Former Member of the 1982 1983 Bridgemen Black Market Juggler drum line are:
Percussion Instructors:
Dennis Delucia
Bob Dubinski
Pat Patrillo
Tommy Igoe
Matt Savage
Gene Hedden
Richard Ruddle
Quote from Gene Hedden
My name is Gene Hedden. I was the trap set player in Bayonne's 1982 pit section. I joined the corps in 1981, and was the snare alternate(we had several alternates whose job it was to be prepared to jump in if a member had to be replaced due to illness, or whatever. We had to know several spots in the drill and all parts, including any changes made during the season). I spent most of the 1982 winter in the snare line(and I still remember most of the parts!), so I was fortunate enough to have learned the whole show from two perspectives, and I believe it helped me be successful at what Dennis said to me, after Finals, was probably the hardest job in the line. I read your article on the feature - I never realized, even having spent another eight years in drum corps marching in Harrison NJ Bushwacker's snare line, that Black Market was looked upon like it is.
I remember the Evansville show that year, too! We came in 3rd behind BD and Garfield. The 19.8 was at Pittsfield, MA, and I remember that the we were on a baseball field and we were so far away from most of the stands we coudn't see anyone! We were actually partially in the outfield. The drum staff was out there with us, on the sideline, and seemed paralized the whole 2nd half of the show, like they were holding their breath. Turns out they had a bead on the Execution judge, watching the pencil in his hand the whole show. Then when the gun went off, they completely lost it, jumping up and down! I didn't know why, until they started screaming ONE TICK! ONE TICK!
We debuted the solo at a camp rehearsal at Jersey City State College - I remember that day very vividly because I was still in the snareline at that point. Oh, and we did start the season with ten snares, but one quit before tour because he was so intimidated by the whole Bayonne experience and those parts, that he didn't think he would be able to keep up with the line. There is a picture of the snare line with all ten - black and white, I think. The other guy, Mike Page, was a former Blue Devil snare - very talented, and he made it into the first tour in July, but he was ill, and could not continue marching snare, so by second tour, we put him in the pit. He was the drunk at the bar and the guy reading the newspaper in a lawn chair!
Montreal prelims at Molson Stadium - Dennis probably won't remember this - Jim Miller and I were in charge of setting up the roto toms after Shaft and before the solo. I would just make it to the trap set in time to hit the first cymbal crash that opened the solo. I remember it was so hard to get the largest set to not move because of the wind that I literally had to run and fly through the air to hit that CRASH!!! Over my left shoulder I saw the roto toms fall forward just into the solo. I kept trying to get Mike's attention as I played, and finally motioned to him to pick up the roto toms, and he held that sucker down until the end of the solo! Great memories! We did try the blindfolds late in 82 - REEEALLYYY LATE - it was after prelims! They wanted to surprise everyone at finals, but there were too many variables that could happen with only one rehearsal to try it before finals night, so we scrapped the idea.
As far as how they were able to navigate with the blindfolds on - welllllll...... (-;
Regards,
Gene Hedden
Gene Hedden here. I have some additions to your list:(Jim Dugan's last year was '81, by the way. Aged out and became a Bushwackers instructor), and a bit of info on all that I could remember. Enjoy...
Snare:
Mike Bronko - from Connecticut Classics
Al "Smooth" Watson - from NYC - not sure which corps previously, maybe the Ridgemen, from Brooklyn? But Al was a smooooth snare player. From '79-'82 or 83.
Mark Teofilo "Flea" From Connecticut - the Connecticut Classics
Matt Savage - came from the upstate New York Watkins Glen Squires snare line. This was an intense player, surpassed only by Pat Petrillo. Now is a well known instructor and clinician.
Mark Purdom - from a Kentucky college line - can't remember the school, but one of the insane tenor players in '81 Greg_______ was also from there.
Jeff McKay - from Canada - was in one of Tom Floats' Oakland Crusaders lines - 77 or 78?. They had a top line, but the corps didn't make finals.
Billy Conklin - came from Garfield, 1980. I remember there were rehearsals in winter '81 where he and I were the only snares there. I got bumped for the last snare spot by a previous member who came back, Wayne something - can't remember last name right now - they received preference. Hey, that was the policy!
Pat Petrillo - Came from the Garfield Cadets via the Edison Saints - I think '77 - '70, then '80 - '83 w/Bayonne - Line Captain. Well known Broadway and studio drummer and clinician.
Mike Page - Mike came from BD's snare line, I think 78-80. Mike was in the snare line to about mid-season, then had to drop out because of illness, but he kept on with the pit players. That's him on Cowbell in the beginning of "On Broadway". Bobby Dubinski stuck him out in the field with the cowbell to cure a phasing problem between the horns and drums and the pit. Mike passed away a few years back.
Tenors:
Tommy Igoe - started as #4 bass in '81 - look where he is now!
Jay Webb - from Florida "go Jay go, go Jay go!"
Dave Kaminsky - from the Trumbull, Ct. Bengal Lancers
Mike DeLong - also from Kentucky, same school - another insane tenor player.
