GRUMPY OLD PUNKS

10.06.10

It's always been Lou's contention that true punk rock anger isn't best manifested by snotty assed 16 years olds as they have their mommies and daddies paying their way. He feels that those who truly know how bad the world sucks are paunchy, balding, middle-aged guys with too many bills to pay so he's put together an all-star group called Grumpy Old Punks.

The band will give an outlet to the every day frustrations of harried husbands and depressed dads from coast to coast with songs of "middle age punk rock rage." Tunes will include "Hey You Kids Get Off My Lawn," "That's No MILF That's My Wife," "My Adjustable Rate Mortgage Really Sucks" and "You're Not Going Out Dressed Like That."

Look for the debut album "Anarchy in the Prostate" in late 2010. In the meantime, the band has posted a demo of its musical tribute to the king of the castle being stranded on his porcelain throne by his thankless family called "Empty Toilet Paper Roll."

You can also check out deets on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or their web site. Links available in the Kontakt section of this site!

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BRUTUSMAN: THE DARK NUT RETURNS

09.27.10

Rumors run rampant that America will soon get its first look at the 2010 version of Lou's hapless, cartoon alter ego with Brutusman: The Dark Nut Returns.

Written by Lou and drawn by his longtime partner in artistic crime Alan MacBain, the comic book will be a free download here on the site one page at a time. It will appear in black and white and we'll be looking for you to color each page either by hand or with your favorite computer program. The best will receive free schwaggage from Brutus. Details will hit when the comic does.

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DEAD SCHEMBECHLERS TO BRING THE HATE

08.11.10

Lou Brutus will once again take on the persona of Michigan Wolverine loathing, Ohio State Buckeyes loving rock star Bo Biafra, front man for the notorious Dead Schembechlers.

Details are unknown for now but its believed the group will headline their somewhat annual Hate Michigan Rally somewhere in Columbus, OH on Friday November 26th, 2010 which is the night before the rivalry game between the two schools.

LB is also continuing writing the unauthorized autobiography of the band, Dead Schembechlers: The Rise, Fall  & Redemption of the Best Damn Punk Band in the Land. It will delve into Bo Biafra’s life, the history of the group and the true story of The International Wolverine Conspiracy. It will be filled with sex, drugs, rock n roll, violence, insanity and pigskin.

Watch for more info here and on the band’s official online outlets, which you can find in the Kontakt section and includes a link to the Lou as Biafra Twitter account.

Also, in case you missed Bo/Brutus and the band in HBO’s film “The Rivalry: Michigan versus Ohio State,” be sure to pick up a copy now on DVD.

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NO SLEEP TILL…BANDCAMP

08.15.10

Brutus returned to one of the most legendary, longest-running festivals on the planet, WJJO Bandcamp in Madison, WI on August 14, 2010.

Lou interviewed all the bands including Godsmack, Sevendust and A New Revolution.

Lou also packed his Nikon cameras to photograph the groups both onstage and off. You can go to the Rogues Gallery part of the site and hit the Music folder to check out some of the images.

Thanks to the great Randy Hawke and the whole JJO team.

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GRUMPY OLD PUNKS

08.14.10

It’s always been Lou’s contention that true punk rock anger isn’t best manifested by snotty assed 16 years olds as they have their mommies and daddies paying their way. He feels that those who truly know how bad the world sucks are paunchy, balding, middle-aged guys with too many bills to pay so he’s put together an all-star group called Grumpy Old Punks.

The band will give an outlet to the every day frustrations of harried husbands and depressed dads from coast to coast with songs of “middle age punk rock rage.” Tunes will include “Hey You Kids Get Off My Lawn,” “That’s No MILF That’s My Wife,” “My Adjustable Rate Mortgage Really Sucks” “You’re Not Going Out Dressed Like That” and “Empty Toilet Paper Roll.”

Look for the debut album “Anarchy in the Prostate” in late 2010.

In the meantime, check out teaser information for them on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or their web site. Links available in the Kontakt section of this site!

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This One Time...at Bandcamp

It is one of the biggest rock and roll parties of the year It is 94.1 JJO in Madison WI annual concert from hell called Bandcamp! Brutus never misses the show and will backstage this weekend talking to tons of bands including Seether, Shinedown, Hurt, Ra, Theory of A Deadman, Neurosonic, A New Revolution, Deaf Pedestrians, Red, Bobaflex and Blackstone Cherry. He'll also manage to get over to Milwaukee to shoot the Brewers versus the Astros while he's in town.

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Duck Season! Fire!

While in Madison this weekend Brutus will be throwing out the first pitch at the Madison Mallards baseball game as they host a grudge match against blood rivals the Waterloo Bucks Game time is 6:05 After the pitch LB will be photographing the game from the field and will then head to Reverend Jim's for the big pre-Bandcamp shindig.

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Projekt Revolution Meets Exit 119

It would have to be a good show for Brutus to brave a 5 hour drive each way thru thunderstorms and tornadoes It was LB hooked up with everybody on the Projekt Revolution Tour at the Garden State Arts Center (fuck its current corporate name) just a few miles home from his family's ancestral estate in Englishtown, NJ He spoke with Linkin Park, Chris Cornell, The Bravery, 10 Years, Atreyu, Street Drum Corps and Armor for Sleep You can catch it all in a couple of weeks on hardDrive and hardDrive XL.

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Brutus Invades Bay Area for Mayhem and Baseball

It was a whirlwind weekend for LB as he made his way back to the San Francisco Bay area for the first time in over a decade Upon arrival to San Francisco he immediately hopped in his rented black Mustang (ala Steve McQueen in Bullet) and got over to Oakland to photograph the Athletics and the Angels The following day it was down to Mountain View to catch The Rockstar Mayhem Tour! He spoke with Slipknot, Disturbed, Five Finger Death Punch, Mastodon, Walls of Jehrico, Airbourne, Dragonforce and other bands on the bill You'll hear it all upcoming on hardDrive and hardDrive XL.

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Forget Me Knot

Brutus hit Des Moines, Iowa and met up with Corey Taylor and The Clown of Slipknot to record an FMQB album premiere special for the forthcoming opus All Hope is Gone The interview was done in the studios of Lazer 103.3 with many thanks to Ryan Patrick and Andy Hall of the station You can hear Inside Slipknot: All Hope is Gone on radio stations around the country the weekend of August 23 and 24th The album will hit stores on August 26th Brutus was trusted with the only copy of the album outside of the band and will post some thoughts on it in the coming days.

