Pink Floyd’s great gig in the sky is getting even better.
Satellite radio service SiriusXM announced that the Pink Floyd Channel has won two regular slots on Deep Tracks, beginning now. Meanwhile, owners of some new satellite radio units may join online subscribers in getting their Pink Floyd fix 24/7.
Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters said this “great news as it means we’ll all be able to get (the channel) when we’re stuck in traffic.” The singer-bassist said the psychedelic grooves might even cut down on “road rage.”
The Pink Floyd Channel hasn’t been available to regular subscribers of satellite radio since its limited run last May.
While Floyd freaks were hoping the channel would find a full-time slot — as with the mainstream Grateful Dead, Elvis and Jimmy Buffett channels — it was not be. But the Pink Floyd channel stayed alive on SiriusXM Internet Radio (channel 711) and now it’s expanding somewhat.
Deep Tracks channel 27 — the closest thing SiriusXM has to a psychedelic music channel — will simulcast the Pink Floyd Channel Sundays from 6 p.m. to midnight ET. And there’s a new daily fix on Deep Tracks: Monday through Friday from midnight to 1 a.m. ET.
Owners of the Lynx and Edge satellite radio receivers can access the 24/7 Floyd stream on channel 311. It’ll also be available “in select vehicles” — meaning some new models with expanded channel lineups.
Meanwhile, the Pink Floyd Channel continues full-time broadcasting via the web. “We’ve been happy there online,” Waters said.
The expanded SiriusXM online service — whose goodies include archives of programs by Bob Dylan (channel 710) and Tom Petty (channel 712) — costs regular subscribers a couple of bucks. That streaming service also is available via the SiriusXM Radio App for mobile devices.
The Pink Floyd stream started as a limited-run special spanning the Memorial Day weekend of 2012. It was extended into midsummer due to “popular demand” and then found its slot online.
Longtime free-form radio personality Jim Ladd was instrumental in launching the Pink Floyd Channel and is its curator.
Pink Floyd recently teamed with Spotify to stream its catalog. Surviving members of the band also took on Pandora over royalty payments.
“We’ve been happy there online. However, now the channel is being expanded, which is great news as it means we’ll all be able to get it when we’re stuck in traffic,” said Pink Floyd’s longtime member Roger Waters. “Reaching out in drive time, love it! It could even conceivably have an impact on road rage.”
More Pink Floyd content:
I just hope the run on Deep Tracks is more diverse than the limited-run channel was, because any time that I was listening they seemed to play the same saucerful of songs over and over and over. I was hoping for some rarities during the limited-run, like “Heart Beat, Pig Meat,” “Candy And A Currant Bun,” or “It Would Be So Nice.” But all they seemed to want to play was the same stuff they play to death on any Classic Rock station. I haven’t heard the 24/7 internet channel, but I certainly hope it’s more diverse than the limited-run channel was, because as much as I love “The Wall,” there’s only so many times a day you can hear “Comfortably Numb” before you want to shave your own nipples off.