I am beginning to experience withdrawls. My drug of choice has been unavailable for a month now. I need my punk rock and I need it now.
Satellite radio giants XM and Sirius offer an entertainment package with 200 plus channels including several that play the same artist all day and all night. Here are some of your choices: AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Elvis, Jimmy Buffet, Grateful Dead and Bruce Springsteen.
Yes, you've read correctly. You can listen to these bands twenty-four glorious hours a day. You can also listen to "All 40's" all day or you can listen to sports radio or comedy or any number of brain-numbing options all at the push of a button. Still, not one single channel available for punk rock. Before the merger, both satellite providers had a punk rock channel. Now, combined they have zero.
I believe this is a perfect example of how freedom of speech is a nice concept but still, after all these years, not a reality.
I know with absolute certainty that there are at least 100's of thousands, if not millions of punks worldwide and we love music. We need music and XM and Sirius have decided to make it unavailable.
The only way to get your rights is if you speak up. Even if you don't care about punk rock. Even if you don't subscribe to satellite radio, you should always care about freedom of speech. Your voice is who you are. Don't hold that back or it might wither away. SIGN THE PETITION TODAY.Subscribe to the I am Galvanized blog today
Tags: Authenticity, Behavioral Learning Theory, Community Activism, democracy, Feminism, freedom of speech, fungus 53, Music Notes, Public Speaking, punk rock, Punk Rock, Social Awareness
[...] vote against "the man", please sign the petition. I wrote a blog about it with a link: Get Gal VanIZed Blog Archive I Need My Fungus 53 – Sign the Petition and Let Freedom Ring __________________ Get Gal VanIZed Blog Music, Roller Derby and [...]
I cannot believe the Sirius network, with 200 channels, wouldn’t offer a punk station. Especially given the numbing mainstream choices they’re offering. And, there are SO MANY punk bands that were/are great! In its own way, the genre has a lot of diversity. Adam Ant is not the same as the Ramones is not the same as Agent Orange (one of my FAVES). Not being a subscriber to Sirius, I’m not able to feel the pain the way you are but SERIOUSLY folks – a paid service like Sirius that has NO PUNK offering? Makes no business sense to me. I’m just sayin’!
Yes, my lawyer friend says it’s not about freedom of speech because they are a private company so they can make whatever choices they want. Still, to me it’s just a reminder of how punk rock has always been a threat to the powers that be and it has always been a difficult genre to access in comparison to all other genres of music. Call it what you want but I call it deliberate censorship or, at best, the powers that be choosing the genres that fit their agenda while keeping us in the dark about the totality of options that are available in America “land of the free.”
[...] ————- P.S. This whole topic right here is absolutely related to the way Fungus 53 was taken off satellite and why I want it back on the air. Anytime anyone talks about abuse of power they get silenced, one [...]
[...] Williamson was hosting daily shows based on A Course in Miracles on Oprah and Friends on XM Radio. Recently, XM and Sirius merged and they got rid of some of their programming, including punk rock. I’m not sure if this is the reason Marianne Williamson is no longer on XM but I do know that [...]
[...] November 2008 I wrote a blog about how XM Radio decided to yank punk rock off their programming line up and I posted a link to a petition to get punk rock back on XM/Sirius [...]