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Brutus Bears Down for Cubs

While in Des Moines recording with Slipknot, LB took up an invitation from the Iowa Cubs and threw out the first pitch at their game against the Albuquerque Isotopes. While he did not hit the mascot, he missed the catcher by a good ten feet and beaned a cameraman from the club injuries were minor and closed up with only a few hundred stitches The team, no doubt spurred on my Lou's pitching, promptly gave up nine runs in the first few innings and went on to defeat Thanks to Kenny Hauser for the setup!

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Tallica! Tallica!

An amazing 30 hours for Brutus in Tennessee as he interviewed all four members of Metallica over the course of nearly three hours! Besides seeing their set at Bonnaroo he was also one of the select few invited by the band to see them play in Grimey's Basement. The total audience was less then 100 He's posted a few pics from the Grimey's gig on his Facebook and MySpace pages.

Of Wolf and Hippie

Brutus will be jetting off to Manchester TN to hook up with Metallica at the stinking hippie fest known as Bonaroo! He'll be doing exclusive interviews with each of the band members We'll keep you posted on more details as soon as we get 'em!

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Getting Distrubed

Lou Brutus is the host of the hour long radio special celebrating the new album from Disturbed entitled "Indestructible." All four members of the band give their thoughts on this incredible record in this landmark broadcast You can hear this on radio stations around North America before the record release date Check your local station for day and time of the broadcast.

The impressive list of stations that will carry it include:

WHJY/Providence,bWCYY/Portland, WLZX/Springfield, WHEB/Portsmouth, WGIR/Manchester, WEDG/Buffalo, WRAT/Monmouth, WIYY/Baltimore, WQXA/Harrisburg, WXQR/Greenville, WOBX/Nags Head, WRCQ/Fayetteville, WCHZ/Augusta, WTZR/Johnson City, KATT/Oklahoma City, KNCN/Corpus Christi, WRXW/Jackson, KEYJ/Abilene, KBZS/Wichita Falls, WCPR/Biloxi, KWDQ/Woodward OK, WFTK/Cincinnati, WXDX/Pittsburgh, WTFX/Louisville, WZRX/Lima, WAMX/Huntington, WZJO/Charleston, WIIL/Chicago, KXXR/Minneapolis, WJJO/Madison, WZOR/Appleton, WWWX/Green Bay, KBOB/Quad Cities, WRQT/La Crosse, KQYK/Mankato, WHMH/St Cloud, WQLZ/Springfield, WILD/Roseau MN, KPNT/St Louis, KDJE/Little Rock, KZRQ/Springfield, KFMW/Waterloo, KDDX/Rapid City, KCGQ/Cape Giradeau, KIBZ/Lincoln, KJML/Joplin, KRWK/Fargo, KRWN/Farmington NM, KILO/Colorado Springs, KRZQ/Reno, KDOT/Reno, KBAZ/Missoula, KZZE/Medford, KATS/Yakima, KXTE/Las Vegas, KJEE/Santa Barbara, KCXX/Riverside, WHDR/Miami, WTKX/Pensacola, WHHZ/Gainesville, WRUF/Gainesville, WRIF/Detroit, WRZX/IndianapolisWBYR/Ft. Wayne, WRBR/South Bend, WKHY/Lafayette IN, WGBF/Evansville, WJXQ/Lansing, WWVR/Terre Haute IN

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Scars on Broadway

Brutus just finished an in depth interview with the normally press shy Daron Malakian They were talking about Daron's newest project Scars on Broadway which also features fellow SOAD member John Dolmayan You can hear it all soon on hardDrive and hardDrive XL Many thanks to Daron, not only for the interview, but for following up with an unexpected call to say that he hates doing interviews...except when they're with Brutus!

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Rock on the Range

It's the Summer concert season's first major blowout and (of course) Brutus will be backstage for it all Year Two of Rock on the Range will find LB doing backstage interviews with STP, Distrubed, Staind, Killswitch Engage, Serj Tankian, Shinedown, Finger Eleven, Filter, 10 Years, Red, Theory of A Deadman, Ashes Divide, Airbourne, Kid Rock, 3 Doors Down, Seether, Papa Roach, Flyleaf, Alter Bridge, Sevendust, Five Finger Death Punch, Black Tide, Drowning Pool, Bobaflex, Rev Theory and Saving Abel With him doing all these interviews the chances that he'll actually see anyone play are pretty slim Boo fucking hoo for him Hear it all in upcoming special editions of hardDrive and XL

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Getting Disturbed in Fort Wayne

This week Brutus jets off to the bustling metropolis known as...Fort Wayne! He's hooking up with Disturbed to get the inside story on their forthcoming new album Indestructible After that, he travels with the band to Columbus OH and the Rock on the Range shows! Listen for it on hardDrive & XL.

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All Systems Go! P-H-E-N, O-M-E-N, A-U-T-S! Phenomenauts!

Galactic pioneers The Phenomenauts roll in to XM to tape a special performance this Monday! A short list of invited cadets will be attendance for this show that will be heard in June on Fungus 53! Go for launch!

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Brutus' Baseball Blog

Hey Kids! Lou has begun contributing to XM's baseball blog He'll be adding his thoughts and observations throughout the season from his perspective as an on field photographer Read the first installment here.

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Ivan the Not Terrible At All

Be listening to hardDrive and hardDrive XL for Lou's exclusive, in depth interview with his bud Ivan of Five Finger Death Punch You'll get the definitive word on Ivan's vocal chord rehab, the forthcoming new music from the band, his thoughts on this Summer's Rockstar Mayhem Tour, what really happened with Motograter and a whole lot more Ivan is one of LB's fave peeps in the rock world so be prepared for awesome conversation.

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"I'm Going to The Show!"

This week marks Lou's return to Major League Baseball as an accredited on field photographer! He's planning on shooting upcoming games between the Orioles versus the Mariners and the Nationals against the Marlins He'll then continue to be down in the photo pits at games around the country throughout the season Let's Go Mets!

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Phenomenauts Are Go!

They are one of LB's favorite bands They are not of this planet They are ntergalactic go getters, mind melting musical meteoroids, cosmically crazed cacophony cadets, rip roarin' retro-rockabilly rocketeers of rockin' rock None other then...The Phenomenauts! Their new album, For All Mankind, enters Earth's atmosphere this Tuesday April 8th The band was not only kind enough to give Lou a thank you on the record but they also used and credited him for one of the inner sleeve photographs It's of the band huddled over the glowing screens of XM's Satellite Command Center in Washington, DC! Be sure to pick up the disc which features soon to be classics as Man Alone and Make A Circuit with Me (currently the Number One most requested song on Fungus 53) Also, stay tuned for your chance to attend a private concert broadcast by The Phenomenauts at XM in May!

