competitive season starting with 1976 (this will take quite a while to complete).

Big thanks to TheBigTall for all of his work to try to get as much of the pre 1985 results as possible. Yes you will see there are still a few competitions from the early years with incomplete info as there was no organized means of archiving the recap sheets back in the early years. Also thanks to all who shared their stories and gave a few history lessons of their own on the last thread.

Also, the Art of Excellence was BOA's motto at the time when I entered the activity as a freshman in 1988.

[madisonbandman1]

Re: BOA History Buff
THE DECADES

THE 1970s….THE BEGINNING

During the 70s, there were active summer competitive circuits for high school marching bands across the country in addition to fall competitions. Many of the bands who were active in the summer circuit developed their show in the spring and early summer for these competitions. During the early part of the decade (and actually going back into the 1960s), most of these competitions featured high school bands doing half time style shows. Parade competitions were also popular. As the decade went on, the corps style marching shows started to take hold in the high school competitive circuit (a few high school bands were starting the corps style as early as the late 60s). The corps style was modeled after drum corps. Given drums corps military roots (and considering that several years after the start of DCI in 1972, many drum corps competitions were still sponsored by the VFW and American Legion), the corps style shows had a very military look and feel.

A typical ‘corps style’ show in the 1970s was not built around a central theme as shows are today. Bands played a selection of songs, often from different genres. In many instances, the show opened with an overture, then had a percussion feature and concert piece in the middle, with a slower and often dramatic piece to close the show. During the drum feature, the percussion stood front and center while the band did some of their more intricate drill moves and as the guard did some of their more difficult routines. The concert piece was an up tempo selection (often jazz) where the entire band stood still and performed. It was not uncommon for bands to recycle the same piece of music (or even signature drill moves) from one season to the next (this actually continued into the 80s). The drill was highly symmetrical (ie one side of the 50 yard line matched the other), although the back corner entry did gain in popularity. Marking time in high step was also common in segments of the show. During the early to middle part of the decade the drill was rather blocky. Curvilinear drill segments started to become popular toward the end of the decade and into the early 80s. There was no pit or front line grounded percussion ensemble in the 70s. All instruments had to be marched. Yes that meant tympani and keyboards were marched. I believe the keyboards were the only members allowed to look down. The color guard attire was also military in style, often times matching the band uniforms. The flags had insanely long poles and rifles were very popular. Some bands even had sabers back then. The guard routine was very military and rigid in style. Since there was a lot of high school marching bands that evolved into the corps style from a half time style program, there were many high school bands that maintained certain half time style elements. One of the more common was the auxiliary line. This was a line of guard, often artistically dressed, that consisted of either a dance team, or a group that twirled batons, used pom poms or used small hand flags or a combination of all of these elements. Competitions back then, especially the corps style, had a very patriotic feel to them. For instance, most bands had someone carrying a US flag onto the field in front of the band. Patriotism and pageantry were on full display.

Bands of America (BOA) was founded in 1975 and was originally called Marching Bands of America (MBA). It was the brainchild of Larry McCormick. The idea was to bring bands together from different parts of the country into one competition. The competitions were essentially intended for corps style programs, although there were several bands that competed in the football ‘half time style’ during the early years. The very first national competition (the Grand National) was held in June in 1976 in Whitewater, WI, capitalizing on the active summer competitive circuit. The nationals for the remainder of the decade were all held in June in Whitewater. In addition to competition, there were many seminars and other activities for the students to enrich the experience. Since this was near the beginning of the competitive circuit, the shows were not quite as polished as they would be at the end of the fall season in the fall Grand Nationals of the 1980s and beyond. MBA began the first regional competitions in the fall of 1978, to capitalize on the fall competitive circuit.

The format for the first nationals consisted of a prelims and finals show. Bands were divided into two classes; Open for larger schools and Class A for small schools. I believe between 20 and 30 bands competed at the first 4 Grand Nationals. Finals consisted of the top 6 scoring Open Class and top 6 scoring Class A bands from prelims. In finals, bands would then compete for class champion and the band with the highest overall score would be crowned Grand National Champion. So yes, this meant a lot of small school bands made finals. Back in the 70s, small school bands tended to be much larger than today and many were very competitive with the larger schools. While the scoring system was not too different from that of today, there were many more caption (highest achievement) awards given out. The judging was however much more stringent compared to today. Mistakes could be costly and degree of difficulty was not weighted as much as today. Penalties were also frequent and often very large (over a point in many instances). The scoring system was also such that there were large point spreads between bands and the scores were significantly lower than today.

