Lou Brutus (born November 10, 1962) is an American radio personality,

program director In service industries, such as education, a program manager or program director researches, plans, develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services. For example, in education, a program director is responsible for developing ...

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...

talent, musician, and photographer. He is best known as the host of the nationally syndicated rock radio programs '' hardDrive with Lou Brutus'' and ''hardDrive XL with Lou Brutus'', as well as his work at

Sirius XM Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merger ...

Radio overview

As host of '' hardDrive with Lou Brutus'' and ''hardDrive XL with Lou Brutus'', as well as through his music programming for

, he has assisted in breaking many rock bands in the

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

radio format notably Slipknot,

Stone Sour Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000; since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand ...

Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, lead gui ...

Godsmack Godsmack is an American Rock music, rock band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band is currently composed of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Sully Erna and bassist Robbie Merrill. Since its formation, Godsmack has released eig ...

, Disturbed,

Five Finger Death Punch Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist Ivan Moody, rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory, lead g ...

Sevendust Sevendust is an American Rock music, rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 by bassist Vinnie Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly (musician), John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon an ...

and

Halestorm Halestorm is an American Rock music, rock band from Red Lion, Pennsylvania, consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Lzzy Hale, drummer Arejay Hale, guitarist Joe Hottinger, and bassist Josh Smith. Siblings Lzzy and Arejay founded the band in ...

among others. He was an early hire for

XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XM) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable ...

, later merged with

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio ( SDARS) service that operated in the United States and Canada. Sirius launched in 2002, and primarily competed with XM Satellite Radio, until the two services merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM. Li ...

to form Sirius XM Radio, where he has acted as

, senior program director, disc jockey,

interviewer An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" re ...

and

talent. Brutus' voiceovers there include acting as the primary voice of the '40s on 4 channel which he based upon

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

announcer Ken Carpenter. Brutus has also hosted radio specials and created music channels for artists including

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

, Disturbed,

3 Doors Down 3 Doors Down is an American Rock music, rock band from Escatawpa, Mississippi that formed in 1996. The band's music is described as post-grunge, alternative rock, and hard rock. The band's 2000 debut single "Kryptonite (3 Doors Down song), Kr ...

, Rush, Theory of a Deadman, Slipknot,

Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. ...

A Perfect Circle A Perfect Circle is an American Rock music, rock Supergroup (music), supergroup formed in Los Angeles, California in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool (band), Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. A Perfect Circle released three of their ...

and others. In 2011, Five Finger Death Punch used Brutus to host their military intelligence-themed press conference in Los Angeles, California, for their ''Trespass America Tour''.

Music overview

In the music world, he is creator and lead singer of the comedy-rock bands Dead Schembechlers (a send-up of the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

versus

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

football rivalry) which he formed with members of the Columbus, Ohio-based band

Watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

as well as the Grumpy Old Punks (a band which features comedic punk rock takes on middle aged life). Other novelty flavored music has been released under the monikers Ol' Dirty Brutus (nerdish hip hop music) and Lou Brutus and the Perfect Pachydermus Percussion Pitches (baseball themed tunes). He was a co-writer on the Dash Rip Rock concept album ''Hee Haw Hell''. Early in his career, he created tracks to

WMMR WMMR (93.3 FM, "93-3 WMMR") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC and broadcasts an active rock radio format. ...

's Morning Zoo ''Abbey Dirt Road'' and ''Zoo's Next'' albums. He has contributed liner notes and or photography to several artists including

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

Mary Prankster Mary Prankster is the moniker for an American singer-songwriter. She is primarily associated with Baltimore (but now residing in New England), and played a blend of alternative/indie music with frank lyrics. The name is a reference to Ken Kesey' ...

, The Phenomenauts and

The Methadones The Methadones are a Punk rock band formed in 1993 by guitarist/vocalist Dan Vapid in Chicago, Illinois. The Methadones initially lasted only a few shows before Vapid put them to the side to focus on his main band Screeching Weasel. By 1999 Dan ...

