Marching music for the Kansas Primary

I just began posting about marching music this month with Drum corps maypoles from 1978 for a drum corps May Day.  As I promised in Marching music for the Ohio primary on National Superhero Day, The next marching music for a primary election is today, Saturday, May 2, for the Kansas Democratic Primary.

The 2020 Kansas Democratic primary will take place on Saturday, May 2, 2020, and is the sole contest scheduled on that date in the Democratic Party presidential primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The Kansas primary is a closed party-run primary. The state awards 47 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 41 are pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.

As I've written for the past month, "since Bernie Sanders dropped out, there is little suspense left in the result...Other than selecting delegates, this election has little meaning.  Just the same, enjoy the music while waiting for the results."

As my main interest in marching music is drum corps, I will begin with a corps that hasn't been in Kansas for 30 years and hasn't existed for 26, the Sky Ryders.

I begin with the clip of the most recent show DCI has of the corps, Spotlight: 1988 Sky Ryders.

In 1988, the Drum Corps International World Championships came to Arrowhead Stadium outside Kansas City for the first of two consecutive years. In 12th place, Sky Ryders performed a production based on the soundtrack from "The Sound of Music."

That looks like it was a fun show.  So was the previous year's, which DCI uploaded as Download of the Week: October 31 in 1991.

Over the years a lot of corps have played music from "West Side Story," but for many fans, Sky Ryders' 1987 12th place show remains one of the most memorable "WSS" shows ever. It's also quite possibly the most memorable show to ever place in 12th at the DCI World Championships.

DCI has three more clips from 1981-1983, but I'll save them for another time.  After all, I'm environmentalist.  I don't just recycle, I conserve my resources.

Follow over the jump for videos of two Kansas marching bands from this century.

Since the Kansas State University marching band has their own YouTube channel, The Pride of Wildcat Land, while the University of Kansas doesn't, I'm sharing one of the former's videos today, 2017 Central States Marching Festival.


Those of my readers who have been following the drum corps activity since the last century or who have seen videos of corps from then might recognize two songs played by the KSU Wildcats played by Kansas drum corps, "Channel One Suite," played by the Argonne Rebels, although made more famous by the Blue Devils, and "My Favorite Things," played by the Sky Ryders.  The Troopers aren't the only corps to influence the marching bands in their state.

Of course, if I have a Rose Parade band from the state, I'll showcase it, so I present the Louisburg HS Marching Wildcat Band - 2018 Pasadena Bandfest recorded by Music213.  Yes, another wildcat band in purple.

From Louisburg, Kansas
Louisburg High School Marching Wildcat Band performing their musical selections at the 38th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Saturday, December 30, 2017.

These Wildcats also played a song performed before by a Kansas drum corps, "Home on the Range," again played by the Sky Ryders, although they also played "Rawhide" and "Shenandoah," both part of 27th Lancers repertoire in 1970.  Both the drum corps and Western influences are strong with this band.

I conclude with Music213's video Louisburg HS Marching Wildcat Band - 2018 Pasadena Rose Parade.

From Louisburg, Kansas
Louisburg High School Marching Wildcat Band performing at the 129th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on Monday, January 1, 2018.

Most of the voters in today's primary won't be marching to the polls today because of the pandemic.  Instead, most of them will have already voted by mail.  Still, I wish for a smoothly and safely run primary.

I plan on continuing this series on May 12, 2020 when I move over one state for the Nebraska Democratic Primary, scheduled to take place on that date.  In the meantime, stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature.