Royal Airs


Other Names:AL Post # 96; Our Lady of Angels

Chicago, IL United States
Founded: 1958

Inactive Junior
YearPositionScoreTheme/Songs
1960 Where Or When (from Babes In Arms) * Diana * March of the Toys (from Babes in Toyland) * Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho * Everything's Coming Up Roses (from Gypsy)  
1961 7 84.400 Where Or When (from Babes In Arms) * Over There * Yankee Doodle Dandy * Pagliacci * I Enjoy Being a Girl (from Flower Drum Song) * Granada * Everything's Coming Up Roses (from Gypsy) * Theme from The Loretta Young Show * No Other Love (from Me And Juliet)  
1962 2 87.200 Quo Vadis * Where Or When (from Babes In Arms) * Over There * America * Rhapsody in Blue * Conquest (from Captain From Castile) * Limehouse Blues * Two Different Worlds * Granada * I Enjoy Being a Girl (from Flower Drum Song) * Etude  
1963 Mutiny on the Bounty * The Lord's Prayer * I'll Walk with God (from The Student Prince) * Small World * Fools Rush In * St. Louis Blues March * Baby Elephant Walk * What Kind of Fool Am I (from Stop the World I Want To Get Off)  
1964 2 84.500 Ballyhoo March * The Lord's Prayer * The House I Live In * Harlem Nocturne * What Kind of Fool Am I (from Stop the World I Want To Get Off) * Dixie * Down Yonder * South * Waiting for the Robert E. Lee * Alexander's Ragtime Band * Where Are You  
1965 1 89.500 Ballyhoo March * Battle Hymn of the Republic * The Birth of the Blues * Alexander's Ragtime Band * Watermelon Man * Where Are You  
1966 6 85.500 Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines * Battle Hymn of the Republic * What Kind Of Fool Goes To Paris In April * Alexander's Ragtime Band * Watermelon Man * Shadow of Your Smile (from The Sandpiper)  
1967 4 86.250 My Kind of Town * Ballyhoo March * Of Thee I Sing (from Of Thee I Sing) * Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? * Casino Royale * Voodoo Moon * Shadow of Your Smile (from The Sandpiper) * This Is Just The Beginning  
1968 5 88.000 Vaquero * Of Thee I Sing (from Of Thee I Sing) * Latina * Casino Royale * Voodoo Moon * It Was A Very Good year * This Is Just The Beginning  
Position 200+ indicates Division II, Position 300+ indicates Division III, Position 400+ indicates Mini Corps.
The Royal Airs and the championship corps of the years that followed were born out of a four-year gestation period of hard work, pride, unselfish sacrifice, and a lot of luck.

In the fall of 1954 a notice went around the Ryerson School in Chicago that the Alamo American Legion Post 885 was forming a drum and bugle corps; interested applicants could come to the Post for free pop and hot dogs, and discover the world of drum corps. Glenn Smith from the Belmont Grenadiers organized the meeting.

The initial nucleus held rehearsals one evening a week at the Post, and on Saturdays the corps would parade up and down the streets of the neighborhood (Ridgeway, Lawndale, etc.). Bill Cerone was the first appointed corps manager. After the initial shakeout, the balance of the remaining members became the core of the Alamo Rangers.

The first uniforms were blue slacks with a stitched seam, a dark blue overseas cap, and a light blue shirt with “Alamo Post 885 Drum and Bugle Corps” stitched across the back.

After a year of basics and considerable parading, the corps began to think about competition in 1956. Its first camp took place in Coloma, Wisconsin, at the American Legion boys camp, and early home practices were held at Kells field at the corner of Kedzie and Chicago Avenues in Chicago. Other instructors from the Belmont Grenadiers like Ed Roberts on drums and Mr. Kelly on M&M (marching and maneuvering) joined Glenn Smith. The Alamo Rangers were about to blossom.

In what became a pivotal event for the evolving Alamo Rangers and the later Chicago Royal Airs, the instructors took some of the corps staff and members to see the American Legion state junior show at Lane Tech Stadium in July, 1956. The Chicago Cavaliers, Norwood Park Imperials, the Vanguard, and the Black Knights competed that day. All the staff and members were impressed, but Sie Lurye, a former prize fighter with the brogue of a Brooklynite, was especially entranced by the spectacle and potential.

In 1956 the Alamo Rangers received new uniforms: a brown overseas cap with the obligatory white tassel, white satin shirts with a diagonal brown stripe, and brown pants with a white stripe. The entire corps trooped down to the Red Cross Store on Chicago Avenue to buy their new white buck shoes.