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Time Again for Time Again

It was an incredible set from Time Again earlier this week at the XM Performance Theatre in DC Brutus hosted as the band tore thru a dozen songs including many from their latest disc Darker Days It will debut on Fungus 53 on April 28th at 8pm Eastern Keep an eye out for details.

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USA Today: I Am Legend

Be sure to pick up the Friday March 28th edition of USA Today to check out an article on Lou’s latest creation, The Play Ball channel on XM! Play Ball is a two day channel that airs as a celebration of the Opening Day of Major League Baseball Tons of great songs, classic calls and other baseball related audio Much of it is rare and all of it is great There’s a full article complete with a very disturbing picture of LB with a baseball shoved in his mouth on page 3 of the Sports section Read the text online here or download a copy for the full effect here Lou, whom USA Today refers to as a "legendary rock deejay," (ummm, ok) is getting tons of other press for the channel including The Pittsburg Post Gazette, The Chicago Sun Times, The Topeka Capital Journal, The Bergen Record, Florida Today, FMQB, Detroit News, NY Daily News and Orbitcast Also, check out this massive article in the Miami Herald. Brutus will also be covering the Major League Baseball season as a fully accredited on field photographer! Watch for him at a baseball park near you.

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3 Doors Down in NYC

It was like a fucking high school reunion at Lou met up with the guys from 3 Doors Down for an in depth conversation recently in New York City. Brad Arnold, Matt Roberts, Todd Harrell, Chris Henderson and Greg Upchurch were all there talking about the new album 3 Doors Down, the current situation on the Gulf Coast, UFOs and a bunch of other stuff You'll hear it all on hardDrive, hardDrive XL and the upcoming Inside 3 Doors Down radio special We'll alert you to times and days Thanks again to the guys.

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Rush: Inside Snakes and Arrows Live

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush will once again be heard chatting with Lou Brutus from coast to coast on the new radio special Inside Snakes and Arrows Live The special, produced by FMQB, will have the band taking you thru the songs on the group's new live opus Anyone who has heard LB with Rush before knows how well he can bring out their humor and good nature The special will air on radio stations around the country from April 11th to April 14th We'll post a full list as soon as we get it.

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Yakkity Yakkity Yakkity Yak

Tons of interviews lately for Brutus including 3 Doors Down, Rev Theory, Hurt and Scary Kids Scaring Kids which can soon be heard on hardDrive and hardDrive XL He also recently spoke to his old friend Monte A. Melnick, the longtime tour manager for the Ramones which you can hear on XM's Fungus 53.

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Theory of A Deadman: Inside Scars and Souvenirs

This is the weekend! March 29th and 30th find Tyler, Dave and Dean from Theory of A Deadman broadcasting from New York City with Lou Brutus Actually, they recorded it a few weeks back The show, which is put together by FMQB is entitled Inside Theory of A Deadman's Scars and Souvenirs is airing across the country Check your station for day and time!

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Rock Over London, Rock On Chicago!

It was ten years ago now that the legendary Wesley Willis recorded what will surely go down as his most obscure song..."Lou Brutus." Its available on the incredibly hard to find album "Rock and Roll Jackflash." Without a doubt, the album kicks a llama's ass Sadly, Wesley passed away a few years ago but not before Lou got to thank him for the honor of writing and recording the song about him As the album and song are almost impossible to find, Lou has put an excerpt of the song on his MySpace page to celebrate the anniversary Check it out here Many thanks to Wesley We miss you and the honky joy rides.

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Artist Confidential Redux

In case you missed them the first time around XM Satellite Radio is re-airing many the Artist Confidential shows hosted by Lou Brutus in the coming days On Monday March 10th its a show with Perry Farrell's Satellite Party and another show featuring Smashing Pumpkins On Monday March 24th Lou hosts separate performances with Megadeth and KoRn All of these will air for 24 straight hours on XM channel 02, XMX.

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Turn Me On Mr. Deadman

Lou was just in New York City to hook up with Tyler Connolly, Dean Back and Dave Brenner from Theory of A Deadman Not only will you hear interview audio from their session, it will also be used around the world for the official FMQB album premiere special for their latest release Scars & Souvenirs The special will air on radio stations around North America the weekend of March 29th and 30th We'll post a list of stations soon Album out April 1st!

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You're Not Invited Concert Series News

The end of February saw two of Lou's fave Fungus 53 bands stop in for live performances at XM in DC The Horrorpops were in Studio One while Steve E Nix and the Cute Lepers tore it up in Studio Two Both of these shows will be featured in upcoming editions of The You're Not Invited Concert Series in early April Dates and times soon! Other upcoming bands in the series include Time Again and The Phenomenauts.

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The Atreyu-Easton Five Star Challenge

This week hardDrive XL listeners get a crack at The Atreyu-Easton Five Star Challenge You can snag an autographed Atreyu CD along with an Easton hockey stick signed by NHL stars like Nick Lindstrom and Chris Drury Tune to LB on The XL to find out how!

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Tantric's Hugo A Go Go

Hugo Ferriera of Tantric spent a good chunk of an afternoon last week with Lou talking up the latest news on the band Find out about the new Tantric album, the band changes and a lot more coming up on hardDrive and XL.

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High Times with Airbourne

Minutes after finishing his recent interview with Airbourne, Lou Brutus was heard to say, "That was so funny I almost pissed in my fucking pants." Lou had interviewed Joel and Ryan O'Keefe of the band for nearly and hour Hilarity ensued They talked about drinking, booze, alcohol, girls, drinking, the time the band saw a UFO in Australia and, oh yeah, drinking You can hear it all coming up on hardDrive and hardDrive XL

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Hello, My Name is Mudvayne

It was a lengthy, in depth interview with Matt McDonough, drummer for Mudvayne, that LB conducted this week They spoke about the forthcoming new album, how Matt's been keeping his chops up while being off the road, the state of the music biz and a whole lot more You'll hear it all soon on hardDrive and on hardDrive XL where Matt will soon be The Featured Artist of the Week.

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Get Faced

Because you don't see his ugly mug online enough, Brutus has set up his new Facebook profile If you're on Facebook and you're his friend then send him a request to be his Friend (Please Note: Being a MySpace or Facebook "Friend" of Lou's does not mean you are actually his "friend." Chances are you would not want to be anyway as he is incredibly selfish and nasty.)

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Get Well Hung with Wes Borland

hardDrive XL listeners to Lou Brutus on 94.1 JJO in Madison Wisconsin have achance toget"well hung"this week by becoming a piece of art! All this week, Lou is giving you a chance to have your portrait painted by none other than Wes Borland! You've heard Brutus rave about Wes' painting on the air, now its your chance to become part of his portfolio Check out hardDrive XL with Lou Brutus all this week for details on Solid Rock 94.1 JJO!

