Bleu Raeders Drum and Bugle Corps
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The Bleu Raeders were a drum corps based out of New Orleans from 1971-1981.
The Raeders made their DCI Finals debut in their first year of competition (1972). Their performance in the Finals was only the 18th in their history; this remains the quickest ascent ever to a DCI Finals position. They were also the first Southern corps to reach Finals.
In 1974, the organization merged with Stardusters splitting with that group and re-establishing the Raeders name in 1975 only to merge with the Stardusters again in 1981 to become the Louisiana Southernairs. (This name was taken from a New Orleans corps from the 1950s).
Ricky and Ronnie Chapagral and Richard Flagg, while marching with East Jefferson High School and the Bleu Raeders, wrote the drumline cadence "Bleu Raeders", which was brought by members of the line back to their college lines at LSU and Ole Miss, both of which still use it as their primary cadence. David Arthur, also of E.J.Hs., wrote the melodic parts to this cadence. Many high school drumlines across the N. Gulf Coast from Texas to the Florida Panhandle still play this cadence, or derivatives thereof.