. Brutus is a member of both

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

and

NARAS National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

Photography

As a photographer, Brutus has worked on field capturing images of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

as an accredited league photographer including home games of the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

and

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. He has photographed numerous music acts and festivals he has covered during his radio duties. He also frequently photographs

lighthouses A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...

and

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

fields as a hobby. He has stated on the air that he as yet does not wish to pursue selling his hobby shots for fear of turning it into work.

Popular culture

In November 1996, guitarist

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex V ...

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...

chose The Lou Brutus Experience as the name for the all star band he put together to play the Jason Becker

ALS Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

Benefit concert. The group also featured

Steve Lukather Steven Lee "Luke" Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to ...

Billy Sheehan William Sheehan (born March 19, 1953) is an American musician known for playing bass guitar with acts such as Talas, Steve Vai, David Lee Roth, Mr. Big, Niacin, and The Winery Dogs. He is also known for his "lead bass" playing style, includ ...

and

Pat Torpey Patrick Allan Torpey (December 13, 1953 – February 7, 2018) was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Mr. Big, as well as playing for other various singers and artists such as John Parr, Belinda Carlisle, Robert ...

. Chicago street singer

Wesley Willis Wesley Lawrence Willis (May 31, 1963 – August 21, 2003) was an American musician and visual artist. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1989, Willis began a career as an underground singer-songwriter in the outsider music tradition. Will ...

recorded the song "Lou Brutus" for his 1998 self-released album ''Rock 'N Roll Jackflash''. Author

Elwood Reid Brian "Elwood" Reid (born December 19, 1966) is an American novelist, short-story writer and television screenwriter. Early life Reid was born in Cleveland, Ohio in a working-class area. Reid played college football for the Michigan Wolverines f ...

included a character named Lou Brutus in his first book ''D.B.: A Novel''.

Early life

Birth and education

Brutus was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, on November 10, 1962. At an early age, his family moved to a farm in Englishtown, New Jersey. He is a graduate of Manalapan High School in Manalapan Township where he was active in the theatre program as well as producing music concerts with local rock groups and acting as announcer of the afternoon PA announcements. It was at the suggestion of the school principal that Brutus was invited to be one of four students to record short vignettes for New York City radio station WABC-AM, which would be his first time on the radio. He later attended

Brookdale Community College Brookdale Community College is a public community college in the Lincroft section of Middletown Township, in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1967, the college also has regional locations in Neptune Township, Free ...

Lincroft, New Jersey Lincroft is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States.WBJB-FM.

Early radio influences

It was his growing up in Monmouth County in

Central New Jersey Central Jersey, or Central New Jersey, is the middle region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The designation Central Jersey is a distinct administrative division, administrative toponymy, toponym. While New Jersey is often divided into North Je ...

that Brutus acknowledged as giving him a well-rounded appreciation of the radio world at an early age as signals were received from both the New York City and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

radio markets as well as the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

stations. He has named radio personality

Dan Ingram Daniel Trombley Ingram (September 7, 1934 – June 24, 2018) was an American Top 40 radio "disc jockey", in a 50-year career on radio stations, which included WABC and WCBS-FM, both ln New York City. Career "Big Dan" started broadcasting at ...

as a significant, early influence as well as Harry Harrison and Ron Lundy. He has also cited Scott Muni,

Alison Steele Alison Steele (born Ceil Loman; January 26, 1937 – September 27, 1995) was an American radio personality who was also known by her air name, The Nightbird. She amassed a large and loyal following on her night shifts on WNEW-FM in New York Cit ...

and

Vin Scelsa Vincent Anthony Scelsa (born December 12, 1947, in Bayonne, New Jersey) is an American broadcaster who was at "the forefront of the FM radio revolution" as the host of several freeform radio programs, the best-known titled ''Idiot's Delight''. ...

as others.

Radio career

WMMR Philadelphia

While attending

, Brutus began an

internship An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

with

. The internship led to a job as morning show producer for

John DeBella John DeBella (born 1949 or 1950) is an American former DJ who played a major role in developing the morning zoo format. Until his retirement in June 2023, he hosted the morning ''John DeBella Show'' on 102.9 WMGK-FM in Philadelphia. Early lif ...

and shifts as a weekend disc jockey. He was there in those capacities from 1984 to 1988.

