Jack Bullock is known for his innovations in bugle instruction and arranging, mainly with the Geneva Appleknockers in upstate New York. In the 1950s, he was one of the first to create jazz-styled horn arrangements. He also made performing a year-round activity, scheduling sit-down stage concerts during the winter months. For many winters, the Appleknockers attracted more members for the winter schedule of performances than for summer parades and field shows. He was instrumental in working with Whaley Royce and Co. manufacturers of Toronto, Canada in introducing the first contra-bass bugle, almost 10 years before the over-the-shoulder model became common. The Whaley Royce design produced the proper sound, but the horn was the conventional bugle shape. The weight of the instrument made it too heavy and cumbersome to manage while marching, and it was used only briefly by the Appleknockers. He had joined the Geneva Appleknockers senior drum and bugle corps as a bugler in the spring of 1948. In 1951, he was drafted into the United States Army, serving for two years. He rejoined the Appleknockers, serving as a bugler, arranger and instructor intermittently through the 1960s. When the Appleknockers ceased operations, he became arranger and instructor for a number of corps in western New York, including Geneva Junior Appleknockers, Auburn Purple Lancers and Rochester Crusaders. He was a well-known arranger and instrumental clinician with Warner Bros. Music, in Miami, FL for many years following his drum corps career.
