The Drum Corps International World Championships returned to Montreal, Quebec in 1982 for the second consecutive year. As in 1981, the Prelims competition was held at McGill University’s Molson Stadium and the cavernous Olympic Stadium that had been built for the 1976 Summer Olympics hosted the Finals competition.
In 1982 event organizers moved the the front sideline back about 15 yards to avoid Olympic Stadium’s large concrete overhang that had created some problems with echo in 1981. The chilly temperature barely pushing 40 degrees Farenheit during the Finals might also have contributed to a better sound.
10 coldest temps on the DCI Finals thermometer
Blue Devils achieved DCI’s first undefeated season winning the 1982 World Championship title with Santa Clara Vanguard falling 1.75 points behind to finish in second. Garfield Cadets finished among the top-three corps for the first time, just a year before capturing the corps’ first DCI title. Sky Ryders became a finalist for the first of six times and all finalist corps scored above 80 points in Finals for the first time in DCI history.
Spirit of Atlanta placed fourth in 1980, then slipped to ninth in 1981 before placing 12th in 1982. While many other corps experimented with asymmetrical drill formations, which hit the field in a big way with Santa Clara Vanguard in 1980, Spirit of Atlanta stayed more traditional in 1982 with a symmetrical visual production.
The corps’ show started with the arrangement of “You Are My Sunshine” from the 1979 recording, “The Singers Unlimited (with Rob McConnell & the Boss Brass).” The original piece was written in 1939, though authorship is disputed. Country music singer and two-term Louisiana Governor Jimmie Davis is frequently credited with the tune, though he never claimed co-authorship with his frequent collaborator, Charles Mitchell. Originally a country music tune that has lost most of its country sensibilities due to being recorded by so many others, it is one of the most performed pieces of American popular music.
Every Spirit of Atlanta brass player wore a single long purple streamer that practically dropped down to the cuffs of their trousers, the visual effect of the streamers becoming more evident as the horn line expanded a giant forward-progressing arc leading into the peppy main melody. The treatment of the song was much in the character of earlier enthusiastic corps openers such as “Walk Him Up the Stairs” from 1978 and “Old Man River” from the Georgia corps’ 1980 and 1981 productions.
Next came “Oh Happy Day,” based on the Gospel version presented by the Edwin Hawkins Singers from their 1968 album of the same name. The piece originated as an 18th Century hymn by clergyman Philip Doddridge, an English minister and hymn writer. That hymn, based on Acts 8:35, was set to a melody by Edward F. Rimbault, an English organist. Edwin Hawkins’ rendition quickly became the standard that has been covered by multiple other musicians, including George Harrison with his 1970 hit, “My Sweet Lord.”
The piece started with several horn players rhythmically clapping over the introductory walking bass line supplied by the contras. Contras were the large bugles in the key of G that preceded modern day B-flat tubas. During the drill, the horn line members sashayed, gently moving their torsos side-to-side until forming the corps’ iconic delta symbol. The delta was then pushed toward the stands while the horn line loudly proclaimed the song’s shout chorus. The piece ended in a restrained mood, with a mellophone and soprano bugler exchanging improvisation-like responses resembling the musings of a Gospel singer.
The percussion feature of Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo alá Turk” originated from The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s “Time Out” album of 1959, which focused on unusual time signatures and became the first jazz album certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The piece is based on a rhythm of 2+2+2+3 and was also performed in 1982 by the sixth-place finalist 27th Lancers. Spirit’s version ended with the horns entering with a sustained brass chord, starting softly and building up in volume to a final short chord blast as the percussionists accelerated to the conclusion.
For the concert standstill portion of the corps’ production, Spirit played the peppy “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” which marked Stevie Wonder’s third song to reach the top of the Billboard charts. The popular tune returned to the field from Spirit’s 1981 show, ending with a brass shout-out triple-swing feel.
“We Are the Reason” served as the corps’ closing tune, which came from David Meese’s 1980 album, “Are You Ready?” Meese, a contemporary American Christian singer/songwriter, had more than 30 top-10 hits in the idiom, and more than 200 other musicians have recorded this particular work. Spirit’s rendition was significantly faster-paced than Meese’s original, but still much in the essence of the corps’ iconic closer of “Let It Be Me.”
A company front push by the corps evolved into a large wrap-around arc that led into a brief return of Hoagie Carmichel’s “Georgia On My Mind,” written in 1930 and declared the official Georgia State Song in 1979. The piece had served as the corps’ opening fanfare the previous year.
After placing 12th in 1982, Spirit of Atlanta bounced back into the thick of competition by placing sixth, seventh and sixth the following three years.
1982 Overview
Michael Boo was a member of the Cavaliers from 1975-1977. He wrote about the drum corps activity for more than 35 years while serving as a staff writer for various Drum Corps International projects. During his lifetime Boo wrote for numerous other publications including an honors-winning book on the history of figure skating. He also was an accomplished composer. Boo passed away in 2020 and was inducted into the DCI Hall of Fame posthumously in 2021.