by Chris Messner

Created on: April 26, 2010

There is no comparing XM and Sirius satellite radio services any longer, because they've merged.  They still have separate web sites, and your old equipment specific to either service before the merger still works.  The same channel (Deep Tracks, for example) may be a different number depending on whether you have a Sirius or XM receiver, but the two services are one entity now.

I signed up as an XM subscriber back in 2005, and I was immediately impressed with the "'60s on 6" channel.  They did a nice job of recreating the sound and feel of a mainstream Top 40 station of the 1960s, complete with DJ banter, plate reverb and '60s-style jingles, including some real jingles from the era, edited for XM use.  Two things made it light years better than an actual 1960s Top 40 over-the-air station, though:  They would play, upon request, ANY song from the 1960s (including LONG versions of hits such as The Doors' "Light My Fire" and The Chambers Brothers' "Time Has Come Today"), and there were (gasp!) NO COMMERCIALS! 

In 2005, the DJ lineup on XM 6 consisted of morning man Phlash Phelps and midday host Pat Clark, and was anchored by Terry "Motormouth" Young in the afternoon/early evening slot.  Back then, the channel was still in its developmental stages, and, as I listened more, they fleshed it out nicely to where I eventually became hooked on it.

There were some great features on the channel.  They started every hour with a Beatles song, a feature which later became called "The Beatle Bell".  Immediately prior to the Beatle Bell, they'd count down the Top 6 songs of that particular week from a different year in the '60s, playing brief clips of #6 thru #2 before playing the entire #1 song. 

Young later worked in some brief "news" reports from a particular year every hour, and then started doing weekly recreations of specific Top 40 stations from around the country by mixing in airchecks of the actual stations with his live show.  Fabulous!

The channel also resurrected Wolfman Jack, packaging tapes of his old shows into presentable filler for later in the day when there was no live DJ.  They brought back the inane but hilarious "Chicken Man" series, had a nice feature called "Bangers and Mash" which showcased British Invasion artists and tunes, and had a weekly surf music show.  From time to time, they would showcase a '60s artist by presenting interviews or live

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