The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps

History

Charles Mura, Michael Koeph, and the Rev. Edwin Garrity of the Holy Name Catholic parish in Garfield, New Jersey founded the Holy Name Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps in 1934 as an activity for the boys in the parish. The corps quickly became one of the top competitive corps in the country. In 1940, the Cadets won the American Legion Junior National Championship in Boston, the first of a record eleven Legion titles the corps would win between 1940 and 1964. The corps was known not only for its talent but for its traveling to compete. In 1950, the Cadets went on the road for three weeks in order to defend their Legion title in Los Angeles.

In 1958, the Holy Name parish declined to support the corps' travel and disbanded the corps. The members and staff, however, were not willing to cease the corps operations, and reorganized as a new organization, even though the parish kept the uniforms and instruments. The corps traveled to Chicago for Legion Nationals at the members' own expense. Marching as the Cadets of Garfield; wearing uniforms of white shorts, red golf shirts, and "Aussie" hats; and using instruments borrowed from the Chicago Cavaliers, the corps managed to finish in second place (one spot ahead of the defending champion Cavaliers). Midway through the 1959 season, the parish allowed the corps to once more wear the uniform that remains their trademark.

In the second half of the Sixties, the Garfield Cadets became more of an also-ran than a champion. In 1969, the corps became coed. In 1971, the Cadets marched a show they called, "No More War"; at VFW Nationals in Dallas, they reportedly tried to convince the VFW officials that the peace symbol in their drill was actually the Mercedes-Benz logo. Also in 1971, the Garfield Cadets, along with the 27th Lancers, Boston Crusaders, Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights, and Blue Rock 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 Garfield Cadets, 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. At the first DCI World Championships in Whitewater, Wisconsin, the Cadets just missed making Finals and finished in thirteenth place in a competition that featured thirty-nine corps from the East, the South, the West Coast, the Midwest and Great Plains, and Canada. The corps would fail to make DCI Finals for the first four years they were held and for six of DCI's first eight seasons. After their third Finals appearance in 1980, the Cadets quickly regained the corps' former championship form. In 1983-85, the Garfield Cadets became the first DCI corps to earn a three-peat---three consecutive DCI titles. On July 4, 1986 the Cadets performed as a part of the Liberty Weekend celebrating both the hundredth anniversary and the restoration of the Statue of Liberty. In 1987, the corps won its fourth DCI crown in five years.

The Garfield Cadets relocated outside Garfield and became the Cadets of Bergen County in 1989. The Cadets of Bergen County won DCI Championships in 1990, '93, '98, and 2000. In 1996, sponsorship of the corps was passed to Youth Education in the Arts (YEA), an umbrella organization sponsoring several youth and musical activities. Also in '96, the Cadets performed at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. In 2003, Yea! and the corps moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania, and the corps dropped any reference to locale from its name, becoming simply, The Cadets. In January 2009, The Cadets marched in President Barack Obama's Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C. The Cadets won additional DCI championships in 2005 and 2011, the corps' ninth and tenth in forty seasons.

To honor their 75th anniversary, the corps was called the Holy Name Cadets for the 2009 season.

Sponsorship

The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps is sponsored by Youth Education in the Arts (YEA!), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that has a Board of Directors, corps directors, and staff assigned to carry out the organization's mission. The corps director is George Hopkins. In addition to The Cadets, YEA! also sponsors Cadets2, Cadets Winter Percussion, USBands (formerly United States Scholastic Band Association), the Urban Arts Center Of The Lehigh Valley, and BandJobs.org.

Show summary (1972-2016)

Source:

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

Uniform

The Cadets have a distinctly recognizable maroon and cream uniform from which the corps rarely deviated until recent years. Since their founding in 1934 the uniform had gone relatively unchanged, except for the 1958 season and part of the '59 season, after they had parted company with the Holy Name parish, which refused to allow the corps to have the uniforms for that period.

For the 2005 program, "The Zone: Dreamscapes in Four Parts with a Door", the corps used the normal color scheme for the uniform, but with both the back and the front appearing to be a front side. On the true front, the uniform was the normal maroon jacket, cream white pants and trim, but the "fake" front had maroon pants and an overlay that gave the appearance of a cream-fronted jacket with maroon trim, while the sash remained gold on either side. The shako had a visor and badge on both front and back, and the sash was white in front and maroon in back, maintaining the double-front appearance. Also, to keep with this "twilight-like" experience, much of the marching was also done in a manner that helped make either side seem to be the "correct" side.

In 2011, the corps had the usual uniform design, but changed the colors in a different way. To support the show "Between Angels and Demons," which had the corps split in half with one half being "Angels," and the other "Demons", they had the two sides wear different colors. The "Demons" wore a full maroon uniform (shako, plume, jacket, pants, and shoes) while the "Angels" wore a full white uniform.

For the 2012 season, the full white uniform was extended to the entire corps for their "12.25" Christmas season show.

In 2014, the field corps wore the traditional uniform, while the pit wore white. Through the show, panels were removed from sashes worn by the field corps, changing the color worn from light blue to gold to yellow.

On July 30, 2015, The Cadets unveiled new uniforms, which were black with silver lining. To create hype for the unveiling of the new uniforms, The Cadets had a blackout on their Facebook page.

Corps Song

"O Holy Name" is sung by the corps members before every performance. The lyrics are set to the tune of "O Tannenbaum."

Tradition in the Arc

"Rocky Point Holiday" (or simply Rocky Point) was included in the Cadets warmup exercises after the success of their first winning show in 1983. Other pieces include "On a Hymnsong by Phillip Bliss" and the newest addition "Ballet Sacra," both from 1993's 1st placing show, with the piece "Mahler's Symphony No. 2" which is the ending segment of Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony.

The Cadets at DCI

Of the thirteen founding member corps of DCI, The Cadets are one of only four that have attended every World Championships, with the others being The Cavaliers, the Madison Scouts, and the Santa Clara Vanguard.

One of the Old Corps

The only junior drum and bugle corps older than The Cadets is the Racine Scouts, which was founded in 1927.

In Step With Themselves

Where every other corps begins to march by "stepping off" on the left foot, beginning in 1985, The Cadets began stepping off on the right.

High Score

The Cadets' 2005 show "The Zone: Dreamscapes in Four Parts with a Door" tied the 2002 Cavaliers show "Frameworks" for the highest score ever achieved at DCI Finals, with a score of 99.15. This record stood for nine more years until it was broken by the undefeated 2014 Blue Devils when their show "Felliniesque" earned a score of 99.650. Despite this, The Cadets' 2005 championship season remains the only champion to win all captions. In 2014, the Blue Devils won every caption except the Fred Sanford High Percussion Trophy, which was awarded to the Santa Clara Vanguard.

Tradition & Innovation

While in many ways The Cadets are a very traditional corps, they have also been one of the innovators of the activity. This was especially true during their early DCI championship seasons, when they pioneered the use of complex, asymmetrical drills under the direction of drill designer George Zingali. Later, The Cadets and their director, George Hopkins, led the move toward the use of electronics in drum corps.