Up until 1957 the Alamo Rangers had been an all-male corps with an all-girl baton twirling team as a separate unit. The drum corps had a male drum major, Rich Myslivich, and an all-male color guard under the direction of Vince DeSalvo. During early 1957 the baton twirlers became the new color guard and the males from the guard were merged into the corps. When Myslivich left the corps, Marlene Gamberale became the new drum major and Judy Naples the color guard sergeant.

Sie Lurye became corps manager in 1957. A man with a vision of a championship competitive unit, Sie energized the entire operation. Rehearsals became more serious, and new staff, like Rich Tarsitano on bugle and Ken Nolan and Larry Kaczmarek on M&M, came on board. The Rangers competed in three shows that year, with the State Fair being the big one.

But the leaders in the Alamo Post became concerned over the change in the corps’ direction. The Post wanted to retain control over their parade corps. Despite these feelings, as the 1958 season approached there was no doubt that the Alamo Rangers were less the Alamo Post’s corps than they were Sie’s corps sponsored by Alamo Post. The tension reached a critical point one evening in a debate over whether the corps would appear at a Post function (with an appearance by Mayor Richard J. Daley), or at the VFW state drum corps championship that same day in Rockford. The corps wanted to attend VFW State, the Post leaders refused, and Sie resigned over the controversy.

The Post Commander hired Bob Patrone as the new director, a move that appeared to jeopardize the corps' competitive future. So Marlene and Ken Nolan gathered corps members outside the Post and reminded them of Sie‘s vision and the strides they had made under his leadership. The membership decided to form a new corps, and nearly all the members left the Alamo Rangers to march with it. The Cicero American Legion Post took over sponsorship. They sent the new corps to the VFW Nationals that year and a 25th place finish.

Following the 1957 season, Sie Lurye and the Cicero Post corps needed a new name, and "Royal Airs" was chosen from a list of possibilities, with “Big Blue“ as the nickname. A drum corps star had been born. The corps struggled in Midwest, state and national competitions in 1958 and 1959, but gradually began to build a name for itself by defeating corps that had deeper traditions and longer histories.

Rich Tarsitano continued on staff as the horn instructor and musical arranger, and arranged such outstanding songs as "Conquest" and "Quo Vadis.” Sie Lurye sought to expand the corps, and he invested large sums of time and money to make the Royal Airs more competitive.

Late in the 1960 season, the Royal Airs unveiled new trademark uniforms: slanted blue and white shakos, blue pants with a white stripe, and a white battle jacket with a sash and red accents. The corps took the drum corps world by surprise with these uniforms when they stepped up to the starting line in white butcher coats, then whipped them off just prior to stepoff, revealing the new look.

The 1960, '61, and '62 seasons saw vast improvements in the corps. Larger numbers and a bolder, more powerful sound made the drum corps community take notice. The Royal Airs quickly became the number two corps in the Midwest, behind the Cavaliers. In 1961, Big Blue traveled to Denver for the American Legion National Championships, taking second to the Garfield Cadets with charts like "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho.”

In 1963, Drum Corps Hall of Famer Col. Truman Crawford became the corps' music arranger. Over the next few years he introduced songs like "Ballyhoo March," "Vaquero," "Alexander's Rag Time Band," John Brown's Body," "The Shadow of Your Smile," "Watermelon Man," and a host of other now-famous arrangements.

The 1964 corps, considered by some as one of the most underrated in drum corps history, never seemed to place higher than second: "The Bridesmaid Corps" took second at national competitions to Garfield Cadets, the Racine Kilties, Blessed Sac, and St. Joe's of Batavia. However, at the 1964 World's Fair, the Big Blue ended that string by defeating everyone in the field of competition. A legend was born!

However, many members of the 1964 corps left the Royal Airs after the season. Fortunately, another corps, the Chicago Spartans, was closing its doors about this time, and many of its top members migrated to the Royal Airs prior to the 1965 season. The Royal Air family had become a wonderful melting pot of talented performers. Former Cavalier and national champion drummer Mitch Markovich became the drum instructor that year and took the percussion section to new heights.

1965 was that championship season for the Royal Airs. The (self-described) "Greatest Corps Ever!" took the field and set a drum corps standard for the next four decades. The corps won all three major national championships, and other corps have copied their style for years. (One of those championships, the VFW Nationals, was the only major drum corps championship won indoors, when rain forced the show off Soldier Field.) Even in the 1990s, their music has been reproduced on the alumni circuit by Mighty St. Joe's of Batavia, who did exact renditions of "Alexander’s," "John Brown," and "South."

Following one of the most successful seasons in drum corps history, many members aged out or moved on, and the corps appeared to face significant rebuilding. The 1966 version of the Royal Airs accomplished a great deal, and this period could be considered the most significant in Sie Lurye's tenure as corps director. Stepping off the line with the now famous "Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines," Big Blue struggled to place even in the top five of the central states corps. But hard work and pride carried them forward, and the corps placed in the top six at VFW Nationals.

