Alan Cross wasn’t sure ‘The Ongoing History of New Music’ would last — 30 years later it plays on

Don’t ask Alan Cross the secret to creating Canada’s longest-running radio documentary. I tried in conjunction with his “The Ongoing History of New Music,” celebrating its 30th anniversary on Tuesday.

For the uninitiated, Cross hosts a one-hour program dissecting all things alternative rock that has consistently aired Sunday nights at 7 p.m. on 102.1 the Edge as well as on a rotating cast of affiliate stations. “The Ongoing History” is also a podcast, one that is consistently in Apple Canada’s Top 5 for music podcasts and in the Top 10 globally, according to Rob Johnston, senior editor and sound designer for Corus Entertainment’s Curiouscast.

(Johnston has become a household name of his own to the show’s untold millions of listeners thanks to Cross ending every “Ongoing History” episode since 1995 with the tag line “Technical production by Rob Johnston.”)

While Cross’s voice has become one of authority when providing all important context to music that exploded into the mainstream during the 1990s and which gen-Xers like myself keep in heavy rotation, he would be the absolute last person to tell you this was how he saw his career going.

“Conventional wisdom says this show should not work,” he said over a Zoom call. “The host talks too much, the host plays too much unfamiliar music and the host never, ever mentions the name of the radio station within the body of the program.”

For starters, this project was assigned to him by then CFNY program director Stewart Meyers to coincide with the station transitioning to becoming the Edge. Cross thought the name of the show was pretty dumb, too, and wouldn’t last long term.

Original producer Craig Venn remembers the vibe around this novel radio concept being positive at the time, despite “playing the most obscure and bizarre stuff” to his ears, like Captain Beefheart, as the early days of punk and alt-rock were explored. A particular highlight for Venn was Episode 59, just after Kurt Cobain’s suicide in early April 1994, when he called the Seattle coroner’s office to get a recording of the death announcement.

Name any artist within the alternative universe and chances are “The Ongoing History” has touched on them. Johnston figures Nirvana and maybe the Ramones have probably been covered the most, but is quick to add that episodes on subjects such as “Outsider Music” have proven to be outrageously popular.

The continuing success of “The Ongoing History” as a podcast is not all that surprising to workaholic colleagues Cross and Johnston, as they’ve always known there’s an insatiable appetite for their content, from bootleg cassettes being sold, to “someone in Durham Region taping the shows and rebroadcasting them on shortwave.”

For Cross and Johnston there is no greater reinforcement than hearing stories from listeners of how they used to wait in their car until a segment was over, needing closure on the compelling story by which they were completely engrossed before the days of being able to go back and replay.

Patrick Bales is a good representation of that devoted audience.

“I started listening to ‘The Ongoing History’ in the mid-90s as I was starting high school,” he said. “It really helped guide me into my chosen academic and then professional paths, being the journalist whose favourite assignments were when I could write critically about music and just happened to have an MA in history.

“Like many other kids, I wanted to know there were adults ‘like me’ and, every Sunday night, Alan Cross fit the bill. The absolute tops for me in terms of something I discovered through the show was the first time I heard the original version of ‘Tainted Love’ by Gloria Jones … I’m a fan of better music — and maybe a better music fan — because of ‘The Ongoing History.’”

American Amber Healy writes how “you didn’t have to live in Toronto, or Canada at all, to appreciate Alan Cross and Rob Johnston’s work, but growing up in Western New York it’s another part of the culture we share and the program helped me learn more about the Canadian bands I love that filled our airwaves on both sides of the lakes.”

Eric Wilhite is a Calgary native who got hooked on “The Ongoing History” when his local alternative music station, X92.9, first started broadcasting it in 2007. When Wilhite heard he could listen to the show again in podcast form but without the music, the superfan reached out to Cross with an idea: he makes Spotify playlists featuring all the songs from the original episodes, which Cross links to when he posts about episodes on his website.

Wilhite figures there must be about 300 playlists under his account, with the most popular by far being “A Remembrance of Gord Downie” (episode 798, by the way).

If there’s a story Cross feels deserves to be told he has had the autonomy to do so for 30 years. He comes up with the show topics, researches the material, writes the scripts and delivers information in a tone that still conveys enthusiasm like you’re talking favourite records with a good friend.

Cross and Johnston have no shortage of ideas to fill the “Ongoing History” schedule for years to come, but they are especially looking forward to the show’s milestone 1,000th episode, which is looking to happen in November.

Plus they are now dealing with the increasing reality of longtime listeners’ kids discovering the program so as to “learn about good music,” as more than a few have told them. This enduring loyalty and support is the true legacy of “The Ongoing History of New Music,” something that is never discounted by the two people behind it.

“We’re just grateful that you’re interested.”

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