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Theory of An Interview

It was a great in depth interview that LB conducted this week with Tyler Connolly of Theory of A Deadman They talked about the the recording of the new album Scars & Souvenirs with producer Howard Benson, the lyrical stories behind the songs and what happened with (what little) downtime they had Listen for it coming up on hardDrive and hardDrive XL.

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The Lou Brutus History of Roadrunner Records

A few years back someone at Roadrunner Records thought it would be a good idea to have Lou Brutus write the label's "official" history He polished off a couple bottles of absinthe and went to work We found the file on a hard drive Lou was attempting to smash with a hammer and, while never used by the label, we present it here for your perusal...

Since 1980, ROADRUNNER RECORDS, Inc. has been synonymous with the fiercest and most awe inspiring rock music in the history of civilization For over a quarter of a century, the very mention of its name has caused women to wail like banshees and grown men to fall to their knees weeping, overcome by their impotence in the face of its all encompassing power It will eventually melt the polar ice caps and engulf all life on this planet in an unstoppable tide of rock Resistance is futile You will be assimilated.

This worldwide juggernaut of musical madness and fierce business smarts was formed by current chairman Cees Wessels in Amsterdam, after he was visited by the patron saint of the city’s artisans Vincent Van Gogh The late painter appeared in a dream to the young man pointing to his one good ear proclaiming, “I, who have given up my other ear for art, proclaim that you shall create art for the ears of others.” Having been given this mandate, Wessels began his near holy mission by licensing U.S. hard rock for the Euro market including Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and others Yes, ROADRUNNER brought the metal but it also brought other bastard genres left for dead by the evil corporate types by repping seminal U.S. rock, punk, and alternative labels like SST, Taang!, Triple X, Twin Tone and Relativity--home to artists as wide ranging as Black Flag, Sonic Youth, The Replacements and more This maniacal desire for diversity lives on at ROADRUNNER to this day with a mind boggling array of successful artists in all rock subgenres as well as enough surprising catalog items to dizzy the brain of even the most ardent music geek.

It was in November 1986 (after months of planning that dwarfed even Eisenhower’s plans for D-Day) that ROADRUNNER first arrived in New York Appearing suddenly out of the early morning Hudson River fog, landing craft filled with rock soldiers began discharging their heroic cargo on America’s shores Fighting was vicious thru lower Manhattan as the debauched, jack booted troops of the music industry tried in vain to keep the righteous ROADRUNNER freedom fighters from their new digs. These offices, actually a series of underground, titanium encased bunkers, were set up in NY for two reasons First, to sign, record and produce the greatest rock music that America could provide. Second, to directly handle the marketing of the artists here in the U.S These offices became the company’s most significant A&R source causing other labels to gnash their teeth in jealousy The international headquarters, perhaps more important to mankind than the United Nations, are in Holland while the company also keeps outposts to serve the teeming, rock starved masses in England, France, Germany, Japan and Australia.

Much of ROADRUNNER’S success is built upon its unmatched foresight in joining forces with artists who not only become staples of the company but of the very genres and cultures they have come to define King Diamond, whose operatic vocals, lyrical genius and ghostly white faced paint ushered in a movement that lives on today in artists as diverse as Marilyn Manson and Avenged Sevenfold Rhythm crazed metal warriors, Sepultura whose integration of their homeland Brazilian sounds into the genre have inspired mosh madness from St. Petersburg, Florida to St. Petersburg, Russia It was in the late 90’s that many of ROADRUNNER’S early plans for world domination came to glorious fruition in the form of Brooklyn based Type O Negative whose “Christian Woman” single commando styled its way stealthily onto radio airwaves and became the label’s first Gold-certified act Type O was followed in quick Gold-blessed succession by “spooky core” heroes Coal Chamber and the genre defining, electro-thrash wickedness of Fear Factory Then, all hell broke loose when the company hooked up with a nine man aggregate of lost souls from the previously bypassed artery of the American Heartland…Des Moines, Iowa Satan himself wet his panties in horror at the site of the malevolent, masked marauders known as Slipknot Their army of fans, a charming group of human flotsam known as “maggots,” overran the known world, pillaging record stores at will and leading to ROADRUNNER’S first Platinum certification.

In 1999, the company made a strategic move that rivaled the appointment of George S. Patton to lead the U.S. 3^rd Army in World War 2 when it chose Jonas Nachsin as President This move resonates to this very day as his previous four years as G.M., coupled with his background in Sales & Marketing, continues to create a synergy among all of ROADRUNNER’S departments that brings any entity foolish enough to tangle with it to their knees.

The year of 2001 saw the odyssey of ROADRUNNER continue forward at light speed beginning with the announcement of its partnership with Island Def Jam for distribution in many territories through Universal Music and Video Distribution (UMVD) Being allied with Island Def Jam and working together as sworn blood brothers of rock allowed the major to complement the inner workings of the label and lend tactical support where necessary At the same time, ROADRUNNER unleashed a musical pincer movement upon the world that solidified its position as an unstoppable force in the galaxy It released the sophomore album by Slipknot entitled Iowa which shipped Platinum, debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 and shamed the feeble minded critics of the band as if they were dogs who had messed upon the carpet Only a month later, the label let loose the second half of the pincer in the form of Nickelback’s Silver Side Up The album blitzed its way to a #2 debut on the Billboard Top 200, went on to quintuple Platinum status and ushered in a new era for the entire label ROADRUNNER was now no longer just the pre-eminent metal label on Earth; it was also a major player across the entire rock spectrum Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me” went on to become the most played song of 2002 across all formats of commercial radio and rallied rock fans around the world to the band’s clarion call helping set up the triple Platinum success of their next two releases, The Long Road and All the Right Reasons It also opened a Pandora’s Box of musical phantasmagoria for the label foreshadowing the radio success of both Stone Sour and Theory of A Deadman.

Meanwhile back in the label’s titanium encased bunkers, the powers that be refused to rest on their laurels Preternaturally sensing the coming need for an online presence previously unseen on this planet, they hired a renegade group of technological outlaws to spearhead ROADRUNNER’S electronic assets The fruits of their insidiously industrious labors wore born in the form of www.roadrunnerrecords.com From its seemingly humble beginnings, it has worked itself into an incredibly diverse online community with a tenfold growth since 2001 Contributor’s like Blabbermouth.net and Infernal Combustion have become the envy of the online music scene.

