Alan Cross - The Secret History of Rock

The Secret History of Rock

The Secret History of Rock is the syndicated radio program that Alan Cross hosts, writes, and produces. The show is similar to Cross’ old syndicated show, The Ongoing History of New Music in that Cross will provide information on a topic and then play music from a band that is related to the topic that he is talking about.

Unlike The Ongoing History of New Music, Cross rarely does entire episodes dedicated to one band. Rather he will discuss in depth about a few bands, and how they relate to the larger music world. The Secret History of Rock also differs from The Ongoing History of New Music, in that its two hours (instead of the old one hour program), and there is focus on classic Alternative Rock.

Cross begins every episode of The Secret History of Rock by telling the listener a “secret” they may not have known before. These secrets range from the life span of a CD to how gondolas are made. These facts are things that Cross finds interesting, and the purpose of this intro is to end with the tag “so there’s a secret about (blank), and here are some secrets of rock. Each episode also ends with Cross listing off what he calls “useless information.” He warns the listener that he is not responsible for what they do with this information, but he hopes that they use it wisely.

Fans of his show can stream it at his website, but downloading his episodes is not an option, because of the copyright issues associated with the music tracks that he plays.