The Ongoing History of New Music

Hi folks. Today I am going to talk about a radio documentary show which has been on the air for 30 years. It’s the only radio show of its kind, which lasts in the day of music format radio stations playing nothing but music and less talk and context to what is being played, or even issues which relate to listeners. The Ongoing History Of New Music is such a show, which did the first broadcast on February 28th 1993 and to give you more of an idea of how the show came about, take a look at this link to Alan Cross’s website. Alan Cross is the host of this show, by the way! https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/25-years-ago-today-first-ongoing-history-new-music-aired-radio/#google_vignette

I first discovered the show some time in 1994, when I was more into classic rock and less into alternative music, with the exception of bands being played on the radio. I would learn that David Bowie is an alternative rock icon and I would also learn about such sub genres of this music which are too many to name here. However, Nine Inch Nails is part of a sub genre of alt rock called industrial music and if you wish to learn more about that, I will give you details on how you can hear all sorts of episodes over the years (for free) later on. By the way, just because David Bowie did Under Pressure with Queen, it doesn’t mean that the guys are automatically in the alternative rock camp. Queen are still who they are, with the same audience they always had, except for the musicians who have been influenced by them, but more on that later. However, Alan did mention Queen in a chapter in one of his books on the history of alternative rock, during the chapter on David Bowie.

Anyway, when I came on board in the summer of 1994 one of the first episodes I heard was on the hidden tracks. You know? Those hidden songs at the end of CDs and on many digital releases of albums which had them originally? Never Mind by Nirvana has the most famous example of this, but there are other famous albums with hidden and or unlisted tracks, such as London Calling by The Clash, Undertow by Tool, Broken by Nine Inch Nails and for us Queen heads, Made In Heaven and Brian’s second solo album Another World. Alan has done a few episodes on hidden tracks over the years and let’s just say that some artists have a sense of humour that they may not show as much, throughout the rest of the album. For example: Cole Chamber’s debut album has them talking and some stupid studio chatter and shitty playing at times, which is in stark contrast to the band’s music in general.

Alan Cross has also done interviews from time to time, with artists in a series of shows entitled “In Their Own Words” and it is mostly Canadian bands. My personal favourite has to be the one he did with singer Matthew Good, which is probably the most honest interview he’s ever done and if you’ve heard Matthew Good’s music, you know that he is a straight shooter and not a bullshitter. He tells it like it is and he was very candid about having bipolar disorder and he also told some funny stories, like a guy in a panda suit being tackled by the audience. Again, I will tell you where you can hear the episode further down this post.

Their are episodes on all aspects of music and the music industry, such as: the recording studio, writing songs, record producers and their roll in recording an album, going on tour and Road stories, band names, B-sides which have become famous and about a year ago, Alan did an episode entirely on TV themes. There is even an entire episode devoted to James Bond themes, despite that alternative rock doesn’t have all that much of a foot in the door, when it comes to James Bond. Although in more recent years, we have Chris Cornell, Garbage and Billie Eilish, among others who are relevant to the show who have had songs in Bond movies. Alan has mentioned The Simpsons from Time to Time, as well as Monty Python. He has done complete histories of bands and in some cases, divided such episodes up into multiple parts over a period of weeks such as various times he has done a complete history of U2, The Smashing Pumpkins and many others who have had long careers which have either ended, or are continuing today. In some cases, Alan has done episodes on 10 unusual facts about a particular band and years ago, there was a 10 part series on 100 Weirdest Things In Alt Rock. Alan has also done episodes on the history of vinyl, compact discs and streaming and how we got to where we are today with all of those formats. Recently a series on the 2010s and how that particular decade got us here as well, minus the pandemic. With most of these episodes, we got to hear audio from way back before 1900 and I don’t know about you, but I enjoy hearing that from time to time and as a fan of old-time radio, I don’t mind it sounding all dirty. At the same time, I have no problem with it being cleaned up for today’s audio standards when possible. I like to hear what a person really sounds like, as opposed to mentally guessing what they sound like, if you know what I mean.

When it comes to Queen, Alan has made reference to the band and Freddie, Brian and Roger, when it comes to episodes on those who are super smart, who were influenced by Queen and even how We Will Rock You was recorded. During a 1995 episode on music videos, a piece of Boh Rhap was even played for the obvious reason, that it was the first true music video in 1975. Alan had started a series of episodes on influencers, who are musicians who have influenced alternative rock bands over the years, with Bruce Springsteen being the first . Alan did tell me that Queen may be in the cards, but he didn’t and probably couldn’t give me an answer as to whether there will be an episode, devoted to Queen. So far, the closest we get to Queen at this point is when Alan did the episode on the death of Taylor Hawkins. He actually got to interview The Foo Fighters in their studio in 2014, for the album Sonic Highways. When Taylor came in, Alan had pointed out the picture on the wall, of Roger. Taylor told Alan how Queen was his favourite band and during the episode, Alan even played the track Holy Man, as recorded and at the time unfinished by late Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson in 2019. This track also includes: Taylor Hawkins, Brian and Roger. It’s a great and poignant song and I hope that some day, Alan will do an episode on Queen as an influence on alt rock bands and include the fact that Freddie and the guys did Under Pressure with Mr. Bowie, the alternative rock icon. Another person who was influenced by Queen was the late Andrew Wood of MOTHER LOVE BONE, which included future members of Pearl Jam and who was also a buddy of Chris Cornell, who would play with Brian during a rerecorded version of a Soundgarden song in 1993.