The label currently features the following RIAA U.S. certification: Nickelback Silver Side Up (5x Platinum), Nickelback The Long Road (Triple Platinum), Nickelback All the Right Reasons (Triple Platinum), Slipknot Disasterpieces Home Video (Triple Platinum), Slipknot Slipknot (Double Platinum), Slipknot Welcome to Our Neighborhood Home Video (Platinum), Type O Negative Blood Kisses (Platinum), Type O Negative October Rust (Gold), Nickelback The State (Gold), Fear Factory Obsolete (Gold), Coal Chamber Coal Chamber (Gold) and Sepultura Chaos A.D. (Gold).

In the once untouchable world of Grammy Awards, ROADRUNNER RECORDS artists now swarm the ceremonies like Orcs attacking Minas Tirith in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings Grammy highlights for the label include five nominations in 2004 (a staggering 3 out of 5 noms in the Metal Performance category were ROADRUNNER titles) and picking up its first ever Grammy Award in 2006 when Slipknot brought home the Metal Performance award for their bold, bleak and beguiling behemoth Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses.

In 2005, ROADRUNNER RECORDS celebrated its Silver Anniversary with a party that would have made Caligula himself blush with envy The show, entitled Roadrunner United, was held in New York City and featured an all star array of label artists from throughout its storied history A Who’s Who of the music and media worlds needed to screw their eyeballs back into their sockets after seeing the musical bacchanal that was presented Emergency rooms throughout NY were filled with rock fans whose bodies were overcome by overdoses of metal that had entered their bloodstreams through their eardrums during the show.

Along its path to glory, ROADRUNNER has made its name a brand unto itself to which consumers, artists and marketing partners alike are drawn like frat boys to a kegger All kidding aside, this success across all artistic and consumer groups is because the label was formed and is continued to be guided by people who in their heart of hearts are music fans This fact is why the inner fire is still lit to fight with unbridled determination to keep ROADRUNNER true to its core base and to expand its knowledge of the broader rock world thru vision and experience It is this love and respect of all music that has put ROADRUNNER where it is and will lead it to even greater victories in the future

Empires have risen and fallen, trends have come and gone…but ROADRUNNER RECORDS remains It is both the Alpha and the Omega It will never die.

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Rock and Roll's Last Hope: Watershed

One of America's greatest straight ahead rock and roll bands is Watershed They are old friends of Brutus' and they are back on the road for a limited time including some rare East Coast appearances If you wanna see rock the way its supposed to be than get your ass out to a show, start slamming boilermakers and rock the fuck out to Watershed You can see all the dates and find out about the band at watershedcentral.com or on their MySpace

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The 2007 Lou Brutus Christmas Activity Book

Instead of his usual Christmas compilation CD, LB has put together his first ever Christmas Activity Book! Written by Lou and illustrated by Alan MacBain this twisted Christmas card features The Britney Spears Panty Maze, The Paris Hilton F-Word Search, The Amy Winehouse Jailhouse Letter Mad Lib, The Rip Snortin' Lyndsay Lohan Picture Puzzle and the Where in the World is Chinese Democracy Coloring Page If you haven't got yours in the mail don't worry! You can download your very own copy by clicking HERE!

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Artist Confidential with Duran Duran

Check out XM channel 02 XMX all day on New Year's Eve Day to hear Lou Brutus host XM's Artist Confidential Series with Duran Duran The band blasts thru half a dozen tunes both new and classic while LB leads queries them on their long, illustrious career.

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Brutus' Top Ten hardDrive Tunes for 2007

Based solely on his own selfish tastes, here are Lou's Top Ten harddrive Tunes for 2007...

01.Tarantula The Smashing Pumpkins
02.You Wouldn't Know Hell Yeah!
03.The Bleeding Five Finger Death Punch
04.Soldiers Drowning Pool
05.Driven Sevendust
06.Holy Diver Killswitch Engage
07.I Get It Chevelle
08.March of War Nonpoint
09.Lie Black Light Burns
10.Famous Puddle of Mudd

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Fungus 53 Top Ten Songs for 2007

Based on airplay and requests, here are the Top Ten Songs for 2007 on XM's Fungus 53...

01.Into Action Tim Armstrong
02. Flannigan's Ball Dropkick Murphys
03.Terminal Boredom Steve E Nix and the Cute Lepers
04.Requiem for Dissent Bad Religion
05.Hee Haw Hell Dash Rip Rock
06.Far Behind Social Distortion
07.Nekrohigh Nekromantix
08.Melatonin Smoke or Fire
09.Your Ass is A Stereotype Les Hatepinks
10.Stop Drop and Roll Foxboro Hot Tubs

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Brutus Reports on Led Zep in London!!!

In case you missed his blog he wrote shortly after the show, here's Lou's late night take on what he witnessed at the Led Zeppelin reunion His thoughts on the gig have also been picked up at FMQB.com.

It's late here in London Almost 1:30am and I'm on a plane back to the States in just a few hours Here is a quick overview of the Led Zeppelin reunion show More later!

Band personnel-instrument (onstage look)
Robert Plant-vocals (jeans, black shirt, curly mane of hair and stubby beard)
Jimmy Page-guitars (began show in long duster length jacket, vest, white shirt, sun glasses, long white hair)
John Paul Jones-bass guitar & keyboards (dark shirt and pants, short hair, very 'normal' looking)
Jason Bonham-drums (black t shirt and dark pants)

Set list: Good Times Bad Times (9pm local time)
Ramble On
Black Dog
In My Time of Dying
For Your Life
Trampled Underfoot
Nobody's Fault But Mine
No Quarter
Since I've Been Loving You
Dazed and Confused
Stairway to Heaven
Song Remains the Same
Misty Mountain Hop
Kashmir (Main set ends 10:51 local time)
(Encore 1)
Whole Lotta Love
(Encore 2)
Rock and Roll (Show over at 11:03 local time)

Overall: An incredible show The first three numbers suffered (very) slightly from some microphone feedback, a less then stellar house PA mix and what appeared to be the band taking a bit of time to find their footing From the 4th song on it was full steam ahead and they continued to pick up momentum until the end Once they found their groove it was obvious that they were enjoying themselves immensely The crowd was riveted from the moment the lights went out As the show opened the air seemed to go out of the arena and it almost seemed like the 20,000 attending were in a slight state of shock at the site of the band finally playing A simply breathtaking night Very well played with exciting musical and emotional moments.

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LB & LZ: Lou Brutus Covers Led Zeppelin in London!

Brutus is winging his way to London for the biggest musical event of the year...the return of Led Zeppelin!!! You can hear his reports from the event across the XM dial More details and a complete recap of the show here soon!!! We just hope he refuses to take the rumored $15,000 that English scalpers are offering for tickets!

