You know him as "the voice of DCI."

This year he announced his 30th DCI Championship show in Buffalo as a member of the DCI contest crew, in addition to functioning as show coordinator for several shows along the DCI circuit -- taking valuable time off from his contracting business in Ankeny, IA.

Crocker just may be the greatest drum corps fan you will ever meet. His passion for the activity has not faded in well over three decades of involvement with corps like the Troopers. His memories are as rich as the Trooper’s rendition of America on a hot August night, his heart pumps with the life of drum corps and also with a well-known drum corps city a little west of his home state of Iowa.

DCW: How did you come up with the DCI announcing gig, getting to do every DCI Finals for the last 30 years?

BC: I don’t know what all went on behind the scenes. Of course Jim Jones was instrumental in the creation of DCI. I got a phone call in November of '71. J.J. had just come back from a meeting with the Big Six or so that were dreaming of creating DCI and bringing it to reality and said, "We’re going to do this thing and our first championships next year and I have recommended to the group that you be the announcer."

In April of ’72, (Gene) Monterastelli (then with the Troopers) came back from a meeting and said I was to call a fellow by the name of Bob Briskie and he gave his number in Chicago and he was going to be the contest director for what became known as DCI.

So I called Bob Briskie and had no clue who he was. I said I was merely following instructions to call him. He told me where I needed to be in Whitewater, Wisconsin on what day at what time and there were probably going to be three or four possible announcers there and I would do a gig and be evaluated like everybody else. When I got there it was only me and when we started at 8:00 AM I said, "What do you want me to say?"

He said, "say whatever you’ve been saying!"

The first words out of my mouth were: "On the starting line . . ." and a phrase was born...

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