Sirius and XM to Begin Music-Station Merge November 12th

On November 12th, both Sirius and XM Radio listeners might find that their favorite channel is misplaced or even missing as the two satellite radio companies begin to merge their stations. The consolidation was first revealed on XM Escape, which announced in a promo that it would make the leap from Channel 78 to 28. The merge date was also confirmed by a DJ on Sirius' the Pulse. The merge actually started in the weeks following the XM/Sirius deal, as Howard Stern was added to XM's lineup after being Sirius' marquee star. Neither Sirius nor XM has announced the realigned station breakdown, but Sirius' oldies icon Cousin Brucie will reportedly become available on XM, meaning XM's own oldies station is in danger of becoming dead air. Other genres across the board will also face similar showdowns between their cross-radio counterparts. As long as we can still find Eminem's Shade 45 station (where he tends to announce major career news) and Bob Dylan's dispatches, we should be okay. After years in anti-trust limbo, Sirius and XM finally joined forces in July to form Sirius XM.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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