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P Roach, Uncut Roach

Before their touring ended for the year Brutus caught up with Papa Roach's lead singer Jacoby Shaddix He got the dope on the band's upcoming new year, information on the forthcoming new music and a whole lot more You can hear it all coming up on hardDrive and hardDrive XL!!!

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Trace Trace, Duran Duran

Late November found Brutus up in New York City to host two separate tapings for XM's Artist Confidential Series. The first was country superstar Trace Adkins The second with legendary Brit band Duran Duran. You can hear them both on XM channel 02 XMX Trace Adkins on Monday December 17th and Duran Duran Monday December 31st Each special will air all day.

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XM LED The Zeppelin Channel

XM has launched The Mothership of All Channels It's a dedicated Led Zeppelin channel called XM LED and Lou Brutus is at the helm! It's nothing but Led Zep, solo music from the band members, cover versions of LZ songs and live stuff out of the archives Lots of other surprises as well at XM channel 59 You can read more from XM, Business Week, FMQB, Metal Underground, AOL News.

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Nikki and Benji

Another busy week for Lou He hosted Nikki Sixx during a taping of XM's guest DJ series Offstage in Washington He also spent a good chunk of time on the hardDrive Hotline with Benji from Skindred Watch this space for schedules on when you can hear them both in November.

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LB on HBO?!?!?

No one knows why. No one knows when No one knows how Lou Brutus will be featured all next month on HBO!!! However, he will not be Lou Brutus but someone else Who could he be if he is not he? WTF???

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Pretty As A Picture

Heads up! New photos have been added to the 00's section of the Rogues Gallery here on the site Stare in wonder at Lou's slack jawed gaze with Smashing Pumpkins, Saliva, Harry Connick Jr. and Eddie Money. Plus, Alice Cooper is back with another assassination attempt photo with Brutus

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KoRn and Brutus from NYC on XM's Artist Confidential

Be sure to check LB out all day Monday on XM as he hosts KoRn in performance and conversation as part of the XM Aritst Confidential Series It was recorded live at the Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City The one hour interview and concert airs continually, all day Monday October 15th on XM channel 02 XMX! Be sure to listen for other upcoming Artist Confidentials that Lou will be hosting including Perry Farrell's Satellite Party (10/25), Blue Man Group (11/5) and Megadeth (11/12).

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I Shoot Into the Light

Wanna check out some of Lou's baseball photography? XM is using shots LB took this summer while working as an accredited Major League Baseball photographer on the front page of xmradio.com To date, every team they have used pictures of (Mets and Phillies) have been eliminated from contention Is it The Curse of the Brutbino?

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Artist Confidential with Smashing Pumpkins

Lou is your host as XM kicks off the fall season of the Artist Confiential Series with Smashing Pumpkins It's a hybrid concert performance and interview that may be the greatest show you ever hear from one of the world's great bands Catch it on XMX which is XM Channel 02 this Monday September 17th looping for 24 straight hours!

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Nice, Nice, Very Nice

It was a busy week for El Brute featuring interviews with Chevelle, Fair to Midland, Blood Simple and Trapt. Besides the rock stuff Lou has also been continuing to work in his spare time as a photographer on the field at Major League Baseball games! He's recently shot the Mets, Nationals, Orioles, Twins, Yankees, Red Sox and Giants Look for him in the on field pits thru the playoffs and World Series, too!

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Popper Pops Off, Diamond Cuts and Brutus is "Going to the Show"

A friend of Lou's since childhood, Steve Popper is the premiere baseball writer in the United Statesand covers the New York Mets As Brutus is a baseball fanatic and devoutfollower of the Mets he often contacts Steve to beg for tickets, autographs and slightly used protection cups Steve has kindly mentioned Brutus in his latest blogs which you can read at http://njmg.typepad.com/metsblog/. However, he has notgotten Lou any cups BTW, many of you have commented on LB's incredible baseball photography It's so good that you'll soon be seeing some of it on the XM Satellite Radio web site He will also be, as they say in Bull Durham, "going to the show" and covering select Major League Baseball games this season as an accredited photographer! Let's see...he gets paid to go to concerts and interview rock stars AND go to baseball games to be on the field and take picturesLucky bastard! One final baseball related note...Lou will be contributing two cuts to the latest edition of "Diamond Cuts" albumsThese are aseries of discs that collect the greatest baseball related songs and spoken word pieces LB's epic poem of the Chicago Cubs postseason collapse "Bartman at the Ball" and his six second long punk rock ode "Cal Ripken Played the Longest Streak in Baseball History" will both be included The album should be released in time for the World Series

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So This One Time...At Bandcamp

This weekend, Brutus returns to Madison WI for another incredible Bandcamp show sponsored by his longtime hardDrive and hardDrive XL affiliate 94.1 WJJO He'll be speaking to all of the bands on the bill including Stone Sour, Sevendust, Nonpoint, Finger 11, Kittie, Black Light Burns, Skillet, Dope, Burden Brothers, Godhead and Dirty Little Rabbits You can hear it all on upcoming editions of hardDrive and hardDrive XL.

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KoRn Devolves with LB in NYC

It was one for the ages as Lou interviewed KoRn in the breathtakingly beautiful Jazz at Lincoln Center Allen Room studio overlooking Central Park in NYC The taping took place in front of a small group of KoRn fans and will be broadcast on XM as part of the Artist Confidential Series The show lasted over an hour as Brutus quizzed the band over every facet of their career in between five KoRn tunes that were played live and electric We'll post the air date as soon as we have it!

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Lou in Saint Lou for Family Values

It was an amazing day of coverage for Brutus as he was on hand backstage in St. Louis for the volume and laser soaked opening of the Family Values Tour 2007 He spoke with virtually the entire bill including Jonathan and Munky of KoRn, Amy Lee of Evanescence, Lacey of Flyleaf, Chad Gray and Vinnie Paul of Hell Yeah, Alex of Atreyu and Ivan of Five Finger Death Punch along with members of Droid, Invitro, Neurosonic, Trivium and Twin Method Among the many pieces of news that Lou picked up is that KoRn will do a second tour leg after Family Values and that they will continue to feature Joey Jordison on drums, the recording of the new Mudvayne album is finished but the mastering is not and while the band still expects to get it out this year it may be later than the October release that had been anticipated by many After the set Brutus had an exclusive conversation with Joey Jordison who told him that the members of Slipknot met up in Des Moines last week to discuss future plans Apparently, a lot of new music is already written and once they finish with their side projects thru the end of this year they expect to begin recording the new album early in the new year He also said the loose plan is to hit some of the European festivals next summer before touring America but that it's not set in stone yet He believes that this will be a "metal" record much in the vein of Iowa and that the band will not be taking nearly as much time to record the new record as they did with Subliminal Verses. You can hear all of this and MUCH more in an upcoming Backstage at Family Values Tour 2007 special edition of hardDrive with Lou Brutus There is also word afoot that LB will be hooking up with KoRn again soon to record an interview & performance in the XM Artist Confidential Series Details soon!

