A Marley affair on SiriusXM - … but some subscribers’ noses out of ‘Joint’
Published:Friday | December 18, 2020 | 12:22 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
Reggae icon Bob Marley has been honoured with his own, dedicated, radio station on SiriusXM. The new station, launched on December 3 on SiriusXM radios (channel 19) and on the SiriusXM app, is called Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong Radio and it will play Marley and more Marley music 365 days per year. It features the singer’s entire live and recorded music catalogue, and, according to the curators, “rare recordings, some of which have never been made available to the public”, have been added.
The entire 2020 has been a celebration for Bob Marley who would have turned 75 on February 6 this year, and this radio takeover is part of the package. Russell Gerlach of Tuff Gong Music explained to The Gleaner that it didn’t just happen out of the blue, even though some SiriusXM subscribers seemed blindsided about the way things unfolded. Earlier this year, there was a pilot on SiriuXM’s reggae station, The Joint, and, with the favourable feedback, Marley was a go.
“Tuff Gong Radio was on for one month as a special feature on The Joint during the summer and it has now become one of SiriusXM’s artiste-based channels,” Gerlach explained. Other artistes who are acknowledged as icons and have had channels created specifically for them include Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles, U2, Frank Sinatra, and now Bob Marley.
“Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong Radio will play 50 per cent Bob Marley recordings from the ‘60s to 1981, remixes and music from the Marley family, children and grandchildren,” Gerlach added.
WHAT TO EXPECT
A release stated that the new channel will present speciality programmes and takeovers led by family members from three generations. Bob’s daughter, Cedella, will host her own monthly radio series, ‘Nice Time’, while friends and family will reflect on the 40th anniversary of the release of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song. Grandson Skip Marley will share some of his favourite moments behind the making of his music. The channel will also feature original shows from Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica, including ‘Jam-In’, a monthly live music session, featuring Jamaica’s hottest sound systems and selectors.
There is no doubt that this is a great move for reggae music in its entirety, but there are loud whispers online from some persons whose noses are now out of joint. They are demanding to know why, with the advent of Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong Radio, the reggae station, The Joint, has moved to a different channel, making it less accessible.
“The Joint is now available on channel 722, but it’s not in their cars,” Gerlach said. “We just want more reggae. Hip-hop has about half a dozen and country music has quite a few as well. We have worked with Pat McKay [director of programming, reggae] Dermot Hussey [host of The Joint] and even before when Sirius and XM were separate we have all enjoyed good relationships,” he said, adding that subscribers now also have access to Pandora.
SUBSCRIBERS’ Opinions
Over on The Joint’s Facebook page, where the station is described as being “totally devoted to jammin’ the sounds of Jamaica”, subscribers have been having their say, and even being quite creative in the process. “Seriously, you guys messed up with this. I do like the Marleys, but not so much that it’s what I want to hear 90% of the time. Go look at Reddit and you’ll see a lot more people equally upset at this. Just put The Joint back on the radio and everything’s gonna be alright.”
“That’s right, we won’t ‘worry about a thing’ if they just give us back the channel! I love Bob Marley, and all the Marleys, but I also love hearing other reggae artistes.”
“Joint moved to channel 722 which is online streaming only, no Sirius radio can pick it [up]. I have a brand new home radio and a brand new Alpine in car and neither go that high.”
“WTH happened to The Joint? This channel is the only reason I pay for XM in my truck. I don’t need to hear Marley after Marley song. Don’t get me wrong, B is for Bob and I love the Marley family. There is more to reggae than just Marleys.”
SiriusXM explained The Joint’s new status in one sentence at the very end of their release. “SiriusXM’s The Joint channel will continue to be available on the SiriusXM app and on siriusxm.com.”