Red Carpet Association

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The Red Carpet Association (RCA) was an organization serving senior drum corps in Canada and the United States in the late1960s and 1970s. It acted as a alternative circuit to the Drum Corps Associates competitive circuit.


Contents

History

The association was formed in 1968. The organization discontinued operations after the 1978 championships.

"The Red Carpet Association (RCA) was formed in the fall of 1968 as a circuit for senior drum and bugle corps, and was an alternative to the relatively new Drum Corps Associates (DCA) senior circuit. The Red Carpet Association provided a competitive arena for corps that did not attain membership in the more exclusive DCA circuit based on their competitive standing, and for corps that were not interested in being members of DCA for other reasons such as their geographical location and the expense of traveling to DCA contests.

The Red Carpet Association sponsored contests and held a championship show each year from 1969 through 1978. A preliminary competition was held in 1975. The circuit included corps from Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Connecticut, Minnesota, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland and Ontario, Canada.

Championships

16 August 1969 Allentown, PA RCA Championships

  1. Guelph Royalaires 73.40
  2. Westshoremen Bonnie-Scots 73.25
  3. Pittsburgh Rockets 66.35
  4. Emmaus Sentinels 62.50
  5. Erie Thunderbirds 60.70
  6. Hanover Lancers 56.35
  7. Esquires 48.55
  8. Maumee Demons 38.40
  9. Freestatesmen 33.15
  10. Dunkirk Patriots 30.90

29 August 1970 Erie, PA 'RCA Championships

  1. Pittsburgh Rockets 73.10
  2. Guelph Royalaires 72.45
  3. Canada's Marching Ambassadors 69.94
  4. Westshoremen Bonnie-Scots 67.60
  5. Connecticut Yankees 61.50
  6. Canadian Commanders 61.35
  7. Matadors 60.99
  8. Emmaus Sentinels 57.85
  9. Garden Statesmen 56.85
  10. Hanover Lancers 54.45
  11. Suburban Knights 51.15
  12. Dunkirk Patriots 48.35
  13. Freestatesmen 44.25

28 August 1971 Erie, PA RCA Championships

  1. Pittsburgh Rockets 71.65
  2. Burlington Commanders 69.65
  3. Guelph Royalaires 69.00
  4. Matadors 59.45
  5. Emmaus Sentinels 51.70
  6. Suburban Knights 50.80
  7. Erie Thunderbirds 47.45
  8. Altoona Gardners Guards 47.10
  9. Dunkirk Patriots 45.20
  10. Freestatesmen 43.20
  11. Hanover Lancers 39.80


21 August 1972 Erie, PA RCA Championships

  1. Pittsburgh Rockets 77.75
  2. Guelph Royalaires 74.80
  3. Emmaus Sentinels 67.65
  4. Erie Thunderbirds 67.55
  5. Imperial Knights 67.45
  6. Kingston Grenadiers 67.30
  7. Matadors 63.85
  8. Suburban Knights 62.70
  9. Kawartha Kavaliers 62.40
  10. Hanover Lancers 58.20
  11. Dunkirk Patriots 51.75
  12. Freestatesmen 49.50
  13. Esquires 39.20
  14. Johnsonburg Diplomats 33.50


25 August 1973 Erie PA RCA Championships

  1. Erie Thunderbirds 76.35
  2. Guelph Royalaires 76.25
  3. Pittsburgh Rockets 72.45
  4. Syracuse Brigadiers 69.85
  5. Kingston Grenadiers 63.80
  6. Emmaus Sentinels 63.25
  7. Kawartha Kavaliers 62.30
  8. Hanover Lancers 60.25
  9. Suburban Knights 59.55
  10. Dunkirk Patriots 57.50
  11. Imperial Knights 52.10
  12. Freestatesmen 48.45
  13. Verona Cavaliers 45.50

24 August 1974 Erie PA RCA Championships

23 August 1975 HAMILTON, Ont. RCA Championships Prelims

  1. Rochester Phoenix 83.70
  2. Guelph Royalaires (-0.2) 82.58
  3. Hanover Lancers (-1.0) 82.10
  4. Erie Thunderbirds (-0.30) 80.36
  5. Brass Inc. 74.06
  6. Hamburg Kingsmen 71.05
  7. Kingston Grenadiers/Yardmen (-0.3) 70.50
  8. Dunkirk Patriots (-0.1) 67.93
  9. Emmaus Sentinels 64.20
  10. Imperial Knights 62.51
  11. Johnsonburg Diplomats (-0.1) 61.98
  12. York White Roses (-0.1) 56.88
  13. Suburban Knights 55.65
  14. Gypsy Brass (-1.0) 50.20
  15. Garden Statesmen (-0.1) 46.74