[madisonbandman1]

Re: BOA History Buff
THE DECADES

THE 1980s…THE DECADE OF CHANGE

Just as Drum Corps underwent drastic changes during the course of the decade, so too did the corps style marching bands. At the start of the decade, the look and feel of the shows was very much like the 1970s. By the end, the look had a little more resemblance to the shows of today. Many of the changes occurred over a very short time, roughly just a four year period between 1982 and 1986.

Toward the end of the decade, several bands began to change the format up a bit, dropping the standard percussion feature and stand still concert piece. Shows built around a central theme also gained popularity during the last few years of the decade. These themed shows were usually centered on selections from a musical, opera, movie soundtrack; or from one specific music genre or composer. Drill designs went from symmetrical to increasingly asymmetrical and more abstract. Drill designers found more innovative ways to integrate the percussion and color guard with the brass/winds. One of the things that made this easier was the formation of the pit or grounded front line percussion unit. This started in 1982 when keyboards were allowed to be grounded up front; usually meaning bands had two to four grounded keyboards up front. By 1983 and 1984 this expanded to a wide array of percussion instruments, including tympani. Larger keyboards were also able to be used, adding a much richer sound to the percussion. Toward the end of the decade, the use of electronic keyboards in the pit gained in popularity as did amplified string instruments like electric guitars. Interesting fact; in the late 70s into the 80s many bands marched with an electric bass on the field, with one member marching next to that person pulling the amplifier around on a cart. Microphones in the pit would also begin to be used to amplify woodwind soloists. The formation of the pit left snares, bass drums, quads and cymbals on the field. These instruments were more easily marched in what would become increasingly more difficult drill maneuvers. During the early part of the decade, the flag poles got shorter (use of double flags was also popular for a few years). In the 70s, most guards used the same flags during the entire show. In the early 80s, different flags were used for different songs. The biggest change in the guard was the change in attire. From 1982 onward, guards began to ditch the military guard outfits for more artistically (often more effeminate) designed uniforms. This allowed them more movement. Guard routines also become more fluid with dance elements being incorporated into them. Auxiliary lines would soon disappear as the dance elements were incorporated into the entire guard.

During the 70s and into the early 80s, the start of the show was marked by one pistol shot, meaning the field judges could enter the field. Toward the last minute/minute and half of the show, two pistol shots were fired, telling the field judges to exit the field. The band could then do a little more difficult drill maneuvers without getting docked points by the field judges. I believe it was in 1985 that this practice ended. Judges began weighting degree of difficulty a little more heavily. The large scoring gap seen among the bands decreased over the course of the decade. Although GN finalists bands usually had a significantly larger scoring gap than what they had in prelims.

The 80s also saw many changes in BOA. In 1984, Marching Bands of America (MBA) was changed to Bands of America (BOA), obviously indicating future endeavors with concert bands and orchestras (not just marching bands). In 1980, the very first fall Grand National was held in Jacksonville, FL. By 1989, Grand Nationals found their permanent home in Indianapolis. MBA/BOA did not end the June Whitewater competition with the start of fall Grand Nationals. These would continue as the Summer Nationals right through the end of the decade. It was clear as the decade went on that the summer competitive circuits were on the decline while the fall circuits were gaining popularity. At the start of the decade, a new class for mid-sized schools (Class AA) was created. Open Class (for large schools or smaller schools who wanted to be in a more competitive class) still existed through 1985. In 1986, the large class (AAA) replaced Open Class. The number of bands participating in Grand Nationals at the start of the decade was around 40, which increased to 50 to 60 by the end of the decade. Participation in regional competitions also increased. Grand Nationals still consisted of just a preliminary and finals competition. Finalist bands consisted of the top 12 highest scores from prelims AND the top two scoring bands in each class if they were not already one of the top 12. During the first half of the decade, at least two Class A bands routinely made the top 12. It was the latter half of the decade where the top 12 did not consist of two Class A bands, meaning there would be bands advanced into finals based on class. This led to some years with 13 or 14 finalist bands.

This decade also saw the fall of many great programs of the 70s and early 80s. There were several bands, especially from the smaller schools, that either suffered the loss of a hands-on director or faced financial cuts to the music program. Inner city and many rural band programs were most impacted by financial strain. However, there were several notable suburban programs that were also hit with budget cuts. Despite the loss of several top notch programs, the 80s also saw the rise of new power house band programs. These would increasingly come from suburban school districts.

