Stumblin' Along 8/25 '24
Fly
Fly
- AD-1 Skyraider
- Yankee Polling Part II
- Elisha Gray
- YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune is Sugar Ray’s Fly. This song came out in the summer of 1997 on their album called Floored. Although it was a #1 hit on the radio, it wasn’t eligible to make the US Billboard Hot 100 because of a technicality. Since the song wasn’t released as a single on the album’s physical CD, it couldn’t chart in those days. Weird rule.
(Source: Song Facts)
Lead singer of Sugar Ray, Mark McGrath, wrote these lines with his mother very much alive. He told Pop Entertainment…
“Fly is kind of bouncy and light, but there is this stark imagery in there. There loss in it. There is the loss of a mother, obviously. I thought it was a good way to juxtapose the lyrics with the melody on that, similar to what Gilbert O'Sullivan did on "Alone Again (Naturally)." It's just like a shout-out to him. Much like the Beastie Boys, though certainly not at the clever level, we like to sort of acknowledge and give shout-outs to things that really affected us through our lives.”
Dammit, this is going to be one of those songs that I choose because I think it’s universally thought of as laid back and it ends up having dark lyrics. Great.
When McGrath first heard this song he hated it. He told Cellar Magazine…
“Our drummer (Stan Frazier) had this sort of ethereal version of 'Fly' that when I first heard it – just the chorus, the (sings in different register) 'I just want to fly' – I almost quit the band when I first heard it. It was the worst thing I had ever heard. But then a friend of mine, McG, who directs all our music videos and is now a big player in the Hollywood world, he heard the song too. I told him I hated it, but he told me 'Just go back and give it another listen, see if you can structure it, make chords out of it, or put verses to it.'"
McGrath’s friend, McG, helped McGrath out before Sugar Ray started to take off as a band. McG got McGrath a job driving a delivery truck after McGrath had gotten into a post-collegiate funk.
(Source: LA Times)
The 2nd verse is about trying different things after the loss in the 1st verse. The producer of this song was David Kahne. Earlier in 1997, Kahne had just worked with Sublime on one of their 90s hit records, What I Got. Knowing this now, both sounds are cut from the same cloth.
Nice 90s tune, glad it wasn’t as dark as the opening verse indicated.
On to one of the planes that used to Fly off the USS Intrepid…
AD-1 Skyraider
The AD-1 Skyraider technically has a more technical name called the Douglas XBT2D-1 Dauntless II, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it. The Skyraider is a single-seat, carrier-borne attack bomber designed and flown during WWII. It was also used during the Korean War and the start of the Vietnam War. A carrier-borne aircraft means it operated in tandem with ships like the USS Intrepid.
The Skyraider evolved from a Navy decision to combine WWII dive-bombing and torpedo missions in one aircraft. While it was an evolutionary plane, it still used a piston-engine which made it a throwback to earlier military aviation used in World War I. The Skyraider’s nickname was “Spad” because the French aircraft manufacturer during the 1910s of WWI known as Société pour l'aviation et ses dérivés (SPAD). Although the engine design was a throwback to WWI, the Wright R-3350 Duplex Cyclone radial engine was one of the most powerful produced in the United States at the time. It had 18 cylinders which helped it reach top speeds of 322 miles per hour (518 kph).
The Skyraider was not designed to be a dogfighter in the air with other planes so it rarely had air-to-air combat. However, on October 9, 1966, there was a famous USS Intrepid Skyraider mission in which Lieutenant William T. Patton shot down a MiG-17 over Vietnam. The victory was very unusual in that the propeller-driven airplane was able to take down a jet-powered fighter (MiG-17), which the North Vietnamese got from the Soviets.
There were 3,180 Skyraiders built and they were operational in the US military until 1968. Douglas Aircraft Company was the manufacturer of the plane. They were based out of Santa Monica, California. The company’s founder, Donald Willis Douglas Sr., was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1892. His first aircraft company was called Davis-Douglas Company as he partnered with David Davis (no relation in case you’re wondering) for a year. During their year together at Davis-Douglas Co., the men built the Davis-Douglas Cloudster, otherwise known as the first airplane with a payload greater than its own weight. Yes, as a Davis, of course, I already knew that.
(Source: This Day in Aviation)
Back on June 8, I was drinking pints of Guinness in Woodlawn when in my drunken stupor I figured to stop at Yankee Stadium to ask fans at bars around the stadium who their favorite Yankee of all time was. Yesterday I also just so happened to find myself drinking at bars in the Bronx and it just happened to be Old Timer’s Day at Yankee Stadium so I figured I’d ask more fans.
82 Yankee fans were surveyed yesterday with the simple question, “Who is your favorite Yankee of all time?” When combined with the June 8th polling, Week to Week Notes has now reached 170 tallies thus far. Here are the results…
The Captain had only further gained on his lead. The current captain of the ball club had the 2nd most tallies yesterday. Looking forward to pooling more Yankee fans again soon!
Snoopy Bowl Recap
Jets vs Giants (Preseason Week 3)
Pregame
- I got home after the afternoon in the Bronx and immediately passed out before the game. Woke up at 6:58 and couldn’t tell if it was the morning or evening, one of those electric wake-ups where you have no idea what day it is.
Quarter 1
- Peter Schrager is in the CBS Booth for the call alongside Ian Eagle.
- Giants fumble the opening kickoff. A pair of the young Jets CBs make a special teams play out the gate as Tre Swilling forces the fumble while Qwan'tez Stiggers jumps on the recovery.
- No Jets starters are suited up for the game as QB Adrian Martinez and RB Izzy Abanikanda are prominently featured in the Jets’ opening possession. Rookie WR Malachi Corley makes a 3rd Down grab and is short of the sticks as the NFL’s new “Hawk-Eye” tracking device says he didn’t get the 1st Down. The Jets go up 3-0 as Greg the Leg hits from 38 yards out.
- QB Tommy DeVito is starting for the Giants. He leads the G-Men to the Red Zone on their opening possession only for RB Dante Miller to come up short on 4th & 1. Jets LB Chazz Surratt makes the tackle for loss.
- The Jets’ offense goes nowhere as at one point Adrian Martinez has to throw a missed snap from out of the endzone. They punt the ball away. To end the 1st Quarter, Takk McKinley comes off the edge to sack DeVito.
Quarter 2
- In the opening minutes of the 2nd Quarter, RB Izzy Abanikanda spins his way out of traffic to go 45 yards for a TD. The Brooklyn native is a 2nd year RB from Pittsburgh and is on the Jets roster bubble. Coming out of his Pittsburgh, his burst and elite speed were what got him drafted so this play may help stand out on his tape.
