The Science of Rock’n’Roll at the Ontario Science Centre

Alan Cross had just three months to consider the winding history of rock ’n’ roll over the decades, pinpointing the exact moments of transformation.

The broadcaster best known for his now-defunct Ongoing History of New Musicprogram was asked to help curate “The Science of Rock ’n’ Roll” exhibition, opening June 11 at the Ontario Science Centre.

He’s one of the few people who could pull it off, having hosted 691 episodes of the long-form radio show since 1993 before it went off the air in 2011.

Cross now produces the Secret History of Rock, which airs across Canada, and he’s affiliated with local radio station Indie 88.

The self-proclaimed music nerd reached back into that institutional memory, as well as his own music and research library, to curate a sprawling new exhibit. It has traveled through Kansas City, Detroit and Oklahoma City as “beta tests” for the Toronto opening.