[madisonbandman1]

THE DECADES

THE 1990s… ALL ABOUT THE THEME

The idea of a show being built around a central theme quickly became the norm by the start of the decade. Again, these themes were usually based on a musical, opera, movie soundtrack; or from a specific genre of music or same composer. As the decade went on, the themes become a little more abstract and started to comprise different types of musical selections; all of which somehow tied into that theme. Shows began to be given names (or show titles). Drill designs become more complex, and in many instances involved a much higher degree of difficulty. Directors also began challenging students with more demanding music. There were notable improvements in how the musical arrangements blended with the drill design. In addition to flags and weaponry, dance became much more infused into the color guard. Bands also started dressing the guard in attire that was specific to the theme of the show. So guards no longer wore the same outfits year after year. Uniform designs also began to be more stylish (some hints of artistry amidst the military jacket).

This decade also saw a lot of innovations that would become the norm by the 2000s. This included things like amplified vocal singing, amplified vocal narration, and tarps. While props were utilized in the 80s, the bands that used them were few and far between. Props become more common this decade as a way to help relay the theme to the audience. Several bands experimented with different electronic instruments in the pit. Around 1995, bands were allowed to march off the front sideline and the pit was allowed to be stationed on the field if bands choose to do so.

While the Whitewater Summer Nationals ended by the start of the decade (replaced with the BOA summer symposium), the participation of bands in BOA dramatically increased during the course of the decade. The number of regionals held more than doubled and the participation at Grand Nationals increased from 50/60 up to 80. This was due to both an increasing number of bands entering the BOA circuit and growing suburban populations (new schools). This meant that BOA was becoming increasingly more competitive. During the course of the decade, even the number of Class AA bands making Grand National finals dwindled. Some notable format changes occurred this decade. In 1991, class champion awards at Grand National were given based on prelim performance and the GN finalists consisted of the top scoring bands from prelims regardless of class (ie bands were no longer advanced on class). In 1996, Grand Nationals expanded from two days of competition to three with the introduction of the semi finals format; with class champions and the selection of finalists then being determined based on semi finals competition. With more bands attending nationals, the semi finals format gave more bands the opportunity to perform more than just once.

[madisonbandman1]

Re: BOA History Buff
THE DECADES

THE 2000s… TO TELL A STORY

Throughout the 2000s, the themes of the shows mainly involved some type of story line, with the music and visuals helping to tell that story. Another common type of show were those build around a concept (like 2000 PCEP’s Obsession) or a word (like 2008 Avon’s Mass). Props become popular at the start of the decade; their use actually decreased a bit during the end of the decade. Amplified vocal narration (love it or hate it) became extremely common. The narration aided in telling the audience the story. Not only was the guard tasked with the usual guard routines, but also functioned as a bit of an actor/actress, heavily utilized to help tell the story. The idea of a preshow became very popular, acting to set the stage before the show began. Many bands began using several wide ranging musical selections that were brilliantly arranged. There were several bands that probably had some of the most difficult drill maneuvers ever in BOA history this decade. There was also an anything goes type of attitude; where it seems that just about every band was trying to compete for most innovative. This included things like new ways for the band and guard to interact with props, very imaginative props, larger arrays of electronics in the pit, some ‘out-there’ guard outfits, multi colored band uniforms, changing plume colors, etc. A trend that started to immerge this decade was more fluid body movements (at times) by the band members.

There was an explosion in new (or expanding) suburban school districts, especially in Texas. This led to bigger and bigger high schools. By 2009, the Class 4A was created for really large schools. The popularity of BOA kept growing. This not only meant more competitive Grand Nationals, but more demand for BOA competitions. The number of regionals held each fall kept growing and the concept of the two day super regional (kind of like a mini nationals) was developed. In 2003, the first super regional was held in San Antonio, then in 2004, St Louis and Atlanta became super regionals (Indy was not one until 2011). On the flip side, many of the older suburban band programs from the rust belt states began to experience some financial strain and loss in members.

It was during this decade (2006) that the merger/partnership with Music For All (MFA) began, supporting all facets of music education, with BOA handling the marching band aspect. While the internet had been around since the early to mid 90s, technological advances this decade revolutionized the exposure of BOA. This began around 2004 with recorded and live versions of Grand Nationals being made available on line; which then expanded to some of the larger regionals by the end of the decade. While these were around in the 90s, the use of forums to discuss band related topics became extremely popular.

