The following is a guest blog post by Harry Caines. Over the last 20 days, Harry has been doing a countdown of the
Top 20 – Best String Band 1st prizes on Twitter. Harry was nice enough to share his list and allow me to post it on mrmummer.com. You can follow Harry on Twitter @hacaines.
Use the comment section below to tell us what you think about the list. Feel free to share your own list of Best String Band 1st prizes and tell us if you agree or disagree with Harry’s list.
Let the debate begin!
I am Harry Caines. This will be my 30th parade. I have previously marched with the comics and brigades. I marched with Avalon and Woodland, and this is my 2nd year as a marshal for Pennsport. I have lived in Logan, Utah the past 10 years—but I come home to march in the parade every year.My two older children will come home with me to be the 4th generation of the Caines family to march in the parade.
The list goes back to 1976. I ranked the performances against each other. I gave no weight to whether each performance was in a “strong” or “weak” year. I did not compare the performances to other drills within the same year.
Top 20 Best String Band 1st prizes
| 1. | Fralinger | Back From the Dead (2013) |
| 2. | Quaker City | Reflections of Old Moscow (1999) |
| 3. | Fralinger | The Jokers Are Wild (1984) |
| 4. | Polish American | Dr. Hi-Tech and His Robot Ramble (1986) |
| 5. | Fralinger | Gypsy For-Tunes (2005) |
| 6. | Ferko | Golden Memories of the Bowery (1982) |
| 7. | Quaker City | Circus Momus (2000) |
| 8. | Fralinger | Copabanana (1987) |
| 9. | Harrowgate | Moving On USA (1976) |
| 10. | Quaker City | My Kind of Clown (2011) |
| 11. | Ferko | Sing Sing Swing (1994) |
| 12 | Greater Kensington | Go For Baroque (1988) |
| 13 | Quaker City | The Hills Are Alive (1991) |
| 14 | Quaker City | The Scarecrows’ Hay Day (1985) |
| 15 | Ferko | Ferko Plays the Palace (1996) |
| 16 | Fralinger | Fralinger’s Feudin’, Fussin’ and Fightin’ (2010) |
| 17 | Woodland | It’s a Jungle Out There (2012) |
| 18 | Greater Kensington | Oz Odyssey (1979) |
| 19 | Hegeman | Hegeman’s 1st Class, 2nd Hand Band (1995) |
| 20 | Ferko | Choo Choo Ch-Boogie (1998) |
Woodland is easily the worst 1st prize ever and 2013 is good but not close to top 5 what’s wrong with you.
How could u kit have south philly string band in there especially 2012 A tune Full Of Sugar was amazing