XM Memory List: First Installment (+ Bonus Mini-Rant)

I've had XM Satellite Radio for about a year now, and on the whole I'd say that I've been very pleased with it. The sound quality is excellent, the variety of musical genres is unmatched (even though I can think of a few subgenres that would make for even more diversity), and I feel like I get more than my money's worth at only thirteen bucks a month.
The only regret I have about my whole XM experience is that I bought a Delphi Sky-Fi reciever...I wish I had waited until the Sky-Fi II model came out before investing in the hardware. Oh, there's nothing wrong with the original Sky-Fi, but the newer model has onboard memory and allows the listener to repeat selections. This would be a VERY handy feature for me.
I saw an advertisement in this month's Esquire for XM hardware and service. I noticed that the Sky-Fi model that I own was not among the recievers offered, so I wonder if it's still being manufactured. I wouldn't be surprised if they discontinued it, because the Sky-Fi II is obviously a better deal.
Oh, well. One of these days I'll have to scrounge up the funds to upgrade my home unit to a Sky-Fi II and invest in a car adaptor with which to utilyze my trusty, if limited, Sky Fi.
The only aspect of my XM reciever that I have not really utilyzed is the Memory function. If there is a song you like and want to perhaps seek out online or at the local Borders/Barnes & Noble you can press the Memory button while it's playing and it will store the title/artist information for you to retrieve at your leisure. The unit will save the last 10 entries, so you might want to check your list before it rolls over...
But like I said, I rarely use this feature, and until now my Memory list has included entries made over the course of just about the whole year I've had XM.
I have decided, since I can't have the nifty features of the Sky-Fi II just yet, to put the memory function to some use. Every time I hear a song that I'm not familiar with but which I really enjoy I will enter it into Memory and then periodically I will post these lists on my blog and at the RS.com Castaways community boards.
"Why?" you ask.
Because I want to.
Plus it will hopefully provide a resource which I can use when the time comes for buying new music. I can peruse these lists and choose an album by one of the artists who have made the cut.
Also the lists will provide insight into what lies between the boundaries of my taste in music. I know for a fact that there are no less than TWO (count 'em) people out there reading this blog who give a rat's ass. So this is for them as well as for me.
One last thing before I post the first list of 10...there are only so many characters in the on-screen display of the Sky-Fi reciever, and many times the allotted number of characters are just not enough to show the whole song title. For instance, the 2nd entry on this list is most likely an incomplete song title ("Don't Stop Doin'"). Oh, well...unless I can figure out on my own what the rest of the title is I'm just going to post what I've got. My apologies to anyone who may be annoyed by this. I feel your pain.

1. T. I....."You Don't Know"
2. Negativland....."Don't Stop Doin'"
3. Gong....."Psychological Ov" (there's an incomplete title for ya..."Psychological Overture"? "Psychological Ovation"? "Psychological Ovaries"? Don't ask me...)
4. Byron Metcalf....."O-Daika's Dream"
5. Joy Zipper....."In the Never End"
6. Thin Lizzy....."Johnny"
7. Husky Rescue....."The Good Man"
8. Bauhaus....."Bela Lugosi's Dead" (okay, so I've heard this one many times before...truth be told, the idea of posting this list was followed by only 7 Memory entries and this one and the next two are left-overs from who knows when)
9. ESPN Radio's The Baseball Show (ummm...don't ask me)
10. Erik Darling....."Child, Child"

There you go. Stay tuned for the next installment of my Memory List.


This is COUNTRY??????

And while I'm here I just want to say that the 39th annual Country Music Association Awards show, broadcast about a week and a half ago, was a JOKE and an unforgivable TRAVESTY.
Keith Urban wins both Male Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year? Gag.
Elton John's duet with Dolly Parton butchering John Lennon's "Imagine"? Ugh.
Bon Jovi performing? Yikes!
But the most dissappointing part of the whole fiasco was when Alabama's acceptance speech for being inducted into the C&W Hall of Fame was cut short before two of the guys in the band had a chance to speak (poor Randy Owen, Alabama's frontman, was being generous in waiting till the end to speak...he didn't even get a chance...). There was absolutely NO excuse to cut those guys off when there were so many CRAP performances that could have been excised easily.
It's no wonder country album sales are down. From the looks of the CMA awards show there is precious little COUNTRY MUSIC being released and marketed.
I realize that I'm a purist, however, and thath is why I did not post my vehement feelings about the whole thing when I first saw it. If the people who listen to modern country can't figure out that what they're listening to has nothing whatsoever to do with country music but is little more than weak, watered down Adult Contemporary and soft rock, well who am I to point them in the direction of the real deal? They probably wouldn't like it anyway.