The 80s on 8
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| The '80s on 8 | |
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| Broadcast area | United States Canada |
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| Frequency | XM 8 |
| First air date | 2001-09-25 |
| Format | 1980s Music |
| Class | Satellite Radio Station |
| Owner | XM Satellite Radio |
| Website | the80s.xmradio.com |
The '80s on 8 (or just The '80s) is a commercial-free, satellite radio station on the XM Satellite Radio platform. The channel plays hit music from the 1980s. Artists played include the Culture Club, Go-Gos, Styx, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, The Police, Prince, and of course, Michael Jackson .
The channel was created in 2000/2001 and programmed by Bruce Kelly, a veteran radio program director and morning drive/afternoon personality in Phoenix, Miami, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh and Boston. Kelly's morning show was one of XM's highest rated programs. He was also featured on many XM Artist specials and live reports from the cream reunion and Live 8 shows from London in Spring/Summer of 2005, plus was on-camera host with Bon Jovi for the launch of AOL AEG Network Live from the Nokia Theater, Times Square, NYC. Kelly also became a regular character on the Opie and Anthony show on XM Channel 202 - "The Virus". In late 2005, Kelly resigned from XM in order to care for his ailing father and has yet to resurface at another radio job.
Much like the other decades channels, The 80s on 8 attempts to recreate the feel of 1980s radio. They use similar DJ habits, jingles, '80s slang, news updates, and an occasional vintage commercial (which is presented this way in order to retain the commercial free status). The channel is also used for XM's annual pop music chronology, IT.
XM's 80s channel is the third most listened to station on the XM service, with an Arbitron-estimated cume of 698,300 listeners per week.[1]
For rare songs from the '80s played on this station, each song is played and described as an American Bottom 40, a parody of the American Top 40 program.
[edit] Programs
- '80s WannaBe's - The Lost/Forgotten/Misplaced/Spaced Out from the '80s... The songs you know, that you forgot you know, but that we know, ya know? "Ohhh WOW! I remember that one, dude!"
- '80s Alive - Your front row seat to live, legendary performances as they happened in the '80s. Crank it up the max, the amps are turned up. Listen for... All Day.
- American Top 40 - The original American Top 40 shows hosted by Casey Kasem from the '80s, air twice weekly, taking snapshots of the biggest hits at various periods of time in the '80s. Sunday 12 noon to about 3:15 PM ET and Thursday 10 PM to about 1:15 AM ET. (Originally the Thursday show was a repeat of the one run on Sunday, but as of October 2006 they are running two different episodes per week; this has since reverted back to the Thursday show being a repeat of the Sunday show.)
