1970: The big news of the year, we flew to Nationals! What a perfect tour. Fly to Minneapolis, compete for 2 weeks, and fly home. We placed 6th in the 2 major Nationals. (Who can forget the flashbulbs going off during the Troopers signature sunburst move? This was their best competition year.) I think we would have done much better retaining Don Hertel for the drill, but Lenny Piekarski was a big name and Mr. Porter gave him a chance. The horn line was great again this year, very under rated. The drum line won its' first National title. Gerry Kearby really trained the snare line well. Donnie worked the rest of the line and we beat every drum line in the country at some point. We also took another one week trip up to Portland, Oregon for the American Legion Nationals. We lost the State Finals and American Legion to Santa Clara. We scored a 76.65. Pete & Fred really made the big time.What a great corps and a great rivalry. We would meet each other in National competition 6 times over the next 3 years. We split 3 & 3.(You can read more about this on the articles & emails page.) Another great item, produced by Mr. Porter, was our new practice facility; the Los Alamitos Naval Air Station!

1971: Arguably Mr. Porter's finest hour. We went on 2 major tours and beat every corps in the nation. We won our first big National Title. Don Hertel was back writing the drill. The guard was fantastic. The rifle line went big (10 rifles), and was incredibly clean. The flags were great too. Mike Duffy, fresh from his Troopers win, did a superb job with our brass arrangements. The drum line arrangements were maturing too. Porter, Kearby, & Ellerby all got to write some of the book. You can read about the birth of the "Hero Sandwich" solo on the articles & emails page. We also co-wrote, or rearranged the majority of the show together. Donnie was a great person for delegating duties. Eddie Bostwick helped on tour with the snare cleaning. We did have some management problems, on the second tour, with the facilities. After tour, during the winter off season, we also had a bit of a falling out with management about the short haircuts. Not getting to go to the Legion Nationals was a final blow. This set the stage for a management change in the next season. But still, all and all, a great jump up for the corps. This is the favorite year for some people who marched from '69-'74. I loved seeing the recaps of the 4 majors listed in Drum Corps News. There we were, with a score of 89.85 the Mid-American Open National Champions!

1972: The triple crown winners! (CYO, US Open, & DCI.) 88.10 for first at DCI. Wow, what can I say, we won the first DCI, and won all the music captions. The drum line went big (8 snares), and I was in charge of the whole snare book & visuals. Ralph did the timpani book and Donnie did the rest. Bostwick helped again on tour. The horn line was great, the guard great. It was Don Hertel's finest drill. Still there was a bittersweet tinge to the year. Our founder, Mr. Don Porter retired in the spring. This would set the stage for problems with finances later. Mr. Porter was very smart, and a whiz with the finances. He also had the discipline to tighten the belt, when necessary, so the corps would not go into debt. Nevertheless, '72, will always be my favorite year for the corps. You can read more about this year in the '72 chronicles. Check the homepage for two different perspectives, brass & percussion.

1973: This has to be one of the toughest, most grueling summers in Kingsmen history. The first tour was 27 days and the second tour was 25 days. The 9 days in between tours we rehearsed all day, plus we had 3 contests during this "layoff". We also changed one of our numbers and learned a new drill. 61 days of straight corps hype! Working with Wayne Downey was great that year. But the corps was really rebuilding in a lot of ways.We did win another US Open, and we got a 3rd in drums at DCI. But 6th place with a score of 82.65 was our lot for DCI. Still the new staff for the second tour was terrific and set the stage for the year to come. Interesting side story; we had 2 snares share a spot in the line. One did 1st tour, the other 2nd tour. We had 2 Air Force baritones who did the same thing.

1974: A return to the top for the corps. We won our first World Open. This show was sponsored by Drum Corps News and Fleetwood Records, so it had a lot of press. We also beat Madison for first place at the Key to the Sea Invitational in Toledo. We took the runner up spot at DCI prelims, beating our State rivals SCV. We took a 3rd at DCI with a score of 88.55. This Kingsmen show was developed by 4 key individuals, Hoffman, Oliverio, Porter, & Ellerby. We worked together all winter long designing and arranging this show. Kit Squires did an excellent job orchestrating our show design for the brass. Donnie & I took a lot of chances and wrote a very hard percussion book. The drum line won another national title at CYO and was runner up at DCI. The drill was written well by Bobby Hoffman and impeccably cleaned by Charlie Groh, Jim Messina and Bobby. The guard, drum line, and bugle line were all great in this summer of '74.

1976: After a one year hiatus the corps returned to competition. What a great reformation of the corps. One judge named us the hardest working corps on the field. We improved tremendously the whole season and this very young corps placed 19th with a 76.9 at DCI. This was the culmination of the 35 day summer tour. We regained our DCI voting status and the resulting fee guarantees. This was arguably RJO's finest hour as the co-director with Joe Blasdale. The alumni staff was second to none, and very committed to a full size corps the next year. Interestingly, only 8 marching members made it across the great divide from '74 to '76, (Marty, Renee, Jeanine, Peggy, Kevin, Felix, Phil, & Dave). Tim Park relays the story of the wonderful performances at the "Freedom Train", 3 times a day for a week. This train traveled the country to help celebrate our nation's bicentennial. From Steve Warmbier; "Here’s one that most probably don’t remember, but I still have the lump to prove it. I was marching behind Ty Tyler who was carrying our Big Bertha Bass drum. He, for the first time, decided to run back to the starting line. Unfortunately, I had bent over to adjust my cymbals straps at that very moment and got brained by Ty’s drum right square in the melon. I went over and was out cold for a couple of moments. Ty thought he killed me. Man that headache lasted for a couple of days, but the attention the girls gave me was worth it." From Dave Adkins; "My memory of the 1976 Kingsmen DCI Prelim performance is that it was VERY chilly, and very early in the morning when we went on. The one thing that sticks in my mind is the fact that the drumline performed Mambo almost flawlessly. I remember this because I had my eyes peeled on the drum judge in front of the drumline. I don't remember seeing him write one single thing on his tic sheet. I don't know if we were actually tic free. But from my perspective watching this judge, it sure seemed that way. Plus listening to the recordings we nailed Mambo!!"

