I don't actually listen to terrestrial radio, but I am addicted to Sirius XM. It could be partially habit, but I would find myself bereft and bewildered without my Friday night double shot of XM.
That said, Sirius has either become terribly lazy, or perhaps it always was and I was simply not paying enough attention.
Generally at the start of the weekend I'm in the mood for some tasty oldies, which I categorize as anything from the fifties through the eighties; and there does seem to be more care given to my oldie programming. Luckily. The 80's on 8 channel features some of the original MTV VJ's, and they at least pretend to care about what they play. Even the 60's on 6 puts forth some effort.
Country, on the other hand....
Willie's Roadhouse is pretty damn good, until the yodeling cowboys' show comes on, and then I have to switch channels. You know I love Dwight Yoakam, but I'm a bit disappointed in the Bakersfield Beat Channel. Dwight'd be better off simply adding his own songs to the playlist, because some of his choices are rather obscure (as in, not good).
Then we have the three main country channels for those of us who would rather dive headlong off the Golden Gate than listen to "new country".
"Prime Country" is Garth-centric (and he has his own channel!). Worse, the Garth songs played on the channel are the ones that people who don't like country music would choose.
The same can be said for "80's and 90's Country". Nobody who actually listened to country music in the eighties would cite Kenny Rogers as their most cherished artist. Nobody. I'm guessing whoever programs the channel figures, "Ehh, no one's listening anyway, so let's throw in some names I know...uh, Kenny Rogers?"
"80's Hits" ~ if I have to hear "All The Gold In California" one more time, I will flick that channel off my favorites list.
And that's the thing with the country channels ~ it's the same ten or twelve songs over and over and over. Do they have them on a loop?
Just think what a country channel could be if it was programmed by someone who actually likes...loves...country music. Where is Rodney Crowell, Mark Chesnutt, Faron Young, The Mavericks, Gene Watson, Highway 101, Marty Stuart, Lynn Anderson, Johnny Rodriguez? Where the hell is Merle? Oh, I guess we had to make room for Crystal Gayle instead...
Hey, Sirius ~ either have more guest country DJ's or just let me do it. And I would do it.
I find that my favorite channel on Sirius is "Yacht Rock", even though I find the name preciously pretentious. I get to hear all those songs I once took for granted, like this:
I'll stay a Sirius fan, because what else is there? I'll just try to avoid the country stations. Until they realize that country fans buy subscriptions, too.