WPLJ New York City

In 1988 he accepted a job as morning show producer at

WPLJ-FM WPLJ (95.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station, licensed to New York, New York. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), based in Franklin, Tennessee, it broadcasts EMF's Christian adult contemporary formatted p ...

in New York City where he worked with Jim Kerr, Shelli Sonstein and Howard the Cab Driver under Program Director Larry Berger.

WHJY Providence – WBCN Boston – WMMR Philadelphia

After a brief stint, Brutus left

to begin his first ever full-time on-air hosting job at

WHJY WHJY (94.1 FM) is a commercial mainstream rock station in Providence, Rhode Island, owned by iHeartMedia. WHJY has been a rock station since September 4, 1981. Its broadcast center, also used by its sister stations, is on Oxford Street, just ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

. It was at this juncture that he began his trademark of closing his radio programs with a quote from writer

Hunter S. Thompson Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author, regarded as a pioneer of New Journalism along with Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe. He rose to prom ...

. He met with Thompson twice during this time during appearances by the author at the Somerville Theater outside of

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. They stayed in contact until Thompson's death in 2005 including Brutus' unsuccessful attempts to convince the author to host a hybrid music/political program on

. Brutus was let go from

in the spring of 1992. He did return for one night in 2003 to host a memorial edition of The Metal Zone in honor of his friend Mike "Dr. Metal" Gonsalves who perished in

The Station Nightclub Fire A fire occurred on the evening of February 20, 2003, at The Station, a nightclub and music venue in West Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, killing 100 people and injuring 230. During a concert by the rock band Jack Russell's Great White, an ...

. Shortly after his departure from WHJY, Brutus joined the staff of WBCN-FM in

where he worked weekend and fill in shifts. By fall of that year, Brutus was back at

as host of the night shift. He remained in this capacity until offered the afternoon drive position at WRCX-FM in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

WRCX Chicago

It was while at WRCX, dubbed Rock 103.5 on the air, that Brutus began to reach a national audience. During this time he started to host album premiere specials for trade publication Friday Morning Quarterback. He also traveled extensively including being the lone U.S. radio representative at the 1995 Molson Ice Polar Beach Party in

Tuktoyaktuk Tuktoyaktuk ( ; , ) is an Inuvialuit hamlet near the Mackenzie River delta in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, at the northern terminus of the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway.Montgomery, Marc"Canada now officially connected ...

, Canada which featured a private performance by

. Brutus would also host the 1997 Molson Ice Polar Beach in

Churchill, Manitoba Churchill is a subarctic port town in northern Manitoba, Canada, on the west shore of Hudson Bay, roughly from the Manitoba–Nunavut border. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leadi ...

with a performance by

Collective Soul Collective Soul is an American rock band originally from Stockbridge, Georgia. Now based in Atlanta, the group consists of the brothers Ed (lead vocalist) and Dean Roland (rhythm guitarist), Will Turpin (bassist), Johnny Rabb (drummer), a ...

. Despite its success, the station changed formats within a few years. When asked about the station's short life Brutus said, "Its run may not have been as long as some other stations but I am reminded of

Joe Turkel Joseph Turkel (July 15, 1927 – June 27, 2022) was an American character actor who starred in film and television during the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s. He is probably best-known for his roles in Stanley Kubrick's films '' T ...

's line to

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor, with a career that spanned over 170 roles across nearly 50 years, beginning in 1969. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. H ...

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...

, 'The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long – and you have burned so very, very brightly.'"

''hardDrive with Lou Brutus''

While in Chicago, Brutus was approached by industry veteran Corinne Baldassano at the suggestion of Jacobs Media to host a new, nationally syndicated radio program, which would showcase the burgeoning

format. '' hardDrive with Lou Brutus'' debuted in thirty-five markets on July 4, 1996. Designed as weekend specialty programming, the two-hour, weekly show has since gone on to be heard in over 120 markets throughout the United States. It was originally distributed by Sony SW Networks later moving to distribution through Media America and then

United Stations Radio Networks United Stations Radio Networks (United Stations) is a radio network that provides a variety of radio programs and programming services for radio stations throughout the United States and elsewhere. It is based in New York City. History The comp ...

