1980 - After the success of the traditional marching band style during the 70’s, membership of the organization continued to grow. The band continued in the traditional manner playing on Eb trumpets and having a traditional drum major leading from the front.

A point of interest at the end of 1980 was the purchase of 3 G bugles as an experiment. The first members to play them were Alan Degg, Philip Bourne and Chris Abbotts. When playing with the band these members would press the second and third value down throughout the duration of the show to put the bugles into the correct key.

1981 - Continuing to play trade mark tunes such as Swing March, St Louis Blues, Chimes and Valiant Years, the band continued to be one of the top traditional bands in the country. A highlight of 1981 was the Scout National Championships at Chelsea FC. The band were nearly not allowed to compete as we had Eb trumpets and G bugles. Only when a judge witnessed the 2nd and 3rd valve being taped down were the band allowed to compete in the traditional class. This allowed Simon Cotton to be crowned the champion drum major.

1982 - During the mid part of the 1982 season the band lost many members for a variety of reasons, the main one being a large group departing for university. The band managed to finish the season with a group of emerging youngsters, but during the end of 1982 major decisions were taken that would re-structure the organisation for ever.

1983 - The decision was made to change the whole of the brass section to G bugles. The band also moved down a number of classes in BYBA competition to Novice Class. The first tune learned on G bugles was yellow bird! However in order to remain a competitive unit the band continued to play the traditional tunes for the rest of the show.

1984 - This was the first year when Kidsgrove Scouts completed their full show on G’ Bugles. The show comprised of selections from Jesus Christ Superstar, Scarborough Fair and Star Wars. The music was arranged by long serving member Phil Bourne and was taught by himself and Alan Degg. Bandmaster John Swindells continued to design the rest of the show form a percussive and visual element. During the year the band was invited to compete for the first time at The Royal Albert Hall in the Novice class and also was very successful in the Scout Nationals in the same class. Simon Cotton was again successful as the Drum Major many times during the season and at the end of the year the band was promoted to the contest class.

1985 - This was the first year the band went for a full show concept, Jesus Christ Superstar. The show comprised selections from the Broadway hit but the favourite was “I don’t know how to love him” The music was again arranged by Phil Bourne. The band competed in the contest class throughout the year and again was invited to compete at the Royal Albert Hall.

1986 - Through the whole of 1986 many new members were joining the band in both the brass and percussion section. The band continued to compete in the contest class and playing the show Jesus Christ Superstar with some changes for the previous year. One interesting feature of the 1986 season was the inclusion of a reprise for the 2nd half of the season. This included Somewhere from West Side Story and was arranged by Clive Shaw.

1987 - This was a very successful and radical year for the organisation, many changes took place including:

* Change of Name from The Kidsgrove Scout and Guide Band to the Kidsgrove Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps.

* The Colour Guard was added to the corps performing their first show at Wembley.

* The traditional Drum Major with a mace was replaced with a conductor at the front of the arena. Kevin Treacy was the very first.

* The whole corps was placed in one style uniform for the first time.

* The frontline was added with percussion instruments not carried anymore and put on stands.

During the season the corps was very successful on the competition field, winning many competitions in the BYBA contest class and appearing at the BYBC at Wemberley for the first time.

The musical arranger was Clive Shaw who brought many new ideas to the corps; also Dave Pulham became the arranger for the marching percussion battery. Sue Nicklin continued to arrange for the frontline and John Swindells as the designer of the visual elements. In the early part of the season a new drum major named Robert Swindells was placed on the box and later that year was crowned best Field Commander at Wembley.

1988 - Having been promoted to Championship Class at the end of the previous season, the corps enjoyed performing the show Classic Rock around the Country. The music consisted of Lay All Your Love on me and Keep Me hanging on. The corps appeared at the Royal Albert Hall as part of a performance for Youth later on in the year and competed well in Championship Class throughout the year.

1989 - In 1989 BDF settled their differences and merged with DCUK. The Kidsgrove Scouts competed along with 40 other organizations in DCUK in what were exciting times for Drum Corps activity in the UK. Kidsgrove Scouts competed in 'A' Class competition, and won the first three shows of the season. The corps eventually made 'A' Class finals that year and placed 5th. Alongside this, the corps still competed in the championship class on the BYBA circuit and was very successful throughout the year, being promoted to Premier Class at the end of the year. The corps competed at Wembley in the BYBC for the second time where Robert Swindells again won the championship Field Commander trophy.