Kansas City Playlist: Songs For Ground Stop & Ongoing Recovery

We were gonna skip it this weekend but this was too easy . . . 

For more local context, a glimpse at the ongoing recovery . . . 

Missing bags, delayed trips leave travelers searching at KCI after ground stop

Dozens of bags were lined up in alphabetical order at Kansas City International Airport as passengers searched for luggage separated from them due to flight cancellations and rebookings.

And so, this brings us to our traditional www.TonysKansasCity.com playlist on the topic of air travel and ensuing complications . . .

Jet Airliner was the obvious place to start for anyone over 40 . . . Even better, whilst the song is embedded in our memory, we haven't ever seen this clip before:

Because our Saturday list is always about nostalgia and sentimentality . . . We notice these images are really staring to show their age . . . Moreover, our favorite fun fact about "Gonna Fly Now" by composer Bill Conti is that Sylvester Stallone hates hearing it . . . Or at least has muttered as much under his breath at several press events over the years.

For some weird reason that might be endemic to Johnson County Catholic schools . . . This song reminds me of high school even though it was produced well before I was born. Maybe 101 the Fox is the culprit . . . Either way . . . Drummer and lyricist Neil Peart wrote "Fly by Night" about his first major trip away from home in 1971 when, at 18 years old, he left small-town Canada and flew to England to pursue his music career.

Nobody remembers this and nobody should BUT . . . Before releasing "Fly," Sugar Ray was a heavy/funk-metal band (releasing albums like Lemonade and Brownies and Mean Machine) before this light, genre-blending reggae-pop crossover completely transformed their career. With all members of the band in their 50s, the band still tours amusement parks, casinos and smaller venues off the strength of five hits crafted from 1997 to 2001.

Finally, we finish with Frank Sinatra's "Come Fly With Me" and remember that co-writer, composer Jimmy Van Heusen, moonlighted as a secret test pilot during World War II, keeping his aviation career hidden from his Hollywood employers for insurance reasons

As always, thanks for reading this week and have a safe & fun rest of your weekend.