Sam Menkemeller - from the Pittsburgh Royal Crusaders. Funny guy.
Bass:
JP Kiernan - #1 Came from a North Jersey H.S. line I think.
Kenny Eidinger - #2 From the Long Island Kingsmen. Used to love that corps - came close to making finals in 79-80.
Eddie Marino - #3 longtime Bayonne Bridgemen - was responsible for MANY of the Bushwackers insane bass lines from 84 - 93(?). Taught from inside the line unlike ANYONE I've ever seen. Those Bush bass lines were the state of the art in the 80's and early 90's - junior OR senior. All Eddie - period.
Rick Ruddle - #4
Carl Caruso - thunder bass. Carl was from Pennsy, but don't know much about him. Very low-key guy, but cool. Still friends with Eddie.
Pit:
Jim Miller - from the Hawthorne Muchachos last line, in 77, then from the Oradell Dynamics, which after a couple mergers became Fantasia III. Wrote the book for some of the Championship Bushwackers lines I was in, and after also. 87 or 88 to 92?. Vibes
Todd SooHoo - from BD, 1980-81. Played through 83. Xylophone
Mark Atkin - "Mortie" played marimba, glock(?) and congas
Kendall Cowart - REALLY quiet southern gentleman from Georgia. Tymps
Mike Page - read the newpaper and occasionally got up to do something comical. Was the drunk at the bar in Sophisticated Ladies. Also saved the drum feature in Prelims when the high winds blew over the roto-toms. Held them up through the solo!
Cymbals:
Dave Gambal - Gambal Mallets
Gary Karpinsky - Edison, NJ
Kevin Dunne - from Canada. Also from the Oakland Crusaders
Rich Laucella - came from the Bridgeman feeder corps, the Kidets. One of the last graduates, as the Kidets went independent. Eventually made snare line in 83. Used to call him "Hey Abbot!"
Mike Garcia - Also from the Kidets.
Instructors:
Dubie - cleaned the snare line, and at times, the horn line on the field! Wrote for the Bushwackers line in 85, the Pat Metheny show, and helped out in the beginning in 81-82.
Pat Scollin - cleaned the tenors. Wrote the classic Bridgemen walking beat, Carnivalito. Cool, funky, had a great groove. If one thing said,"here comes the Bridgemen" that was it. Still my favorite! Pat wrote for the Bushwackers, in 83 when we started to get up out of the cellar and were hitting with the big guys. Then '84 when we started beating the big lines, and won field drums in finals, but lost up in the box, and they gave the trophy to Reading Bucs. They changed the rules after that, to not include GE in the drum score, unless as a tie breaker, just like Bayonne in 80 when they tied on the field with Spirit of Atlanta.
Brian Robinson - bass tech
Ed and Don Mindiak, Bob "Pugsley" McCarthy - long time Bayonne snares, general cleaning and technique stuff. Marching next to Pugsley in the Bush snare line and under his instruction there for many years made me a really solid, powerful line player.
Eddie Argenziano - Pit tech. Marched latin percussion under Dennis in the Muchachos, Taught me to play the Congas and Timbales.
I hope that helps a bit! That's about all I can remember right now. By the way, I was at my parents house today and dug out all my old Bayonne sticks, mostly chewed up and mostly from '82, BUT - one absolute rare treasure in there for the TRUE Bayonne drumline fan - a pair of the snare jingle sticks we used during the winter of '81 for America from West Side Story. They never made the field because they had no bounce - they were Dennis's laminated sticks with two tambourine jingles attched with a screw on the botton half of the stick. One of the snares, I think Pat, played the snare part on a tambourine in the final version of it. All my other sticks from my time in the snare line were gone save for one chewed up stick!
Santa Clara used similar ones in the beginning of their 1978 exit, If You Believe, from The Wiz. They had two sets of jingles on each stick, but the parts they played were not very involved, so they could get away without having any bounce. SC won High Percussion that year.
Later,
Gene Hedden
One other thing - I was reading your website, and you mention about the original ten snares. Just for the timeline, I figured I'd add this in. I think I mentioned it in an earlier email. Well, I told you about Mike Page - he dropped out mid-season after the first tour, but we played with nine snares until then. There was a tenth snare, and I can't remember his name, but if you search the internet you can find a pic of the line with 10 snares. He dropped out because he was so inimidated by the whole experience, he simply resigned. Dennis tried to talk him out of it, but he couldn't do it. In the pic, he is the white guy on the end with the big afro under his hat!
There was a time in the very early season - Dennis was cleaning us(pit) and the tenors together, and I remember Dennis telling the tenor line that they were the best in DCI, and they started to panic a little, sweat a little. They felt they had a LOT to live up to now because Dennis DeLucia just said they were the best.
Did I tell you where in the parts the tick was in Pittsfield in 82, and who(snare) ticked? I shouldn't say who, but it was a little five stroke roll in the fast part of the ending.
Later
Gene
