Happy Labour Day people. I know for those of you going back to school, it is real labour. That bad joke is courtesy of an old Family Circus cartoon. Thank you Bil Keane.

Just a few short bits today worth noting. We recently had the pleasure of Tom Petty week. Thanks to Sirius 16 Deep Tracks. They played a ton of Tom Petty stuff from live shows and records, and presented special editions of Tom’s show “Buried Treasure”. Well, still hope we can get a limited engagement some time in the future. Tom’s tour is rolling along, to rave reviews.

We are heading into the fall which always makes me think of cooler times and very cooler evenings. Nothing like a cool night in the fall with some great tunes.

With the fall coming I think of sports content. There already is some great Canadian Football and American Football going on. The Sirius NFL season is underway. There is always tons of NASCAR content for listeners. (I find NASCAR boring).

It is almost the time of year where I get jealous of XM Canada customers who get every friggin NHL game handed to them. It was not enough to make me want to get XM originally, but surely we are due here and deserve to be able to order the best of XM right?

Those of you early holiday shoppers out there need to think ahead. Review whether someone near might be interested in a subscription and unit from Sirius.

Thanks to everyone for their recent comments. Keep them coming. This site is for customers and fans, written by a customer and fan.

Dann

This past weekend, Sirius16 Deep Tracks has been pulling out great live performances from its’ massive collection of on air performances from great acts. Hearing some of these great performances is a reminder of how genuine and talented most of these great acts are. Acts like the Allman Brothers, The Doobie Brothers, Jethro Tull (to name a few) are excellent to hear live because you are given a first rate account of the musicianship these people share.

I am reminded of great live albums that have been released over the years and the impact some of these records have had on modern music as we  know it today. So I thought I would share insight onto some records which are stand-outs as far as live records.

The KISS Alive series – KISS Alive still stands out to me as the most cool example of how amazing the original KISS lineup sounded live. Tight musicianship and great songs are what KISS has always been about. The Alive record was so successful that KISS did two more great Alive records which act as glorious continuations and celebrations of the music.

The Who “Live At Leeds” – The Who’s masterpiece live performance from Leeds University is considered to be the greates live record of all time. There are many reasons for this. Namely because it showed this core group of musicians at their absolute best. It also showed the world how powerful the crafted songs were when played live. Anyone who recently saw the disaster performance from Townsend and Daltry at the Superbowl probably wished they had put this record on instead.

Other Honourable Mentions -

Peter Frampton’s live recordings

All Pink Floyd and Roger Waters live recordings

Black Sabbath – Live Evil

Cheap Trick – Live at Budokan

Ted Nugent – Intensity In Ten Cities

I mentioned not that long ago on these pages that we have been fortunate to experience some great limited engagements over the last couple of years. My personal favourite was having Sirius18 The Spectrum become John Mellencamp Radio for a good period of time. We also went through a Metallica Month and an extended period for AC/DC Radio right at the merger period when the various channels were combined. Recently The Who Radio took over Sirius 16 Deep Tracks for the course of Superbowl weekend.

Who would you like to see on Sirius for a limited engagement? If you can think of anyone, I encourage you to post your suggestions here and send them along to Sirius for feedback. I will share some of my ideas here, and welcome your feedback.

Tom Petty – I already mentioned this before but it is worth mentioning again. Tom has a wealth of music to select from as well as great recorded live performances worth hearing a few times over. This could easily be a one week event, maybe two.

Black Sabbath – Heavy Metal’s greatest outfit deserves a one week engagement on The Boneyard. All of the albums, all of the singers. It is still Black Sabbath at the end of the day. It would be a great listening experience for those who assume Ozzy is the only real Sabbath singer.

George Strait – One of the greatest and most honest voices in Country music could easily have a one week engagement on Sirius 62 or 61. George Strait has a massive collection of songs, well chosen and well sung.

Hopefully Sirius will host some more great limited engagements this year, and I am anxious to see what will be coming next.

Im going to spend this week discussing two of the more underrated music channels that we as subscribers are very fortunate to have. Today I am reflecting on Sirius 16 Deep Tracks.

I never paid much attention to Deep Tracks until after the merger and a chance listen to Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour. This show originated on XM and came over with the merged channel.  Dylan talks and spins music for an hour based around a central theme. That theme could be an object of nature, a time, place or feeling. Whatever the theme, it makes for amazing radio that is interesting to hear. Dylan can be heard on the Deep Tracks Mondays at 8 pm, Wednesdays at 11 am, Thursdays at 12 am and Sundays at 8 am, all times eastern.

One of my all time favourite songwriters of all time also has a home on Deep Tracks. Tom Petty and his Buried Treasure show plays a great set of forgotten tracks and eclectic styles. Tom also shares his own personal insights into music and life. Truly a radio trip worth taking.  Tom is heard on Mondays at 11 am, Thurdays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 4 am and Sundays at 2 pm, all times again eastern.