Finals

  1. Rochester Phoenix 88.06
  2. Guelph Royalaires 83.53
  3. Erie Thunderbirds 82.85
  4. Hanover Lancers 79.70
  5. Brass, Inc. 72.65
  6. Hamburg Kingsmen 67.33
  7. Dunkirk Patriots65.50
  8. Kingston Grenadiers/Yardmen 60.00
  9. Emmaus Sentinels 59.28
  10. Imperial Knights 56.85
  11. Johnsonburg Diplomats 55.13
  12. York White Roses 52.05


28 August 1976 Erie PA RCA Championships

  1. Erie Thunderbirds 85.89
  2. Johnsonburg Diplomats 79.21
  3. Westshoremen 77.63
  4. Guelph Royalaires 76.96
  5. Hanover Lancers 75.98
  6. Hamburg Kingsmen 72.78
  7. Kingston Grenadiers/Yardmen 71.85
  8. Dunkirk Patriots 66.64
  9. York White Roses 57.74
  10. Imperial Knights 50.59

27 August 1977 Jamestown, NY RCA Championships

  1. Hanover Lancers 79.45
  2. Guelph Royalaires 79.10
  3. Johnsonburg Diplomats 75.17
  4. Hamburg Kingsmen 71.75
  5. Dunkirk Patriots 70.12
  6. Pittsburgh Rockets 55.98
  7. Danville White Sabers 42.20

26 August 1978 Niagara Falls, NY RCA Championships

  1. Erie Thunderbirds 78.3 (0.1)
  2. Guelph Royalaires 77.0
  3. Johnsonburg Diplomats (69.0 (0.1)
  4. New Horizon 57.15 (0.1)
  5. Kawartha Kavaliers 55.1
  6. Wind Gap Blue Eagles 48.05
  7. Niagara Regionaires43.05

The Corps

CORPS IN RCA CHAMPIONSHIPS & COMPETING YEARS

Connecticut USA Corps

Maryland USA Corps

  • Freestatesmen Cumberland MD 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975

Minnesota USA Corps

New Jersey USA Corps

New York USA Corps

Ohio USA Corps

Ontario Canada Corps

Pennsylvania USA Corps

Rhode Island USA Corps

  • Matadors Providence RI 1970, 1971, 1972

Trivia

Only one corps appeared in all ten RCA championship shows. The Guelph Royalaires were the most consistent competitor in the circuit, with two wins (outright in 1969 and tied with Erie Thunderbirds in 1974) and six second-place finishes in ten appearances. Two corps appeared in nine of the championship competitions. The Hanover Lancers appeared nine times with an average placement of 6.4 and won the RCA Championship in 1977. The Dunkirk Patriots appeared nine times and averaged 8.7 in placement.

The record for best winning percentage is held by the Rochester Phoenix – one appearance and one win, for an average placement of first. In existence for just two years, the Phoenix won the 1975 RCA championship by over four points in their first year on the field and went on to a top-five finish at the DCA championship show.

Two other corps won RCA championships. The Pittsburgh Rockets appeared six times with an average placement of 2.5 and deserve special recognition for winning three in a row (1970, 1971 and 1972 – the only three-peat in RCA history).

The Erie Thunderbirds were the biggest winners in the history of the Red Carpet Association. The Thunderbirds competed in eight championships and recorded an average placement of 2.88. Erie won outright in 1973, 1976 and 1978 and tied with the Guelph Royalaires for first in 1974, becoming the only corps to win four RCA titles.

The corps that showed the most improvement was the Johnsonburg Diplomats. They competed four times, placing 14th in 1972, 11th in 1975, second in 1976, and third in 1977. The dubious honor of the lowest average placement in finals competition went to the Versailles PA Vigilantes, who finished unlucky 13th in their only appearance. Gypsy Brass competed only once at RCA, in the 1975 preliminary competition, and they failed to make finals. This gave them the distinction of being the only corps in RCA championship history to fail to make finals at least once.

The Red Carpet Association served the needs of its member corps in several different ways. Corps such as the Rhode Island Matadors and the Rochester Phoenix used Red Carpet as a stepping-stone to reach DCA membership. Corps like the Pittsburgh Rockets, Hanover Lancers, Guelph Royalaires and the Erie Thunderbirds competed successfully in both RCA and DCA. The Hamburg Kingsmen found a home in Red Carpet after failing to retain their DCA membership at the end of the 1974 season. Many other corps found that the level of competition and the location of the shows that were sanctioned by RCA were right for them and competed just in RCA.

It is interesting to note that the Syracuse Brigadiers appeared just one time in RCA history, during their attempted comeback to the field of competition in 1973, and finished in fourth place.