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Brutus Family Values

LB is off to Saint Louis for the opening of the Family Values Tour this weekend! He'll interview KoRn, Evanesence, Flyleaf, Hell Yeah, Atreyu, Five Finger Death Punch, Neurosonic and all the other bands on the tour You can hear it all in an upcoming special edition of hardDrive with Lou Brutus.

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Artist Confidential: Smashing Pumpkins

It was an unbelievable afternoon for about thirty lucky Smashing Pumpkins fans as they watched Lou host the band in XM's seminal Artist Confidential series LB quizzed the group at length about the new Zeitgeist album along with a multitude of other subjects This was only the second radio interview done in America by the band and they've both been by Brutus!!! The band performed six songs acoustically during the show including a killer version of "United States" and you can hear it all on XM with the TTBD.

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Smashing Pumpkins FMQB Album Premiere Special

Brutus recently flew to Asheville NC to hook up with Smashing Pumpkins to record the official radio special celebrating their new album This was the only interview done by the band for American radio to date Now's your chance to hear it! FMQB Presents Inside the Smashing Pumpkins Zeitgeist can be heard from coast to coast on the following radio stations Check stations for times and days of the broadcast...

KACV/Amarillo, TX
KATS/Yakima
KATT/Oklahoma CIty
KBAZ/Missoula
KCCQ/Ames/Des Moines
KCLB/Palm Springs, Ca.
KDGE/Dallas
KDJE/Little Rock
KEDJ/Phoenix
KEYJ/Abilene, TX
KFMA/Tucson, AZ
KFMW/Waterloo-Cedar Rapids
KFNK/Seattle
KHBZ/Oklahoma City
KILO/Colorado Springs
KISS/San Antonio
KITS/San Francisco
KJEE/Santa Barbara- Ventura Oxnard
KKDO/Saginaw, MI.
KNCN/Corpus Christi, TX
KNDD/Seattle
KNRK/Portland, OR
KRNA/Cedar Rapids
KRZQ/Reno
KUCD/Honolulu
KWOD/Sacramento
KZZE/Medford
WAMX/Huntington, WV/Ashland, KY
WAVF/Charleston, SC
WBCN/Boston
WBSX/Wilkes Barre
WCHZ/Augusta, GA
WCLG/Morgantown, Fairmont, Clarksburg, WV
WCNR/Charlottesville, VA
WCPR/Gulfport-Biloxi, MS
WEDG/Buffalo/Niagara Falls, NY
WEQX/Albany, NY
WHDR/Miami-Fort Lauderdale
WIIL/Chicago
WIYY/Baltimore
WJJO/Madison
WKHY/Lafayette, IN
WKTG/Madisonville, Kentucky
WKZQ/Myrtle Beach, SC
WLFR/Atlantic City/Pomona, NJ
WLRM/Memphis, TN
WLRS/Louisville
WMMR/Philadelphia
WNNX/Atlanta
WPLA/Jacksonville
WPTQ/Bowling Green,KY
WQXA/Harrisburg
WRCQ/Fayetteville NC
WRIF/Detroit
WRRV/Poughkeepsie/Middletown NY
WRTT/Huntsville, Al
WRWK/Toledo
WRZX/Indianapolis
WTPT/Greenville-Spartanburg
WWWX/Appleton-Oshkosh
WXDX/Pittsburgh
WXEG/Dayton
WXPN/Philadelphia
WXSR/Tallahassee
WXTB/Tampa
WYSP/Philadelphia
WZNN/Green Bay
WZOR/Green Bay
KHTR/Spokane, WA
KZGL/Flagstaff, AZ
KFEB/Poplar Bluff, MO
WPNH/Manchester, NH
KLHI/Maui, HI
KMRJ/Palm Springs, CA
WJZJ/Glen Arbor, MI

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London Calling

This weekend Brutus is in London (the one in England) for backstage coverage from the Live Earth shows on XM Satellite Radio You can hear it all on Saturday the 7th on various XM channels Hit xmradio.com for the full channel description.

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Uncle Sam is Who I Am

Lou has put together another amazing microchannel for XM This one is especially themed for the 4th of July and its called Uncle Sam You can find it on XM 120 It's sort of a musical melting pot of songs about America regardless of genre or type You may hear James Cagney singing "Yankee Doodle Dandy" followed by the Grateful Dead's "U.S. Blues" followed by John Wayne reading the Pledge of Allegiance Check it out Lou's summer channel special, XM Summer, has gotten rave reviews in the press including a mention on CNN.com Also, happy birthday to Lou's grandmother who celebrates her 100th on the 4th of July!!! Happy Birthday to Ba!!!

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Smashville Pumpkins

LB was on hand for part of the nine night stand the Smashing Pumpkins made in Asheville, NC at The Orange Peel He taped an exclusive interview with founding members Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain that are being used for the group's official FMQB album release radio special "Inside Smashing Pumpkins Zeitgeist." It will air on close to one hundred stations around the country We'll post the list of stations soon.

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Lou Man Group

LB hit the stage of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City to tape an XM Artist Confidential show with Blue Man Group The Blue Men and their band performed while Lou interivewed BMG founders and music directors in between the tunes Listen for it on XM with the schedule time TBD.

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LB in KC

Lou was backstage from dawn till dusk for the madness is that 98.9 The Rock's Rockfest in Kansas City He interviewed the entire lineup including Godsmack, Three Days Grace, Chevelle, Saliva, Drowning Pool, Buckcherry, Breaking Benjamin, Sevendust, The Exies, Operator, Burden Brothers, Blackstone Cherry and Puddle of Mudd As a bonus he also did an exlusive interview with Tony, Robbie and Shannon of Godsmack regarding their forthcoming side band Another Animal. You can hear it all coming up on a special edition of hardDrive.

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Satellite Party with Satellite Party

Brutus made his way to the Jazz at Lincoln Center Performance studios to host a special edition of XM's Artist Confidential Series with Perry Farrell's Satellite Party. The show was attended by less than 40 members of Perry's fan club The band performed seven tunes with Lou, Perry and the band (which features one of Lou's fave musicians Nuno Bettencourt) chatting in between the music You can hear it upcoming on XM.

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Annie Liebovitz He Ain't

As Lou gets to go to a lot of cool events he often takes his trusty Nikon D50 camera along with him He's set up a bunch of his concert and sports photos at his MySpace page for your perusal He also wants to thank the guys from Time Again for using one of his recent shots of the band on their web site and MySpace page Check out the pix at: myspace.com/loubrutus.