1977: Wow, what a change. A full size corps. 2 major tours. DCI in Denver for the first time. We started to really explore growth of the feeder units, the corps hall, and paying off all debts. We beat Santa Clara in a caption, (drums), for the first time since '74. The Kingsmen "Percussion School of Music" approach was starting to bear fruit. One drum judge had us in 3rd place over all. The corps just missed making finals at DCI. But scoring an 83.6 for 14th was very nice. As staff co-ordinator I was very motivated to see the corps expand into a Blue Devil type of multiple group experience for our youth. We were even contemplating buying a pizza parlor & gas station to widen our financial base, provide job opportunities for our members & alumni, and to provide diversification from the vagaries of the bingo games. Needless to say, this entailed more than just building a "b" corps.

1978: A fantastically strong corps, membership wise. Huge brass line, huge percussion line and great color guard. Very strong experienced performers in all the captions. We had some staff and management changes, but the majority of the staff was the same. Very underated corps from a judging viewpoint. We started running into bingo problems again and they seemed to be very severe. Bingo was starting to take hold in a lot of cities and some city councils were very worried about the ramifications. Anaheim was no exception. However the first tour was strong and well run. But with bingo folding, we decided not to do the second tour to DCI in Denver. Many staff members were getting summer jobs to pay the bills. So rehearsals were thinly staffed. Our biggest concern was to make sure that we would not fold again like in '75. Enter the magician. A top executive from ABC entertainment had a sportscar that he was willing to raffle off for the corps. He said we should park the car in all the stadiums on tour and sell raffle tickets. I was very wary, it was a huge risk. I voted no, but management wanted to take the chance. Moreover the corps manager put her house up as collateral for the loan to take the corps on the road. What can you say to that sacrifice. Well, DCI said no to parking the car in the stadiums. Consequently very few tickets were sold. It was also only a 15 day tour, very tough to sell a lot of tickets while traveling. We did finish the tour. Despite the lack of quality fully staffed rehearsals, we scored a 75.00 for 19th place. But the manager had to sell her house to pay the debt, and the corps folded again.

1982: It took a few years, but the corps was back on the field again. I had a number of students who participated in the 2 local corps, VK & Kingsmen. The Kingsmen seemed to be getting short shrift in the recruiting department, so the corps was a little on the small side. But a corps was fielded and the DCI prelim score was a 64.15 for 28th place. It was nice to see the corps back, but there was still a lot of recycling of past music.

1983: The corps still seemed to be having troubles recruiting a full contingent of players. Consequently the quality of the group was suffering as it tried to throw a show together with whatever size was possible. I teach groups of all sizes and it is very tough with a smaller group. The will may be there, but it takes a real effort to sell the show. The corps finished the year with a 45.45 for 21st place in the DCI Quarter-finals.

1984: Still making a galant effort at recruiting, the corps again has a full season. The corps performs at a lot of shows and finishes the year with a 55.80 for 24th at the DCI Quarter-finals. This shows a definite upswing in scoring momentum.

1985: Continuing it's rise in score, the corps breaks back into the 60's with a 61.40 for 22nd place at the DCI Quarter-finals. This is a definite plus as far as the final score goes. Remember the corps never finished below a 75.0 in the 1970's, or a 74.60 in the 1960's. Of course the final score is not everything, as scoring tolerances change through the years. (Plus DCI has replaced the tic system with a build up system.) But the score, plus the placing, does show an indication of a group's viability in the competitive arena.

1986: For the 4th year in a row, the corps rises in place and final score. The results are favorable, but the VK are still the hot shots of the Southern California area. So most of my students choose to march in the VK. Believe it or not, I also have students commuting up once a week to be in the Sacramento Freelancers. That is quite a drive, so they provide a corps bus from Northridge. Some students also move up to Santa Clara second semester to march in the Vanguard. The Kingsmen corps finishes with a 67.70 for 18th in DCI Quarter-finals.

1987: The corps undergoes a very poor year of recruiting. Unable to fill out an open size, or Division 2 size corps, the corps leaves for DCI with an A60 corps, (60 members or less). The corps places 22nd in this class, with a score of 40.50. This is the lowest score ever and effectively ends this latest incarnation of the Kingsmen.(Coincidentally the VK place 7th at DCI, there highest score ever. This would prove to be their peak. The VK finish the '92 season still in the top 12, but fold for good soon after this.)

Will there be more to come?!

1992-2002: Several successful reunions with lots of planning, create an alumni base over 200 strong.

2003: Jim Whobrey & Gary Kean start the process for a new 501c3 non profit corporation. This will include a new Junior corps and an alumni corps to start our goals.

2004: Another successful luncheon/reunion at DCI/Denver and the momentum is really growing.

2005: Our first preview meeting for the new Board of Directors is March 5th. On March 7th we are officially approved for our non-profit status.
May 7th we have our first official meeting and install the board.

2006: January 7th & 8th, we have our first official drum corps rehearsals of the Kingsmen Alumni Corps. June 24th at Mt. SAC is our first performance at the local drum corps show. What a treat to perform in the big time again, right after the Blue Devils. We could never have accomplished this without the tremendous help of Joe Rybus and his steering committee.