REVISED 6/2/04
Greetings fellow Alumni,
Way back in 1991 I took on the effort to convert the only known reel to reel video recording of the Anaheim Kingsmen's 1972 DCI Championship show to VHS tape. It took several weeks of searching before I was able to locate a reel to reel video player/recorder. All I was able to find at the time was a black and white unit. There was a remote possibility that the show was recorded in color, but at the time due to the lack of equipment, I was pleased to have the show transferred with the only available video player/recorder I could get my hands on.
Approximately 50 VHS tapes were created by me and were sold at the Kingsmen Invitational at Orange Coast College during the 1992 season by Rocco for what I now understand to be $25.00. Contrary to the rumor mill, I was completely reimbursed for the cost to produce those 50 tapes by Rocco at slightly more than $1.50 each. Those of you that were present the night Don Pesceone (Executive Director of DCI at the time) presented the 1972 DCI Championship flag to the alumni more than likely purchased a VHS copy from Rocco.
Over the years I am sure many copies were made of the $25.00 VHS tapes and distributed to numerous individuals. The DCI documentary "Brass Roots" even has a portion of the 72 show that was derived from someone's copy of that reel to reel master.
A few months ago I stumbled onto the original reel to reel tape in the bottom of a box. Searching the internet I came upon a retired television guy who restores old video recordings as a passion, hobby, and also a source of supplemental income. He remastered the tape in digital format. Turns out incidentally that it was a black and white recording all along. Nonetheless, there is a now a digitally remastered version of the 1972 Anaheim Kingsmen DCI championship show from Whitewater.
Most of you are not aware, but the 30 minute reel to reel tape contained the 27th Lancers on the front and the Anaheim Kingsmen on the back. I believe this was due to the order of appearance at finals. The $25.00 VHS tapes did not contain the 27 Lancers show because that portion of the tape had deteriorated significantly over the years. The remastering process allowed the recovery of all but the first twenty or so seconds of the 27th show.
Several years ago I was introduced to Steve Vickers who is the publisher and owner of Drum Corp World. Steve and I have become fairly good friends and we talk several times a year. Steve was kind and gracious enough to allow me to go through all of the past editions of Drum Corp World, Drum Corp News, and his collection of Anaheim Kingsmen photos from the late sixties and early seventies. While at his business in Madison, Wisconsin recently I scanned digital copies of all the material he has.
I have compiled the 27th Lancers DCI performance, the Anaheim Kingsmen DCI performance, all of the photos known to exist, onto a two DVD set. In addition, there is a third data CD that contains all of the photos that were used in the DVD. The third data CD also contains various newspaper articles, old editions of "Big Blue" and other Kingsmen memorabilia. And finally, a bonus audio CD is included. Look at this as kind of like the "Anaheim Kingsmen Anthology." It is the most comprehensive collection of Anaheim Kingsmen material ever assembled.
My thanks for this effort go to a number of individuals. First to Jim Whobrey and Gary Kean for supplying countless photos of the Kingsmen from the sixties and seventies, and also to my parents for not throwing away the nearly complete 1972 season of Drum Corp News. A number of the photos were purchased from Moe Knox who was the unofficial drum corps photographer for several decades. Moe deserves a huge thank you for chronicling on 35mm film, countless drum corps performances over the years. A huge thank you goes to Steve Vickers for providing all of the material that he has on the Kingsmen for this effort.
A number of the photos are currently available for viewing on http://xKingsmen.com . The rest of them will be available on xkingsmen.com in the near future.
I sent out four preliminary DVD copies to Gary Kean, Jim Whobrey, Mike Ellerby, and Lynne (Hall) Bissell to have them view the recording and offer their input. It is unanimous that the remastered version is much cleaner than the VHS tape. Mike and Jim remarked that you can clearly see the percussion member's hands and sticks, something that is not visible on the VHS copies. The DVD is menu driven chaptered to each musical number and drum solo.
Lynn (Hall) Bissell recently began selling a number of items through http://xKingsmen.com at more or less cost to the alumni. I will be doing the same thing with the DVD set. Below is a breakdown of the components for the two DVD set.