[madisonbandman1]

Re: BOA History Buff
THE DECADES

THE 2010s… THE OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE ENSEMBLE

Band shows became more than just a story being told through music this decade, they became a musical production set to motion. Singing, dancing, running, jumping, all blended into the band performance. While bands always had to have some degree of conditioning, the physical demands on the performer continued to increase this decade, making the need for conditioning important. The blending of pop culture music into more classical was also common, especially during the beginning of the decade. The use of props exploded this decade. Bands began using larger and larger props and more of them. Moveable props became an integral part of the design of the show. Props were also used heavily as performance platforms. Many props actually resembled scaffolding. This required extra support staff to help with the movement and set up/take down of the props (including tarps which remained popular). Perhaps one of the biggest evolutions in the band show this decade was the way the band members began to move. Jazz running, jumping, crawling, intricate body movements, all added to the overall visual look of the show. One of the changes to accomplish this was to have the band members wear looser fitting attire. Uniforms became increasingly more artistic. In fact, during the last few years of the decade, many bands ditched the military style uniform completely, instead wearing artistically styled attire to fit the theme of the show. So it was not just the guard to act out the theme of the show, the band members also became an integral part in the theatrics. As of this writing (early 2019), this trend is still in full swing and is very reminiscent of the way the guard attire changed in the 80s. While there has been a slow but steady trend away from the very military look and feel of the corps style shows of the 70s, that trend seems to have accelerated a bit this decade. Electronics have continued to play a bigger role in the shows. This includes things like wireless mics and electronics that seem more fitting for a DJ in a dance club. LED lightning on uniforms, percussion and props was also experimented with this decade.

The number of regionals held this decade continued to slowly expand. BOA would make efforts to try to expand the regionals into other parts of the country (like the Pacific Northwest). This of course led to more bands participating in the activity, with Grand Nationals continuing to get more and more competitive. One setback in the activity this decade was no longer allowing recorded versions of the shows to be stored on line due to increasing enforcement of licensing. In I believe 2015, this resulted in BOA using FloMarching, a subscription service, to watch regionals and nationals live. While it is still great to watch all of the competitions from home, if you can’t watch the live event, you have to hope that recorded versions of the shows make it to the web. The explosion of social media and networking this decade has however been instrumental in giving BOA more exposure than ever before.

Growing suburban school districts continued to have big impacts on the high school marching activity. Nowhere has this been more notable than in Texas. Rapidly growing middle to upper middle class suburban districts in a large and populous state which puts forth a lot of effort in music education led to an explosion in the number of high quality of marching band programs from Texas. So much so that the San Antonio super regionals became more competitive than the Grand Nationals. There were even bands that would fail to make finals at San Antonio, only to turn around and make finals at Grand Nationals. Texas also had a huge number of bands make GN finals this decade. As of the end of the 2018 season however, only one Texas band won the GN title this decade. This was mainly due to two reasons. First, many of the great Texas powerhouses this decade made few trips to Indy for Grand Nationals (it’s still a costly trip). Second, there have been 4 bands outside of Texas that have shown extraordinary dominance in the activity through the entire decade; Carmel and Avon (IN), Broken Arrow (OK) and Tarpon Springs (FL). On the flip side of the explosion in suburban school districts in Texas (and much of the deep south for that matter), many long time established band programs from older suburban districts across the Midwest and Northeast continued to see declining enrollment and drops in funding for their band programs.

[madisonbandman1]

Sorry for the wall of text, just spreading worthwhile information.

[LeanderMomma]

Feb 28, 2019 5:25:00 GMT -6 madisonbandman1 said:

Sorry for the wall of text, just spreading worthwhile information.

No apologies needed Cody. You did a great job moving all of that amazing info over. 

[QuadSquad03]

Feb 28, 2019 5:25:00 GMT -6 madisonbandman1 said:

Sorry for the wall of text, just spreading worthwhile information.

Thank you so much for transferring this!

[madisonbandman1]

No problem and thank you!

[madisonbandman1]

RE: BOA History Buff

TIMELINE

This is the timeline of some significant moments/turning points in BOA history.


1975 - Bands of America is founded as Marching Bands of America (MBA) by Larry McCormick.

1976 - The first MBA national competition is held in June in Whitewater, Wisconsin at the university of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

1978 - The first fall regional championships are held

1980 - The first fall Grand National Championship is held at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. The Whitewater, WI nationals would continue through the remainder of the decade as the Summer Nationals.

1980 - MBA goes from dividing bands into two classes to three.

1981 - 1983 - The Grand Nationals are held at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN

1984 - Marching Bands of America (MBA) becomes Bands of America (BOA) a non profit organization. The president and CEO of BOA is L Scott McCormick (the son of founder Larry McCormick).