. The show has been cited as an influence by hard rock and metal musicians including

Breaking Benjamin Breaking Benjamin is an American Rock music, rock band from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, formed in 1999 by lead singer and guitarist Benjamin Burnley and drummer Jeremy Hummel. The first lineup of the band also included guitarist Aaron Fink an ...

and

Corey Taylor Corey Todd Taylor (born December 8, 1973) is an American musician, songwriter, author and actor. He is the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Slipknot (band), Slipknot, in which he is designated #8, as well as the lead vocalist, guitarist, ly ...

of Slipknot who listened to the program while working at an Iowa porn shop as he plotted his path to stardom.

hardDrive XL with Lou Brutus

In 2007, a five-hour, weeknight version was launched and has gone on to be heard in over forty markets in the United States. The program's features include ''Rant of the Day, Poetry Corner, Weird World News, Odd and Ends, Flix Pix, Are You Game'' and ''It Came From the Web''. In 2011,

Lzzy Hale Elizabeth Mae "Lzzy" Hale IV (born October 10, 1983) is an American musician. She serves as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of hard rock band Halestorm, which she co-founded with her brother Arejay Hale in 1997. Early life Hale was born O ...

of the band

was added to the program doing an "Ask Lzzy" segment where she answered personal questions from the audience.

WHFS Washington, DC

Brutus left Chicago in 1998 to accept the morning show host position with WHFS-FM in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He left in 1999.

Sirius XM Satellite Radio

In late 2000, Brutus accepted the position of

where he began in early 2001.

Special X

It was at XM that Brutus began the genre bending Special X channel which mixed varied musical and spoken word formats into a bizarre amalgam known as Weirdness on Special X.

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

described the programming as, "Bizarre enough to make Dr. Demento woozy...a wild mix of wacky theme programming and 'categorically challenged' music." Brutus appeared on channel in the character of Generalissimo "Stoshu" Ortega during vignettes produced to sound like

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

era Communist propaganda broadcasts promoting weird music instead of politics. The other regular channel voice was actor

. Special X also hosted themed programming like the baseball-centric "Play Ball" and the novelty holiday Special X-Mas programming. For Valentine's Day it featured ''The One I Love Ripped Out My Heart and Fed it to a Pack of Wild Dogs Anti-Valentine's Day Spectacular''. Additionally, the channel presented a two-hour daily program of strange

cover songs In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released ...

entitled ''Cover Songs That Give You a Burning in Your Esophagus''.

Fungus 53

When Special X was dropped from the line up in 2008, Brutus was tasked with creating the first ever punk rock radio station Fungus 53. Assistant programmer on the channel was DJ Russ Brown. The channel became respected enough for its support of the genre that it was celebrated by punk band

NOFX NOFX () was an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. Bassist/lead vocalist Fat Mike, rhythm guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin were original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every ...

in the song "Fungus". The song featured the lyrics, "I hate the radio but I like Fungus. The only punk-rock station, it's humongous. I think they just play Misfit's Walk among us. Fungus 53."

Director of programming

After the punk rock format and channel were axed in 2008, Brutus was named as Senior Program Director of the

Active Rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

format. This has included working with

channels

Octane Octane is a hydrocarbon and also an alkane with the chemical formula C8H18, and the condensed structural formula CH3(CH2)6CH3. Octane has many structural isomers that differ by the location of branching in the carbon chain. One of these isomers ...

Liquid Metal A liquid metal is a metal or a metal alloy which is liquid at or near room temperature. The only stable liquid elemental metal at room temperature is Mercury (element), mercury (Hg), which is molten above −38.8 °C (234.3 K, −37.9 ...

, Rock Bar, Faction and The Grateful Dead Channel as well as creating the Mandatory Metallica limited run channel.

Artist Confidential

Brutus became host for the Artist Confidential Series following the death of original host George Taylor Morris. The long form music and interview series put Brutus together with artists as diverse as

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...

, Evanesence,

KoRn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

Hank Williams Jr Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style has been described as a blend of rock music, rock, blues, and country music, count ...

Shinedown Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed by singer Brent Smith in 2001 after the dissolution of his previous band, Dreve. Smith, still under contract with record label Atlantic Records, recruited the band's original ...

