"Ahead of the curve" — what's the problem? It's a vivid and economical expression whose meaning is perfectly clear. I admit it — I've used it myself.

As for the Sonny & Brownie confusion: until Kate McGarrigle died a couple of years back I was convinced that she was Anna and that Anna was Kate. I don't think it affected my enjoyment of either...but I suppose it might have eroded my credibility if I was the presenter of the Mike Harding Show. Another pearl from the same programme — "It's called Tears Of Lot's Wife and I like it an awful, awful lot." (uttered without an atom of irony)