Commodores

The Commodores drum & bugle corps’ origins date back to September of 1956 when the Stockton Police department, led by the Chief of Police Jack O’Keefe, organized a parade and drill corps sponsored by the Stockton Police Reserve Association. With officer Eugene “Gene” Castles as the corps director, the Stockton Police Reserve drum corps stared out with 12 members and expanded into a highly distinguished marching musical group over the next 20 plus years.

By 1958, the volunteers no longer had enough time to run the group and Eugene Castles took over as corps director under the Stockton Youth Police Activities program. The corps went on to perform throughout the region over the years in parades and exhibitions until the fall of 1963, when Harold "Pops" Ott became the new corps director and transformed the group into a competitive drum and bugle corps under the name of the Stockton Police Cadets.

They entered the field of competition in 1964 and participated at the CA State Open championships, placing 5^th. The following year, the Police Cadets competed in the 1965 American Legion (AL) Nationals where they finished in 14^th position in the prelims along with a 9^th place finish in the CA AL state contest and were crowned the CA State Open champions. From 1966 to 1969, the corps competed as members of the Northern CA circuit, returning to the 1970 AL Nationals as a 5^th place finalist and finished 2^nd in the CA State Open.

During this same period, Gene Castles was corps director, assisted by Harold Ott, whose son, arranger and composer Jim Ott, led the corps to a signature sound and to a unique and playful character on the field. The corps specialized in a nautical theme. Harold would later once again become the corps director. In 1971, the corps became the Commodores and traveled on their first major tour that led them to the VFW Nationals, where they placed 22^nd in the preliminary round.

In 1972, the Stockton unit competed in all 3 major National events that included the AL Nationals (6^th - Finals), the VFW Nationals (10^th - Finals) and the DCI championships,  qualifying in the elite “Top 25” corps and achieving DCI Associate membership, finishing in 24^th position. This went along with 2^nd place finishes at both CA Legion state and CA State Open contests. The next season would prove to be their most successful, participating at the infamous 1973 CYO Nationals, placing 6th, as well as a finalist in the Bluegrass Nationals (7^th- Finals), DCI East (9^th – Finals) and the World Pageant of Drums (9^th – Finals) on their way to an incredible feat, placing 12^th in the DCI championship finals. 

In 1974, the Commodores merged with the Royalaires of San Leandro to form the “Royal Commodores” before both organizations agreed to split after one year and the Stockton group contented in the 1975 Drum Corps West circuit, placing 11^th in the prelims and 2^nd in the Northern CA circuit “Class A” division. In their last season of competition, the corps performed without their uniforms or instruments at the 1976 World Open “Class A” prelims, where they finished in 16^th place. This was caused by equipment truck issues. They went on to rank once again as a DCI associate member, placing 24^th in the prelims and closed out their illustrious drum corps career with a 2^nd place finish in the Drum Corps West finals.

Due to financial debt, they disbanded in 1977.



DCW, 8/31/02, p.3; DCW, 67/8/90, p.8; Paul Legault (DCX)

Members (16)