Fungus, branded on air as Fungus 53, was a Commercial-free radio station on

XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its s ...

, launched in early 2004 and was specialized in playing Uncensored Punk rock, Hardcore rock and Ska music. The channel was one of nine on XM that is marked with an ''xL'', which is the Channel is Uncensored, and indicating frequent Explicit Language. The channel was programmed by

Lou Brutus Lou Brutus (born November 10, 1962) is an American radio personality, program director, voice-over talent, musician, and photographer. He is best known as the host of the nationally syndicated rock radio programs '' hardDrive with Lou Brutus'' a ...

, who is also host of the nationally syndicated radio show, ''Harddrive'', and former program director of

Special X Special X was a Commercial-Free channel on XM Satellite Radio that played Novelty music with a "weirdness" theme. the Special X channel was on Channel 30 on XM Radio and on Channel 848 on DirecTV. In its early days, the channel was hosted by a cha ...

. Lou and Russ Brown were the two DJs on the channel.

Shows That Were on Fungus 53

*Rancid Radio - A weekly, hourly show hosted by the members of the group Rancid. *Kingdom of Swine - Fungus' longest show, Kingdom of Swine dedicated three whole hours to

industrial music Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...

. *Oi!sters - Two hours a week dedicated to

Oi! Oi! is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads, and other disaffected working-class youth. The movement was p ...

. *Complete Control Radio -

Joe Sib Joe Sib, former frontman for the punk rock band Wax, as well as punk rock supergroup 22 Jacks, is the co-founder (along with Bill Armstrong) of SideOneDummy Records. Aside from working at the label, Sib is also active as a stand-up comic. He re ...

hosts a weekly radio show, where he picks the tracks from his punk library at his

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

studio. *Hee-Haw Hell - Airtime devoted to

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

and

cowpunk Cowpunk (or country punk) is a subgenre of punk rock that began in the United Kingdom and Southern California in the late 1970s - early 1980s. It combines punk rock or New wave music, new wave with country music, country, folk music, folk, and b ...

music, some of which is also heard on XM sister channel X Country. *Duped - A show devoted to punk and ska covers. *Slam-a-lot - Hardcore music for a whole hour. *Skanorreha - An entire show of

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

, which mixes in several older songs from the 1990s and 1980s that are not usually rotated into the channel's daytime playlist. *Kowabunga Uber Alles - A weekly show devoted to surf music.

In popular culture

The station was the subject of the first half of the Fungus/I'm a Really Huge Fan of

Bad Religion Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilitie ...

song from one of

NOFX NOFX () is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. Vocalist/bassist Fat Mike, guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin are original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every ...

7" of the month club NOFX () is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. Vocalist/bassist Fat Mike, guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin are original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every ...

program.

Fat Mike Michael John Burkett (born January 16, 1967), known professionally as Fat Mike, is an American musician and producer. He is the bassist and lead vocalist for the punk rock band NOFX and the bassist for the punk rock supergroup cover band Me F ...

expresses his thoughts on the station, mentioning that "I hate the radio but I like Fungus/The only punk rock station, it's humongous".

AC/DC Radio and the end of Fungus

Between 2008 and 2009–15 and 2009-01-15, the channel features the music of Australian band

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

24/7. This is the first single artist micro-channel that is preempting channels on both the XM and Sirius platform.

Punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

on the Sirius platform is being preempted as well. It is being reportedhttp://www.xmfan.com/viewtopic.php?t=96597 that the channel

Boneyard Boneyard may refer to: * Cemetery or graveyard Comics * A character in the Malibu/Marvel Comics publication ''Mantra'' * ''Boneyard'' (comics), a horror-themed comic book series by Richard Moore Film and television * ''Boneyard'' (TV series ...

will replace AC/DC radio on channel 53, meaning Fungus 53 has been retired from the Sirius XM lineup.

Faction Faction or factionalism may refer to: Politics * Political faction, a group of people with a common political purpose * Free and Independent Faction, a Romanian political party * Faction (''Planescape''), a political faction in the game ''Planes ...

became Fungus's successor on November 12, 2008, although Faction is now XM channel 41.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fungus (Xm) Defunct radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 2001 Radio stations disestablished in 2008

Shows That Were on Fungus 53

In popular culture

AC/DC Radio and the end of Fungus

See also

References