The Westshoremen deserve recognition for being the only other RCA competitor to win a DCA title (in 1996)." (1)


References

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RCA – DCA Sibling Rivalry

Remember that the RCA circuit existed before the principle locus of DCA any-aged-corps had expanded beyond the Eastern Seaboard. DCA membership was (and is) determined according to open preliminary competition at the annual Fall championship weekend.

RCA thus functionally served as a stepping stone for corps with higher aspirations. Charter (Founding) member corps were permitted membership in another circuit while maintaining their RCA status. Non-charter corps, if admitted to DCA, could not hold a dual membership. Almost without exception, every corps who qualified for dual membership opted to accept it. Over the years there were many chronic border-corps with that dubious distinction.

Being a bi-member was a financial no-brainer. It kept a foot in each camp to maximize scheduling opportunities and filled summer competition calendars. A bottom-of-the-pack ranking in the upper circuit did not exactly open the floodgates for invitations from DCA show sponsors. Besides, a few corps were inclined to hedge their schedules because their geographic distance from the East Coast DCA mainstream made Mid-Atlantic venues more travel-friendly.

However, the RCA membership rules projected mixed messages as to whether the organization was content in being used in this fashion. It obviously benefited RCA to retain corps as they reached higher levels of proficiency. Overall quality upgrade meant these corps developed a better fan base and therefore, a more attractive draw for RCA show sponsors. Former DCA corps joined (1973 Syracuse Brigadiers) in order to polish their show during a rebuilding process. The Phoenix from Rochester, NY, did – in all fairness - spend their inaugural year with a full schedule of regular season RCA competitions. They won the 1975 RCA Championship. Defending a title was never in the plan.

While the case can be made that RCA was enhanced via dual membership corps, the situation could be (and was) problematic for DCA. Except for the fact that RCA competition provided a means of solvency for the aforementioned hybrids (and thus assured their ultimate existence) more often than not it provided opportunities for embarrassment to DCA.

DCA qualified its judges to operate under the association’s authority, in-house. RCA, on the other hand, employed judges from both the National and Great Lakes Judging Associations. Back in the 1970s, even when execution and objectivity were still a major part of adjudication, it was not uncommon to have controversy that “political” considerations may be determining outcomes within a circuit. Since dual membership corps went back and forth between TWO circuits, on any given weekend whacky “upsets” could occur in an RCA show where a DCA corps would get bested by a corps with RCA-only credentials. Without judging panel uniformity between the two circuits, it was ultimately a recipe for contentiousness.

Scores from RCA and DCA reported in Drum Corps News presented a tale of confusion. However, the discrepancies were never addressed journalistically. It was the elephant in the living room. One such instance happened in 1976. Reviews of both championships were printed in the 6 October 1976 issue. The Erie Thunderbirds won RCA, by a wide margin over the Johnsonburg Diplomats. Ordinals on down were Carlisle Westshoremen, Guelph Royalaires, Hanover Lancers, Hamburg Kingsmen, Kingston Grenadier-Yardmen, Dunkirk Patriots, York White Roses and Sudbury Imperial Knights. DCA prelims – less than a week after - had Westshoremen, Royalaires, Lancers, Patriots and Kingsmen leap-frogging over Johnsonburg. (Grenadier-Yardmen, White Roses and Imperial Knights did not attend). So how could such a phenomenal swing occur? The five corps that hopped over the Diplomats roughly maintained the comparative point-spread to each other that they scored at the RCA Championship. Johnsonburg’s stupendous 5-corps bypass has never been officially unraveled by history. (Nor its 19.81 drop in points over six days) Do we believe the rousing RCA success or the crushing DCA defeat? In order to avoid being in the crossfire of circuit rivalry, the Thunderbirds went inactive in RCA the following (1977) season. Surrealism tends to negate the other perceived benefits of dual active membership.

Turf battles between RCA and DCA caused another casualty. In order to assure prize money and judging control, DCA decreed that any show having more than two DCA units in any competition would automatically designate it a DCA contest. The Emmaus Sentinels had become DCA members in 1974, but as is the case with most lower level DCA corps, they did not receive enough invitations to DCA contests to fill out their schedule for 1975. However, they also risked being eliminated from consideration for RCA shows in which two dual-membership corps were already scheduled. (Lest it be elevated to a DCA contest) A sponsor might not be able to make the bigger prize pay-outs financially viable with projected gate receipts. Inevitably the third dual-membership corps equated “touching the third rail” for show sponsors. With both their circuit options threatened, the Sentinels ended up resigning their DCA membership in order to free themselves to try and survive.

References

  • Drum Corps News, VOL. XVI NO. 18 - October 6, 1976, pp. 1, 9, 13, 14 ...
  • Drum Corps News, VOL. XVII NO. 2 – May 4, 1977, p. 10 ...
  • Drum Corps News, VOL. XV NO. 5 – June 18, 1975, p. 15
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