The greatest benefit from listening to Deep Tracks is hearing all of these great classic songs that Terrestrial Radio tends to never play. Not too many singles of the B-sides, but the other songs which may never have received the airplay they deserved. Best example I could give is from a few weeks ago where I heard a Steely Dan track from my favourite Dan record, the first one “Can’t Buy A Thrill”. The particular track was not a single but is a great mellow tune on the second side as it spins to the end of the record.  ”Brooklyn Owes The Charmer Under Me”, is just a kick ass track with great melodies and musicianship. The lyrics paint a story about ones love for New York and its occasional insanity.

Spend a few hours with the Deep Tracks and you might hear that great song catching you by surprise. Enjoy! 

If your receiver has pre-set options, you probably have all or some set to certain stations for easy access. Perhaps there is a reason why you have the station at that particular spot or you are ranking your favourite stations in a particular order! I will enclose my list pre-set from my sportster. 

1. Liquid Metal – My life has become better because of my love of Heavy Metal Music. It is my favourite genre of music and I am proud to be a part of the Metal culture.

2. Hair Nation – My initial exposure to Heavy Metal was first through Glam Metal. Hair Nation plays the best and the worst music from that era. I am pleasantly surprised some days at what I hear.

3. The Boneyard – Classic Heavy Metal and Hard Rock at its absolute finest here. Often during the day when I flip to this station I will hear a lost classic from a band like Judas Priest or Rainbow.

4. Classic Vinyl – Take Terrestrial Radio Classic Rock and give it steroids, you get Classic Vinyl. Broadcast from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this great station has variety and great commentary on some of the greatest music ever made.

5. Classic Rewind – The second generation of Classic Rock. Classic Rewind often plays great tracks from the more recent eras. Music that has been considered Classic Rock for a short period of time is spun here although occasionally Classic Vinyl material will make its way here.

The jump button on my receiver is set to Howard 100. If I am in the middle of a listen that goes sour I might jump to Howard 100 to hear part of the replay of the day. My day starts Monday-Thursday with the Howard Stern show, and goes from there. At the end of the evening, I make sure the channel is set back to 100.

6. Prime Country – I will flip to Prime Country in the hope of once in a while hearing a decent track from the end of the decent Country Music era in the 90′s. This is going to change soon as I am finding the programming becoming more poppy and catering to some acts that are too annoying for my taste.

7. Outlaw Country – I love the OC. The benefit to the death of decent country is the rebirth of Outlaw Country and the defined category of Americana Music. Many of the Outlaws who might occasionally appear on The Roadhouse or Willie’s Place have more of a home in the OC. Wonderful Music.

8. 80′s on 8 – I love some of the great popular music that was born in the 1980s. We have seen great developments in technology for music and we also saw growth in great genres.

9. Raw Dog – We all need to laugh and Raw Dog often plays great material from some of my favourite comics, every single day.

10. Deep Tracks – The forgotten b-sides and tracks from great acts are spun here.  Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour also offers a smile or two of insightful thinking.

What are your pre-sets and why? Are they your favourite stations? Post your comments.

Former Sirius XM host and music radio personality, George Taylor Morris (known to fans as GTM), has died at the age of 62 after a lengthy battle with throat cancer.

Morris was the morning host of Sirius’ Deep Tracks channel and the primary host of the Artist Confidential series although he departed the position last year due to struggles with personal health issues. He was fortunate enough to work his entire life in his favourite medium of radio, occasionally working in print and television, but garnering greatest acclaim and popularity through hosting positions on the airwaves.

George Taylor Morris is survived by his wife, Gail Markens Morris, a son, two brothers and a sister.

[Via Orbitcast]

With the 40th anniversary of the 1969 Woodstock festival approaching this weekend (August 14th through 16th) Sirius XM Radio has revealed plans to showcase some special programming in celebration.

The Woodstock Channel will take over Sirius’ Deep Tracks (Sirius channel 16 and XM channel 40) from Friday through to Sunday, airing music, interviews and more in recognition of the world-changing festival that culminated the 1960s hippy movement.

Recordings from Woodstock will air in the same order as they were performed live on the Yasgur farm in August 1969, kicking off with Richie Havens acoustic opening and finishing with Jimi Hendrix’ legendary set (and historic performance of The Star Spangled Banner).

[Via Orbitcast]

The success and popularity of Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour hasn’t gone unnoticed. Sirius XM Radio has now announced the expansion of the program to allow for longer, uninterrupted playtimes.

Dylan’s show will now run for four consecutive hours of the musician’s acclaimed blend of traditional-style hosting and hand-selected tracks.

The program will remain in its regular time slot and channel on Wednesdays at 11am EST on Deep Tracks (Sirius channel 16, XM channel 40) with the longer running time.

Theme Time Radio Hour’s new format begins on Sunday, February 8th 2009 with an encore of Wednesday’s episode at 4pm EST and will air on The Spectrum (Sirius channel 18, XM channel 45).

[Via Orbitcast]