Even More Sirius About My Elvis!

Having been a subscriber since the very first broadcast day, I have to stay that, after over three months, I am still not impressed with Elvis Radio. While the promise of new programming is great, Sirius' daily lineup still leaves a lot to be desired. Their rotation of songs is very small, and I am still heaing the same old alternates that i heard in the first week. I stopped listening regularly to Sirius after about a month due to the lack of variety, but I continually it periodic chances. However, I'd have to turn it off after only a few hours due to the repetition. A couple of weeks ago I went on a long road trip and used it as a opportunity to give Elvis radio a fresh listen. My enthusiasim quickly wore off as the same old songs showed up again, and after about two days into the trip I gave up on expecting to hear anything different. Lest you think I'm just complaining, let me give you some specifics. First, Elvis' concert output is very poorly represented. Dealing only with Elvis' regular releases, I have yet to hear anything at all from Madison Square Garden or Live on Stage in Memphis, and the 1969 Vegas stuff is represented by only a few songs (most of them taken from 2002's Today, Tomorrow and Forever box set). The Aloha is the best represented show, yet even this concert is only represented by a handful of songs. Second, I continually hear alternates of certain songs but not the actual released versions of the same songs, and to top it off, even the alternate don't vary. Three specific examples I can think of off the top of my head are Hurt, Promised Land and If You Talk in Your Sleep. I have never once heard the actual masters of any of these songs, yet alternates of them are played a lot, particularly If You Talk in Your Sleep. Saying "alternates" is actually misleading, as it's really just one single alternate version of each song, taken from the "Today, Tomorrow and Forever" box. While I realize "If You Talk in your Sleep" has only one officially released alternate, both Promised Land and Hurt have several, yet only one is ever played, and the studio masters, to my knowledge, have never been played. There are numerous other examples of this as well. I have yet, for example, to hear any 50's alternates other than the occasional 50's TV performance, the American Sound Studios sessions are poorly represented, with only a handful of titles played, and the list goes on. Dealing with studio songs, I have yet to hear any songs from several of Elvis' 70's albums. For example, I don't ever recall hearing "For the Heart" or, as mentioned, the master of "Hurt", nor have I heard anything more than one song from Love Letters, Today, Elvis Now, Good Times, etc. Elvis tracks such as "My Boy", "Green Green Grass of Home", "Got My Mojo workin'", "Spanish Eyes", "For Old Times Sake", "Honky Tonk Angel" and many more are almost nonexistent. While I will admit that I don't listen to Elvis Radio 24/7, I do listen each day in the car and I also have it at home on my satellite TV, so I find it hard to believe that I'm missing so many Elvis songs. It seems more likely that they are simply not being played. In addition, the DJs, for the most part, are simply filler, and it often seems to me as though they are told to talk between preprogrammed tracks that they don't have much control over. I sincerely hope Elvis radio suvveeds and turns into something great, but right now, three months in, it still doesn't seem like much effort is being made to widen its playlist.

Driving to work today, i heard two cuts from the FTD release "spring tours '77", one was the great "polk salad annie"! Granted, the top 30 hits play often, but we also must understand that it is also the casual listener that this channel is aimed at as well. I think the variety is getting wider and wider. As i write this reply, Elvis radio is now presenting the "elvis in concert" series on saturdays. Keep listening, you'll be surprised at what you hear!

Dan, do you work for Sirius? :) I'm just kidding, but you are like the Sirius spokesman... Honestly, the repetition on this station just boggles my mind. I tuned in this weekend to see if anything was new. Well, after about 30 minutes of listening, I heard lots of repetition, including Soldier Boy (which is played quite a bit) and, lo and behold, the alternate version of If You Talk In Your Sleep...neither of these songs qualifies as one of Elvis' "big" hits, yet they are played all the time. On another note, I tuned in to Soundtrack Saturday Night to see if it would be any different, and some of it was OK, but I found that parts of the broadcast were full of "filler" songs that are the same as the ones always played on Sirius. One specific example I can remember come about haflway into the show. All of a sudden, a block of three movie songs was played, with no DJ intro or outro. The songs were Love Me Tender, Flaming Star, and one more I can't recall, but they were all the typical ones you can hear repeated endlessly on Sirius at any time. The fact that they were also played during a special segment just got on my nerves. After all, I tuned in to Soundtrack Saturday Night to hear different movie songs, not the same old ones. Love Me Tender, in particular, was not necessary. As for Elvis in Concert, I was not impressed, but I will give it another shot. Overall, I still stand by my original assessment. This seems to be a station that was rushed on the air to be ready in time for the global broadcast of That's All Right, and its current programming still reflects this.

There is good and bad about Elvis Radio. First, the bad: the worst thing (like ElvisDJ says) the playlist is very small indeed. He is correct in all of his assesments about the channel bar none. New listeners may think that those versions are the originals of Hurt, If You Talk in Your Sleep, Promised Land etc - since they NEVER play the master takes. Each song gets one version (if any) so if an alternate is chosen, adios master take. I have an at home job and listen to this station A LOT. I heard Girl Happy twice in an hour yesterday and hear it MANY times a day - WHY? The same goes for Johnny B. Goode, Guitar Man, One Sided Love Affair....... We are not talking repitition of the hits here, but repitition of an odd collection of tunes. Most of the 70's catalog in virtually ignored. I sent an email to Elvis Radio about these concerns and got back a sorry form letter. I could run this station with basically the box sets...that is mainly what they use. Also, record some more promos too guys, same old same old. Now about the good...Hey this is a first - an all Elvis channel!! I also like most of the DJs - they seem fun enough. George Klein is the crown jewel of Elvis Radio. His Elvis Hour and his stint on Fridays with all of his insight and phone guests is really, really fun. With the problems listed above, this channel needed GK BAD!! They play a lot of the same during his time too, but with his stories and guests it is so much better. I also like the special themed segments that they are having now revolving around the movies, concert hour, etc. It is also a plus that this comes live from Graceland, it gives you a nice feeling of being there when they comment on the plaza outside, have visitors in, etc. One thing the form letter did say was, "give us a chance to work out these things" I will do just that and keep listening, but don't ruin this guys, please!

I am just back from Memphis and I was intervieuwd by the D.J from this radiostation!!

Hello, I listen to Elvis Radio thru Dish Network every day. Yes, I agree that their is too much repetition right now but they are working on it and in the coming months it will be getting better and they will be adding different things. Great to have George Klein aboard! I like hearing when fans call in and request a song. Is this all the time now and how do you call in? what's the ph number for requests? I would think with Elvis' 70th birthday coming up on January 8th, there will be special programming live from Memphis! Yes I too look forward to Elvis Radio adding more from the FTD collection. I feel there is still alot of fans out there who really don't know what the FTD label is all about! More and different promos yes, are very much needed and some sound bites of TCB Band members promoting the station would be a nice effect! Interviews etc... Keep it all coming and rotate that play list with more obscure things. This all is coming from what I have been told! Hang tight guys and gals! Elvis radio on Sirius will just keep getting better! TCB, Randall

Dont want it