Showband History
The Romsey Old Cadets Showband History
Romsey Old Cadets History - It All Started in ‘63
As with many towns and cities across the country, the town of Romsey has always had an active Army Cadet Force. In the late 1950s and early 1960s this was a main source of activity for many of the local lads.
One skill that many of them acquired in their time with the Cadets was learning to play various musical instruments. While some became proficient on brass instruments such as the Bugle, other lads became very proficient playing the Side, Bass & Tenor Drums and other percussion instruments.
As is the natural way of things, gradually the lads grew into young men and after leaving school, they went into various professions and eventually outgrew the Army Cadet Force. In time they left that as well.
The Romsey Old Cadets history started around 1962 when some of the ‘Old Cadets’ had a reunion and over a few encouraging beers they all discussed how much they missed their musical playing. They decided that it would be a great idea to get together and form themselves into a carnival show band, and bravely enter the very popular Romsey Town Carnival in the summer of 1963.
It was initially thought of as a ‘one off’, or just a chance to play some music.
The First Carnival
As Romsey Carnival 1963 duly came along, the lads decided that they would also have a ‘theme’ dressing as Arabs, and calling themselves the ‘Sons of the Sands’. Yes, outfits were made using a variety of bedsheets & tea towels. Improvisation at its finest!
The summer carnival came along, and it proved to be a roaring success. The audience seemed to love the comical antics of the band, with daft routines and audience participation, all whilst playing some well-known tunes. All the while pulling a cart laden with beer!
A great time was had by both the band and the members of the public who were lining the route.
Afterwards, having had such an overwhelming positive response, they decided to continue as a showband and take part in more carnivals.
The Romsey Old Cadets Association was formed.
From Then On
From that first carnival, the Association has continued to perform at many, many Carnivals, Fetes, and Displays (and even a few Weddings!) – tailoring the Music and ‘antics’ to be suitable for each occasion.
We have performed at all corners of the UK, the Channel Islands, France and even Germany, where we recently celebrated our 25th year with a performance in the Middle Rhine region. Having been invited there by the local German Carnival Association 25 times, it has always been a great honour for us and a great source of pride.
This is even more remarkable when you consider that we are the only foreign band to be invited to that part of Germany.
Romsey Old Cadets Today
We are still going strong today, with the tradition of a different outfit every year an important part of what we do.
Disney Ducks, Monkeys, Tramps, Medieval Knights, Vikings, you name it we have probably done it!
Our Beer Cart has changed its looks many times. Over the years it has been anything from a ‘Cow’ to a ‘Jail-house’, always complementing the chosen outfit theme for the year.
And we still try to keep a fun approach for the audience, where it is almost normal for many children to join in with our repertoire of dances.
Also many a Local MP or Town Mayor will no doubt remember themselves dancing the ‘Hokey Cokey’ with us.
One of our main aims at any performance has always been that of entertaining the audience, and that ethos still remains today.
Formal Events
But we also have a more formal or serious side to us. We perform at many more serious events such as the annual Remembrance Parade, St Georges Day Parades, Royal Green Jackets Reunion Events and even sadder events such as a memorial parade for the late Lord Louis Mountbatten.
In the recent past we were very proud to head our local townspeople of Romsey on a parade, with HRH Princess Anne taking the salute for the War Horse Memorial service in Romsey.
Needless to say, a fancy dress outfit is not suitable for such an occasion, so we hopefully look smart (and respectful) in our blazers & ties (we do scrub up quite well!)
At the time of writing we are now entering our 57th year, and have no intention of stopping.
We hope that those original ‘Romsey Old Cadets’ are proud of us.