Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps

History

The Boston Crusaders were founded in 1940 as the Most Precious Blood Crusaders, a youth activity of the Most Precious Blood Catholic parish in the Hyde Park section of Boston. The Corps and the parish parted ways in 1956, and the corps took a new name, the Hyde Park Crusaders. During this period, two ardent, if unofficial supporters of the corps were two of the Kennedy brothers, John F. and Edward M. "Ted". Although John is often credited, Ted was responsible for acquiring West Point uniforms that the Crusaders converted to their own colors. The corps was honored the newly elected President Kennedy by being invited to be the first drum and bugle corps to march in a Presidential Inauguration Parade. The corps' tight financial situation prevented their attendance in 1961, but the corps marched in President Lyndon B. Johnson's Inauguration Parade in 1965. JFK was formally made an honorary member of the corps only 34 days before his assassination.

By 1959, the corps had become the Boston Crusaders, although they often were (and still are) referred to as "BAC" or the Boston Area Crusaders, and BAC was one of the East Coast powerhouse corps of the 1960s. They won the first CYO National Drum and Bugle Championship in 1964 and repeated as CYO champions in 1967 & '68. In 1966 and again in 1967 the Boston Crusaders were crowned World Open (class A) Champions. The corps was a finalist at VFW Nationals in 1969 & '70 and would have won the 1967 American Legion Junior Championship, if the powers-that-be had not voided the scores for the corps' inspection, allowing the Cavaliers to outscore them.

In 1971, the Boston Crusaders, along with the 27th Lancers, Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights, Blue Rock, and Garfield Cadets formed the United Organization of Junior Corps (also known as the "Alliance"). This action was taken in reaction to the rigid, inflexible rules of the American Legion and VFW (the primary rule makers and sponsors of both corps and shows) and the low or nonexistent performance fees paid for appearing in the various competitions. The corps felt that not only were they having their creative potential as artistic performing groups stifled, but they were being financially starved. (A similar group of Midwestern corps, the Midwest Combine, was formed by the Blue Stars, Cavaliers, Madison Scouts, Santa Clara Vanguard, and the Troopers.) The Alliance members felt that the corps should be making their own rules, operating their own competitions and championships, and keeping the bulk of the monies those shows earned. For the 1971 season, the corps stuck together, offering show promoters the five corps as a package. Despite pressure on show sponsors, judges, and other drum corps, the corps were booked into a number of shows together.

In 1972, the Boston Crusaders, along with the nine other corps from the Alliance and the Midwest Combine, plus the Anaheim Kingsmen, Argonne Rebels, and De La Salle Oaklands were founding members of Drum Corps International, which remains as the sanctioning body for junior corps in North America. That summer, there was a fire in the corps hall that destroyed much of the corps' equipment. The corps was forced to withdraw from many of its scheduled contests, and at one point, could claim only nineteen active members. Rather than attending the first DCI World Championship in Whitewater, Wisconsin, BAC returned to the field to compete at CYO Nationals, where they finished ninth of thirteen corps and solidified their reputation as, "the corps that would not die."

Disaster struck again a decade later when, while on a 1982 tour in the United Kingdom, the corps' funds were embezzled, leaving members and staff stranded and financially insolvent in England. The Corps made it back home with the assistance of the US State Department for members under the age of 18, and all others paid their own way or received assistance from a handful of very generous supporters. The airline involved filed a receivership action, and several alumni stepped in to negotiate the release of title to the Corps' assets. Once more, the corps refused to die, fielding a small unit in 1983 as the Boston Drum and Bugle Corps. The instructional staff produced a first class program, working tirelessly without compensation. During that year, the Corps marched in every parade possible within a day's drive of Boston, and repaid all of the Corps' debts, with the exception of the airline, which was never pursued. Three years later, the Corps resumed the use of the Boston Crusaders name.

Through the years, BAC had fostered a well-earned image of toughness. Prior to DCI Prelims in Miami in 1983, a gang of street thugs were harassing corps as they prepared to enter the Orange Bowl Stadium. The Boston Crusaders, "...as adept with fists as with bugles..." solved the problem by chasing the gang away. However, this attitude was not conducive to attracting sufficient numbers of talented members to be a truly competitive corps, and in combination with a reputation for being troublemakers, the corps was relegated to middling rankings within DCI through the 1980s and '90's.

