Sirius XM Launches The Who Channel in Time for Super Bowl

With the Who set to take one of the biggest stages of their career this weekend during halftime of Super Bowl XLIV, Sirius XM Radio will celebrate the music of Townshend and Daltrey by launching a limited-run station called the Who Channel on Thursday. In its five-day run on satellite radio (it ends February 8th 11:59 p.m.), the Who Channel — located on XM Ch. 40 or Sirius Ch. 16 — will journey through five decades worth of Who music, from their 1965 debut to Tommy to Quadrophenia to Endless Wire. Plus, if by some chance your television breaks or you're stuck in traffic and you can't watch the Colts take on the Saints, the Who Channel will also provide a live broadcast of the Who's halftime performance.

Check out photos of rock's big names rocking' football's big game.

As Rolling Stone previously reported, Townshend let slip what songs will be a part of the Who's halftime medley ("Baba O'Riley," "Pinball Wizard," "Tommy," "Who Are You" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" — but we'll still be tuning in this Sunday night as the Who rock Miami.

Related Stories:
• The Who's Townshend Says Super Bowl Set Will "Mashup" Big Hits
• Will.i.am, Slash Remix the Who's "My Generation" For Super Bowl
• The Who Booked for Super Bowl XLIV, Source Tells Rolling Stone

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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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