ALAN CROSS

I am watching The Hour right now and Alan Cross from The On-Going History of New Music is on. If you haven't heard Alan's syndicated radio show, you're totally missing out. Alan is THE MAN when it comes to music (I've posted about his show in the past and you can get to his most recent shows from his official site here). These hour-long radio shows (he's done about 500 of them) range in a variety of topics and he gets to the dirt of any issue. Even if he's talking about the worst band in the world (Red Hot Chili Peppers), the show is engrossing and even, dare I say, mind-blowing. What's great about listening to his shows on-line is that when he plays some music to accompany the topic and it's shitty, god-awful music (System Of A Down or Nickleback) you can just scrub over the song and get back into the meat of the program). Where he gets his information from I don't know but he seems to find out some of the most obscure and interesting information about a band that makes you at least gain some appreciation for them in some way--I still hate the Red Hot Chili Peppers' music, but seeing as most of them should be dead, literally, dead, it's amazing to see that they're still putting music out--see RHCP: Drugs, Despair, Redemption Pt. 1 & 2. Other shows' topics include "Before They Were Famous," "10 Weird Things About Oasis," "Bad Career Moves" (Pete Best), "Drummers Who Made a Difference" (not Pete Best), and "Alt Rock's Greatest Instrumentals."
There's soooo many shows it makes me want to puke! I wish I could download them all for my iPod. Well...
...Alan has just released an audio book that I'm going to have to download/order called The Alan Cross Guide To Alternative Rock and it can be found at all your major sources. At Chapters, one listener's review reads (and I quote...err...cut-and-paste):

Alan Cross is a GOD among the other Rock Gods!!!

WOW! This first volume was amazing and I definately was on the edge of my seat listening to each word that Alan uttered. As a graduate of history I enjoy reading and listening to other historians talk about things and Alan has my attention. He personalizes the muscians that he discusses and makes you feel part of the scene and the life of the muscian! This history is all about the 25 most influecial musicians on the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. Alan encourages us to discuss his picks and even disagree with them, but never assumes that he is right in the decisions that he has made! He is refreshing and open about his opinions and completely unassuming.

He's absolutely right! Count me in!