“Over the last couple of years, Myf, Adam and I have got together every so often just to talk about whether we’re still enjoying it and whether people are still enjoying it, making sure it didn’t drag on and just become awful - obviously some probably think it is awful,” Alan laughs, “but so it didn’t become awful for the majority of people. This year we sat down and thought it felt like the right time. It’s sort of difficult to quantify how we came to that decision. It seemed like seven seasons was already good – people were still watching it and we still liked it. Then someone said that is better to leave one day early than two days late, which really resonated with us because we’ve been really lucky to be involved in a show that people have really enjoyed. It would be best for people to be left with a good taste in their mouth and for their not be a lot of shark-jumping going on. We just thought that now was the right time,” he states.
In this day and age, having a show run for a grand total of seven seasons is without a doubt monumental effort. As for why Spicks And Specks has become such a modern-day institution on our telly screens, Alan puts it down to good ol’ wholesome (for the most part) fun. “It’s really difficult to say, because I’m not a viewer. The main reasons, as far as I can tell, is that it’s quite old-fashioned. I think older viewers respond to that sort of daggy-ness, and young people respond to it because there is not much like it on television. I know that this is a really weird show to compare it to, but there’s a similar daggy-ness and old-fashioned style to The Footy Show. I know I’ve dressed up as a lady as well for Spicks And Specks, so there’s also that connection. There aren’t many of those shows on air anymore,” he pauses. “I’m probably going to get into huge amounts of trouble for comparing us to The Footy Show,” Alan laughs.
“The main thing is the music – it’s incredibly uniting. Think of the amount of times you’ve met someone and they’ve mentioned a song that you like and you think, ‘OK, now we can be friends for the rest of our lives because you like this band.’ Or on the obverse, you can say, ‘We can never be friends, because I can’t know someone that likes Shania Twain,’ for instance.” At this point I refrain from explicating my opinion that Come On Over is one of the finest rock albums of the ’90s. “Because music is so cross-generational, parents, grandparents, kids can sit there and watch the show together and all find something in common to enjoy.”
Though every single person on the show shares a common passion for all things music, Alan without a doubt stands tall as the program’s foremost music nerd – a title which has become extremely comfortable. “I’m very much a music nerd, and have been all my life. I’ve worked in record stores, which if you have a tendency to be a music nerd, will generally tip you over the edge. To be a successful record store worker, you have to be a total nerd. I love it. It gave me an ability to express my knowledge in public. As my mother said to me, ‘Thank god all that useless music knowledge is finally making you some money,'” he recalls.
But with such a tendency to get carried away with trivia, Alan reveals that he’s come to expect some of his more indulgent moments get left on the cutting room floor. “I remember an instance where I got onto the topic of Butthole Surfers, and I absolutely love Butthole Surfers and have been listening to them for a number of years. And they have some of the greatest album titles of all time. So I went on talking about Butthole Surfers album titles, and I could see not only the people in the audience, but also the people on the show just glazing over. And I thought, ‘Oh well, I’m in the middle of it now, they’re gonna cut it out anyway, I may as well make them suffer through a few more minutes of me talking about Cream Corn From The Socket Of Davis’ – one of their early EPs. So I did. I usually control myself relatively well, but occasionally my blood will rise and I’m off, and they just cut it out,” he chuckles.