Under corps director Jim Cronin from 1996 to 2000, the corps adopted a new philosophy of "professionalism, accountability, and responsibility" for its members. In 1999, the Boston Crusaders finally earned a place among DCI's Top Twelve Finalists. They have returned to Finals in every year since, placing as high as fifth in 2002.

Historically, the Boston Crusaders have often been drum corps innovators. They were the first corps to march double tenor drums in 1967; the first to march tympani in 1968 (as the Majestic Knights of nearby Charlestown also did); the first with slides on their horns to allow playing a chromatic scale; and, although they were penalized for it in every show, the first to use a synthesizer in 1985.

On January 21, 2013, the corps marched in President Barack Obama's second inauguration parade.

Sponsorship

The Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps is sponsored by Inspire Arts & Music, a 501 (c) (3) musical organization that has a Board of Directors, an Executive Director, and staff assigned to carry out the organization's mission. The board president and CEO is James Cronin, Christopher Holland is the COO and Executive Director of Inspire Arts and Music, Inc. and the Boston Crusaders, and the corps director is Jeff Pearson .

In April 2015, the organization announced the purchase of a building in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston, where the corps was founded in 1940. This building will house the Inspire Arts & Music offices and provide a retail location for its Great East Music Store.

Show Summary (1972–2016)

Source:

Gold background indicates DCI Championship; pale blue background indicates DCI Class Finalist; pale green background indicates DCI semifinalist.

Conquest

The Boston Crusaders first performed Alfred Newman's "Conquest" from the 1947 swashbuckling motion picture, Captain From Castille in 1969 and repeated it in 1970. The corps brought the tune back in 1973 & '74, then performed it as a part of their show in every year from 1976 through 1990. Since then, "Conquest" had become a signature piece for the Crusaders even so far as including a two measure quote called the "conquest shots", six unison and high dynamic notes, in various forms throughout the corps' shows. Fans and alumni of the corps take the shots as their cue to fill in the two rests with a shouted "HUH!"

Longer, extended quotes from "Conquest" have also commonly been heard in shows as recently as 2008's Neocosmos, 2010's Thy Kingdom Come, 2013's Rise, 2014's Animal Farm, and specially in the corps' 75th anniversary show Conquest in 2015.

Waldo

The Boston Crusader's symbol is King Richard's split-tailed lion. Affectionately known as "Waldo", the lion can be seen on all of the corps' vehicles, on the corps members' jackets, on corps merchandise, and as tattoos on many members and alumni of the Crusaders.

Fans

Fans and alumni of the Boston Crusaders often scream "Eat 'em up, Boston!" before start of a show.

Giant

The Crusaders' corps song "Giant" is based on the main theme from the 1956 movie, Giant. Traditionally sung by the corps before shows, "Giant" has also been commonly played at the end of rehearsals, in the lot before shows, and as an on-field warm-up.

BAC

The corps is commonly referred to as "BAC," which, in the media and polite company, stands for "Boston Area Crusaders." Although some people object to its use (and keep trying to remove it from this article), the corps in its earlier days earned their true nickname of the "Bad Ass Crusaders" by being a rough-and-tumble group that was ready to fight when given almost any excuse. Many of the alumni from those days are quite adamantly proud of that hard-earned reputation and strenuously object to other people's sanitizing efforts.

On July 2, 2015, it was formally declared by the corps' administration that, henceforth, "BAC" would also stand for "Building A Champion".

Burt Lancaster on BAC

"Before he lost it, Peckinpah made me go see this drum and bugle corps from Boston, the Boston Crusaders. Sam thought I would only really understand the power beneath despair by watching these guys. Yeah, he was right. In '73 and '83, the corps went out with just handfuls of guys on the horns and, @#!*% , those man-gods could melt the gates of @#!*% . Every single film I made after 'Valdez Is Coming' is an allegory on the Boston Crusaders." ...Burt Lancaster in Daily Variety interview, December 9, 1991.