1984 - 1986 - The Grand Nationals are held in the newly constructed Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, IN

1987 - 1988 - The Grand Nationals are held in the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, MI

1987 - Chuck Henson (The Voice of Bands of America) makes his debut as announcer.

1989 - The Grand Nationals move back to the Hoosier Dome (renamed RCA dome in 1994) in Indianapolis, IN. Indy now become the permanent home of Grand Nationals.

1989 - At regionals, class champions are no longer determined based on finals placement; instead they are based on prelims placement. A new awards ceremony then takes place at the end of regional prelims, giving top three and highest achievement awards in class as well as naming the 10 bands to advance to regional finals.

1989 - The highest achievement awards are consolidated into music, visual, general effect and coordinated auxiliary (1994 is the last year of the coordinated auxiliary award).

1989 - The last Summer National competition is held in Whitewater, WI.

1990 - The BOA summer symposium makes its debut.

1991 - At Grand Nationals, class champions become determined based on prelims results. Like regionals, an awards ceremony is held after prelims to announce class champions, top three in class and class highest achievement awards, then the Grand National finalist bands are announced.

1995 - The BOA website makes its debut.

1995 - The number of participating bands allowed at nationals is increased to 80.

1995 - An eagle is placed at the top of the Grand National Champion traveling trophy, giving birth to the phrase, taking home the eagle.

1996 - Grand Nationals expands from a two day format to three with the introduction of a semi finals show. The class champions are then determined from semi finals performance.

2003 - The first Super Regional is held in San Antonio, TX

2004 - St Louis and Atlanta become Super Regionals.

2006 - Music For All becomes the parent organization of BOA, involved in all facets of music education, with Bands of America focusing on the marching band aspect. L Scott McCormick becomes president and CEO of Music For All.

2009 - BOA expands from a three class system to a four class system.

2010 - L Scott McCormick ends his tenure as president/CEO of MFA/BOA. Eric L Martin becomes president and CEO.

2011 - Indianapolis becomes a Super Regional

2015 - More stringent licensing requirements ends the era of watching free recorded versions of the bands on the MFA/BOA website. FloMarching is contracted to provide live viewing of all BOA competitions through its subscription service.

2018- The Atlanta Super Regional is ended.

2018 - Two prelims judging panels are utilized for the remaining three Super Regionals.

[madisonbandman1]

By the way, the OP of this info will begin posting here soon, so I won’t be transferring the info anymore.

[boahistorybuff]

That was fast. The 2nd iteration of the MBA/BOA History Thread will continue in this spot.

I am not happy that MFA is taking down their forums. Hopefully the info I post here will make it out to as many people as possible.

[boahistorybuff]

For those who were not on the MFA forums and not familiar with me, let me give a little info before I begin posting a ton of history. I was in the Flushing high school marching band from 1988 to 1991. We participated in BOA during that time, with the exception of 1989. So I had the pleasure of competing at three BOA regionals and three Grand Nationals. I watched old videos of marching bands from nationals prior to 1988 and have followed the activity closely ever since I graduated. I have a ton of info in my head about the history of BOA that I would like to share. I was never involved in the forums in the 90s and 2000s because I was just really busy back then. A little older now with a little more free time has me posting this info, kind of a new hobby for me. I hope you all enjoy.

[madisonbandman1]

Mar 1, 2019 13:42:55 GMT -6 boahistorybuff said:

That was fast. The 2nd iteration of the MBA/BOA History Thread will continue in this spot.

I am not happy that MFA is taking down their forums. Hopefully the info I post here will make it out to as many people as possible.

Yeah, I just happened to catch it 20 minutes after you posted. I’m deeply saddened that they decided to shut down the mfa forum but excited to see where this one goes. Im glad you made the transfer.

[es203]

Mar 1, 2019 13:42:55 GMT -6 boahistorybuff said:

That was fast. The 2nd iteration of the MBA/BOA History Thread will continue in this spot.

I am not happy that MFA is taking down their forums. Hopefully the info I post here will make it out to as many people as possible.

Will you be posting the complete history like you did originally on the MFA forum? Or just the shortened version?

[boahistorybuff]

The complete history will be posted. If some of the old thread is restored to me, I will repost some of the show descriptions. If not, that stuff may be a little more abbreviated. As you can already see from first two parts of the new thread above, there will be a lot of stuff that was not in the original thread. Due to some work travel and a couple vacations this spring and summer, this thread may progress a little more slowly than the first one and you may see a week here and there were I don't post.

[boahistorybuff]

To avoid this from getting too lengthy, I will be putting the results and season reviews in their own thread. This should also make the history stuff easier to navigate.