Unfortunately, we’ve also had episodes on people that have passed on too soon, who have made an impact on our lives. There have been episodes on David Bowie, Chris Cornell, Taylor Hawkins, Sinéad O’Connor, Michael Hutchins, Chester Bennington, Scott Weiland and Gord Downie, among others. Alan had even done an episode on the life of Neil Peart of Rush, after he had passed in January 2020, at least as a podcast episode. This also speaks to Alan being a drummer and so am I. I am also a guitar player and a singer, as I am better at the latter two instruments.

To lighten the mood, there is also an annual Christmas episode where we get to hear the strangest Christmas music out there and it gets weirder every year. The episode has ended since 1995, with Henry Rollins reciting the classic Christmas poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas . I wish it was available digitally, but it isn’t and you can only hear it on YouTube right now. So, where can you hear all these episodes and more? Well, you could find various YouTube channels dedicated to the show, put together by fans. Officially, there is a podcast dedicated to the show which has less than half of the episodes which have aired, but you do have a good idea of what the show is about Despite this. The podcast came to fruition in 2017 and thankfully is still highly rated. I rated it five stars and why not? What hooked me was the stories and over the years, I had warmed to a bunch of alternative rock bands that I could never accept as a listener of mainstream rock music. I never would’ve thought I would be into such crazy music as Shooby Taylor, Wesly Willis, Jandek, Captain Beefheart, The Shaggs and many other musicians who seem crazy, or are (or were) legitimately off their rocker. In case you ask, yes I discovered the album Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart, a favourite of Simpsons creator Matt Groening and I wish this albums was available on iTunes and streaming services. I hope that day comes in the future, because I want it, like I managed to find Hamburger Lady by Throbbing Gristle. Yup, I discovered this song and band through the show too and many other weird types of music which is outside the mainstream. I also became fond of more conventional alternative rock band such as: The Smiths, Depeche Mode and The cure among many others which have pop leanings and are palpable for the mainstream rock audiences.

Speaking of audiences, the next new episode will be the 1000th episode and it will be done in front of a live audience. There have been other episodes done this way, but this is special. Sadly, I won’t be there because I had no idea about a contest to show up at this particular event and I would’ve liked to have been there, to meet Alan in person and for him to put a face and a voice, to the guy with an email address, beginning with blindgordie. Yes, I am obviously blind and if you are a long time reader you know that and I had told Alan the same thing, back in my first ever email to him in 2011, when he had taken a hiatus from the show, to another company. I wish I still had it, but I guess it is gone now. However, I will never forget all my kind words for Alan and I meant them. I could have shown up to an event at a radio station I listen too, on December 22nd 2011, but getting there would have been a challenge and I do not drink. Basically, Alan was there to take apart that same classic Christmas poem I had mentioned earlier and I at least, got to hear it on the radio. Then I went to a store, to get a radio scanner and got sick with strep throat over the Christmas holiday.

So, where can you hear any of the episodes I had referenced earlier and most of the great stories from Alan and the bands behind them? The Ongoing History Of New Music podcast on any platform where you can find podcasts, except for Youtube where it has a 1 minute segment and not a complete episode. I know that there are fans of the show, who have created channels with complete, or nearly complete episodes, but the sound quality is not always the best. I love it, but I want to direct you to the podcast and sorry folks, I’m not going to link you to it directly. Just do a search for Ongoing History Of New Music on either Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere else where you can get podcasts except YouTube. Even iHeartRadio and TuneIn Radio also have the podcast so, there is no excuse for not being able to find it on your own. It’s not the complete series, but at least you have a great idea of what this wonderful show has offered us since 1993.

You can also hear it on a bunch of radio stations across Canada and at least one or two in the US and hopefully more, throughout Canada, the US and the rest of the world. I believe that the show has also inspired Youtube channels to spring up, which focus on either a music genre, a song, or on an event or band as done by Youtubers. Two examples I can think of our:Professor of Rockand Rock N’ Roll True Stories, among other to also provide updates on bands related to the channel. Another example isMetal Pilgrim, created by a guy in Ukraine. Yes, it is still putting out new videos even with the war going on.

Alan Cross has kindly put some of my posts from my various blogs on his website and that is because I would email him, with a link to the post and when he could, he would put it in a nearly daily Poast called Random Music News. Many thanks to Alan for kindly helping me to get an audience for my blogs and of course, for doing what he was told by his boss back in the day. If he didn’t, we would all be dumber and we would have no incentive to look up information on our favourite bands on our own, using Wikipedia. By the way, Alan once said in an episode of Ongoing History Of New Music that if there is that dreaded “citation needed” phrase in an article, that means that the information may not be completely correct and needs updating. Fortunately, Queen’s Wikipedia pages don’t have all that many citations needed, as it is more-or-less correct.

The event of the 1000th episode will air on the 17th and I’m looking forward to hearing it, both live on the radio and on the podcast the next morning, as I have paid early access to the show. You’re welcome Alan. Finally, thank you Alan for teaching me about how streaming music works in that you should always listen to at least 30 seconds of a song, in order to help artist get paid for writing songs for us.

There is a new podcast put together by Alan Cross, all about true crime in the music industry. If you do a search for UNCHARTED. CRIME AND MAYHEM IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY (anywhere you get your podcasts) you will learn about the darker side of the music business, including the mob getting involved, inside jobs with various heist, killings, plane crashes and all sorts of bad shit going on in the entertainment industry, which we do not see, unless it is in the news. This (I believe) is an offshoot of The Ongoing History Of New Music and to another level. Anyway, check both podcasts out anywhere you can hear them.