1967 was another major turning point for the corps. The core of the '66 group remained intact and was joined by ten former members of the McHenry Viscounts Drum and Bugle Corps. John Zimny joined the staff to assist with M&M, Serge Uccetta and Janice Johnson became drum majors, and Bill Evans took over duties as business manager. The corps made giant strides and immediately regained its championship status by consistently defeating its top rivals. Unfortunately, some tempo problems and minor penalties put the corps only in fourth place at VFW Nationals in New Orleans.

With an original composition by Truman Crawford (“Vaquero“), the 1968 Royal Airs held the promise of regaining its national titles. Waging a war all season with the Vanguard for top spot in the country, the Big Blue put on the performance of the year at VFW Nationals in Detroit, only to be penalized two points for an American Flag violation. That penalty dropped them to fifth place, behind the surprising Racine Kilties.

No one is quite sure what happened following that season. Some say it was finances; others say it was the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago; others say it was the Vietnam War; still others believe it was a combination of all those things, along with the changing values and lifestyles of American young people. The Royal Airs attempted and failed to take the field in 1969, but they march on in the memories of the members and fans.

[Ken Nolan, Bob Doran, http://rdoran.tripod.com/pge5.html; DCW, 6/8/90, p.15]

Members (25)

Member Name Section Years Involved
Achuff, Gayle Rifle Squad 1964 to 1965
Aslakson, John Soprano 1964 to 1967
Blomquist, Bill Alumni Corps/Soprano 2003 to 2005
Burke, Reginald Baritone 1966
Carter, Bill Baritone 1967 to 1968
Castor, Patrick Horn line 2002 to 2003
Chappell, James Tenors 2002
Doran, Robert Baritone 1967 to 1968
Fagiano, Steve Drum Line 1965 to 1966
Farrell, George Lead Soprano 2005
Fernandez, Robert Soprano 1965 to 1968
Ferrara, Chuck Bass Baritone 1958 to 1962
Fiocca, Carl Bass Horn 1962 to 1965
Gilchrist , Bonnie guard 1964 to 1967
Halter, Mike Bass drum 1967 to 1968
Harper, Keith Soprano 1967 to 2003
Heefner, Jeffrey Drumline 2003
Junek, Chuck Contra 1967 to 1968
Junek, Chuck contra 1967 to 1968
kemp, wayne batitone 2002 to 2003
Mielke, Susan Color Guard 1964 to 1966
pierson, warren bass horn 1967 to 1968
Schultz, Thomas (Tomm) Drumline 2003
Showalter, Paul Mellophone 2004 to 2005
Werner, Robert drum line 1960 to 1969

CORPS 21 items

Royal Airs

Chicago Royal Airs 2002 Reunion Corps at DCI Championships - Part 1
Royal Airs

Chicago Royal Airs 2002 Reunion Corps at DCI Championships - Part 2
Royal Airs
PDF Document

Our Lady of the Angels School Fire Memorial
Royal Airs

Royal Airs from the Bill Ives Collection
Royal Airs

Royal Airs 2 from the Bill Ives Collection
Royal Airs

Royal Airs 1965 button from the Bob Carell Collection
Royal Airs
Chicago Royal Airs History
Chicago Royal Airs History from the Diceman Radio Collection Contributed by Ron Allard
Royal Airs

Royal-Airs,Chicago,IL,DH1-BlueIsland,IL(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Royal Airs

Royal-Airs,Chicago,IL,FL1-1965-CYOChamps(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Royal Airs

Royal-Airs,Chicago,IL,Hat1-SideCap(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Royal Airs

Royal-Airs,Chicago,IL,Patch1-NationalChamps(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Royal Airs

Royal-Airs,Chicago,IL,Patch2-Crown(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Royal Airs

Royal-Airs,Chicago,IL,Patch3-1965-National Champion(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Royal Airs

Royal-Airs,Chicago,IL,Pin1-1965-NationalChamps(RE-2.25)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Royal Airs

Royal-Airs,Chicago,IL,Pin2-BigBlue(RE-1.75)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Royal Airs

Royal-Airs,Chicago,IL,Pin3-NationalChamps(RE-2.25)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Royal Airs

Royal-Airs,Chicago,IL,Pin4-ImWithYou(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Royal Airs

Royal-Airs,Chicago,IL,PN1-BlueBigBlue(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Royal Airs

Royal-Airs,Chicago,IL,PN2-WhiteBigBlue(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Royal Airs
PDF Document

218-223, Chicago Royal Airs from the Steve Vickers Collection
Royal Airs

Royal Airs Reflections 1960s from the Steve Vickers Collection

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