DVD blanks $1.25 for each DVD
CD Blanks 50 cents for each CD
DVD/CD labels 40 cents for each DVD
DVD/CD sleeves 20 cents for each DVD
Printer Ink 25 cents for each DVD (estimate)
DVD Mailers $1.00
Postage from where I now live (Tampa Bay) to the West Coast I have estimated at $2.55. Labor is free to the Alumni. Total as you can see is approximately $9.45
In addition, I spent just over $100.00 to have the tape remastered. Jim Whobrey wrote a check to Moe Knox for somewhere around $300.00 for his photos. I am asking for voluntary donations in an attempt to recoup our out of pocket expenses. If you would like to donate a couple of dollars feel free to do so, if not that is fine with me. If and when we are reimbursed any additional proceeds will go to funding the http://xKingsmen.com website.
The real goal here is to provide all of you with a piece of our lives that can be cherished for generations. Drum Corp, and specifically the Anaheim Kingsmen was our life for a few short years, and is something that we all still think about on a regular basis even after all of these years.
A few questions...
Q. I did not even know this was going on. I have some photos and other items that are from 1969 to 1974. Is it too late to send them to you for inclusion?
A. In the last few days I have stumbled onto photos from a couple of alumni. It seems like they are just coming out of the woodwork all of a sudden. If you have something to contribute let me know in the next few days. I am trying to get the DVD's out before the summer Drum Corp tour starts.
Q. How much better is the video than the VHS tape?
A. It is noticeably better. In addition, the contrast was turned down during the remastering process so the field does not appear washed out.
Q. Is the sound better than the VHS tape?
A. Yes it is and the reason I believe so is that the original VHS master was simply transferred off of the reel to reel source. The remastering was done with the sound level raised slightly and equalized. Granted it is not HiFi quality because it was recorded with a single microphone atop the press box.
Q. DVD has many formats. What format are you providing?
A. Good question. All DVD's will be DVD+R format unless specified otherwise.
Q. Why are you offering these at such a ridiculously low price?
A. I am sure many of you have heard the cliché "The effort is to put the Kingsmen back on the field." Let's face it your $25.00 in 1992 did not put the Kingsmen back on the field. This is not an effort to put the Kingsmen back on the field. This is not an effort to line anyone's pockets. This is truly an effort to make available to the alumni a piece of history and nothing more. With that said, I outlined above the cost of this effort and I merely want to be reimbursed for the associated costs of making this offer available to all of you. Lynn has set the bar on these types of efforts. I applaud her method, and I intend to follow suit.
Q. Are you planning on offering the DVD/CD set to the general public?
A. Not at this time. If it is ever offered to the general public it will more than likely be done through xKingsmen.com with the proceeds going to support the web site and the alumni effort.
Q. When are they going to be available?
A. I am putting the finishing touches on the project as I write this. They should be available sometime in early June 2004.
Q. I sent you a $6.75 check in the mail a week ago when it was just a two DVD set. Do I need to send you more money now that two CD's are included? In addition, why the data CD?
A. If you already sent a check for $6.75, do not worry about it.
As far as the data CD is concerned, during the DVD rendering process it was determined that the newspaper articles are not readable on the average television screen. It was therefore decided that they should be included on a CD so they can be printed or viewed on a computer. We also had a few requests for the photos to be available as JPEG or Bitmap images. The data CD fulfills that requirement.
Q. So how do I order?
A. As mentioned earlier the unit cost is $9.45 per DVD/CD set. To keep it simple if you would like more than one set multiply the $9.45 number. I know postage will be slightly less but I do want to keep this simple.
There are two methods for payment. The first is to send a check or money order to...
Keith Wilbur
443 Hermosita Drive
Vina Del Mar Island
St Petersburg Beach, Florida 33706-2805
Second is through Paypal. If you want to use Paypal send an email to dual800s@hotmail.com and I will respond with my Paypal account ID for you. Regardless of which method you use, be sure to include the following information:
Your name
Shipping address
Phone number or email address
Quantity desired
Year(s) you marched
As previously mentioned, I can be contacted via email at dual800s@hotmail.com . If you need to talk via phone send me an email with your phone number or I will give you mine.
Enjoy,
Keith Wilbur (soprano)
Anaheim Kingsmen 1971 and 1972