Harry Connick Jr Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and former television host. As of 2019, he has sold over 30 million records worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top60 List of best-sel ...

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1970 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. Their work bridged elements of '60s pop rock, guitar pop, '70s har ...

Indigo Girls Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duet (music), duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in Primary school, elementary school and began performing together as Secondary school, hig ...

Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland, consisting of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), and Johnny McDaid (piano, guitar, keyboards, backi ...

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...

Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer A ...

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, Wynonna,

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, David Gray,

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and many more. He has criticized the Rock Radio format in regard to its artists relations, "I believe the rock end of the business needs to get its act together much in the way that country did when it comes to making artists a more integral part of each radio station. Management and labels need to step up and make their artists available to the stations. On radio's end, you must do a great job every time an artist is taking time out of their probably already overworked schedule. We on the radio have got to make the artists feel like they have to be on the air with us or they're missing out on something. Both sides need to respect each other, help each other and feed off each other."

Layoff

After 22 years with SiriusXM, Brutus was one of 475 employees who were laid off in March 2023.

Outside Endeavors

In 1992, Brutus began a series of comic books entitled "''The Adventures of Brutusman''." The comics featured other personalities and characters from his radio show including Sammy the Seal. The comics were drawn by Alan MacBain. An online only version, meant to be downloaded and colored, was released in 2010 under the title "''Brutusman: The Dark Nut Returns''." The comic was again drawn by MacBain and written by Brutus. Brutus has produced at least two micro-brewed beers including "Brew Loutus Ale" and "Lou-In-Brau." They were produced thru local beer brewers in the Providence, RI and Chicago, IL areas. Label design for each beer was by Alan MacBain. Lou Brutus won the Radio Contraband Rock Radio Award for "Dj of the Year" for 2013 and 2014 for "Syndicated DJ of the Year"

Music career

Dead Schembechlers

In 2004, Lou Brutus teamed with Colin Gawel and Joe Oestreich of the Columbus, OH based rock band

to form the group Dead Schembechlers. The group took a satirical look at the football rivalry between

and the

, named the greatest sports rivalry of all time by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. Named for former Michigan head coach

Bo Schembechler Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( ; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American college football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the Univers ...

, The Dead Schembechlers featured pro-OSU/anti-Michigan songs like "''Michigan Stadium is A Pile of Shit''," ''Ann Arbor Girls Are Dirty Whores''," and "''I Hate Michigan''." Full length albums from the group include "''Rocket to Ann Arbor''," "''Wolverine Destroyer''," and "''Rodriguez to Ruin''," which also featured artwork by Alan MacBain. . Each band member took a first name of "Bo" and the last name of a famous punk rocker with Brutus becoming lead singer Bo Biafra, the last name a nod to

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of the

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. While finding an early champion in Columbus, OH radio station WWCD-FM, the group's no-holds barred approach immediately garnered negative press including the November 19, 2004 front page of the Detroit Free Press with the headline "OSU Punks Rip into U-M Rivals." Brutus as Biafra appeared alongside footage of the band in the

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documentary "''Michigan vs Ohio State: The Rivalry''" with one pro-Michigan reviewer calling his on camera appearance "awful." The band announced their retirement following Bo Schembechler's death just a few hours before their 2006 "Hate Michigan Rally." They have since sporadically reformed with proceeds going to the Bo Schembechler Heart of Champion Fund charity.

Grumpy Old Punks

Brutus joined with old school friends K Roy of the band Jehovah Waitresses and Guzda in 2011 for the band Grumpy Old Punks. Like the Dead Schembechlers, their music rooted in classic punk rock, with lyrics spoofing the problems of middle aged men. The band released the EP "''Grumpy Old Punks''" in 2011 and "''Anarchy in the Prostate''" in 2012. Artwork for both albums provided by underground cartoonist

Derf Backderf John Backderf (born October 31, 1959), also known as Derf or Derf Backderf, is an American cartoonist. He is most famous for his graphic novels, especially '' My Friend Dahmer'', the international bestseller which won an Angoulême Prize, and ea ...

. Song titles include "''My Adjustable Rate Mortgage Sucks''," "''That's No MILF That's My Wife''," and "''Gotta Get A Nose Hair Trimmer''."