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Megabrut

Friday May 18th 2007 was a historic day at the XM studios in Washington, DC as Megadeth recorded a live interview and show as part of the Artist Confidential series with Lou as the host Dave Mustaine touched on all aspects of his music, lyrics and life Along with that the band shredded tunes from their new United Abominations album and an older tune that Dave let Lou pick out Listen for it in the coming days on XM.

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No Sleep Till Camden

Along with his Megadeth meeting, Lou has also recently spoken with Evans Blue and Twin Cam. On Sunday May 20th its up to Camden NJ for interviews with Velvet Revolver, Evanesence, Chevelle, Flyleaf, Fuel, The Exies and Buckcherry Listen for all that on upcoming editons of hardDrive.

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Class In Session at Nekro High

Brutus was the host for legendary psychobilly band Nekromantix as they hit XM for a performance in The You're Not Invited Concert Series It will debut on Monday June 4th at 8pm Eastern After the taping, Lou headed up to the Ottobar in Baltimore to check out the band as headliners on the Hellcat Tour where he also saw great sets from the Heart Attacks and his buds Time Again who played him their new CD that won't hit till January Great stuff.

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Brutus Gets A Major Rush on XM

Beginning at 12 Midnight EST this Monday and running into the wee hours on Wednesday morning, listen for Lou on XM as the host of Rush Hours It's a special looking at the new Rush album Snakes and Arrows where Listen for a segment every hour across three XM channels including The Boneyard, The Verge and Deep Tracks Find the schedule at xmradio.com.

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Brutus Doubles His Rushes

Lou steps up this weekend to host the official album premiere special for the new Rush album Snakes and Arrows which hits stores this Tuesday LB spent several hours in NYC with the band's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson getting an intimate look at the making of the record Entitled Inside Rush: Snakes and Arrows-A World Premiere Event, the show is produced by seminal radio publication the Friday Morning Quarterback Check your local station for time and day You can hear it across the country on the following radio stations...

KBER/Salt Lake City
KCDL/Weatherford OK
KCLB/Palm Springs CA
KCOC/Bend OR
KDKB/Phoenix AZ
KDOT/Reno NV
KGB/San Diego CA
KGON/Portland OR
KHTB/Salt Lake City UT
KHYT/Tucson AZ
KJFX/Fresno CA
KKED/Fairbanks AK
KKEZ/FortDodge, IA
KKZX/Spokane WA
KLOS/Los Angeles CA
KLPX/Tucson AZ
KOOP/Central TX
KRNA/Cedar Rapids IA
KRZR/Fresno CA
KSAN/San Fran/San Jose
KSHE/St. Louis MO
KYBB/Sioux Falls SD
KZOZ/San Luis Obispo CA
KZRK/Amarillo TX
WAMX/Huntington WV
WAQX/Syracuse NY
WBBB/Raleigh NC
WBZT/Greenville SC
WCLG/Morgantown WV
WCMF/Rochester NY
WCSX/Detroit MI
WCWP/Long Island NY
WDHA/Morristown NJ
WDVE/Pittsburgh PA
WEGR/Memphis TN
WEGW/Wheeling WV
WEOS/Rochester NY
WGIR/Manchester NH
WGRF/Buffalo NY
WHEB/Portsmouth NH
WHJY/Providence RI
WHLK/Madison WI
WIIL/Chicago IL
WIRX/Benton Harbor MI
WIYY/Baltimore MD
WJXQ/Lansing-East Lansing MI
WKHY/Lafayette IN
WKLC/Charleston WV
WKLR/Richmond, VA
WKQQ/Lexington-Fayette KY
WLFR/Atlantic City NJ
WLUP/Chicago IL
WLVC/Warminster PA
WLVQ/Columbus OH
WMHB/Central Maine
WMMQ/Lansing MI
WMMR/Philadelphia PA
WMXT/Florence SC
WONE/Akron OH
WOUR/Utica-Rome NY
WPDH/Poughkeepsie NY
WPTQ/Bowling Green KY
WPXC/Hyannis MA
WPYX/Albany NY
WRAT/Monmouth-Ocean NJ
WRCQ/Fayetteville NC
WRIF/Detroit MI
WRKF/Baton Rouge LA
WRKI/Danbury CT
WRKR/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek MI
WROV/Roanoke/Lynchburg VA
WRSU/New Jersey
WRXR/Chattanooga TN
WSMS/Columbus/Starkville/Tupelo MS
WSOU/New Jersey
WSUE/Sault Ste. Marie MI
WTUE/Dayton OH
WXFX/Montgomery AL
WXKE/Fort Wayne IN
WXMM/Norfolk VA
WZZO/Allentown PA

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10 Questions with Lou Brutus

Recently, radio industry website All Access asked Brutus to take part in their seminal 10 Questions feature This was the outcome...

1) What was your first job in radio? Early influences?

I began as an intern at WMMR/Philadelphia. From there I became morning show producer and then the first intern to ever become a member of the airstaff in the station's history. On the Rock radio side I was always a big fan of the WMMR staff, especially Joe Bonadonna, Earle Bailey, Bubba John Stevens and Michael Tearson. From out of New York I loved WNEW-FM, particularly Scott Muni, Allison Steele and the great Vince Scelsa. Steve Lushbaugh, the longtime Production Director at WMMR, has always been someone whose work I've admired . I have certainly learned much of what I know about creating radio audio thanks to him, as well as WMMR's Pierre Robert and John DeBella.

Outside of the radio world, Frank Zappa was a big influence. He taught me different ways to look at the world and how to listen to and shape audio. I still miss speaking with him. George Carlin, Warren Zevon, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Looney Tunes and The Firesign Theatre were also very important to me. They all had genius ways of approaching word play, word craft and, in the case of Firesign Theatre, audio manipulation.

Finally, I have to mention Hunter S. Thompson. If you want to learn how to master the English language in its most twisted and violent form, Hunter is your man. One day I will write a book about my adventures with him. Soon after, I will be carted away to jail where the guards will beat me mercilessly and snarl viciously as they drag me down to a windowless cell where I will meet my bloody doom. Res Ipsa Loquitur.

2) What led you to a career in radio?

Radio is all I've ever wanted to do since I was a little kid. Growing up in Central New Jersey allowed me to get all of the New York stations and all of the Philly stations as well as the Jersey stations. I remember my mom listening to William B. Williams on WNEW-AM in New York and thinking that it must be a pretty cool gig. It was when I became enthralled with the staff on 77 WABC in New York that I knew I had to be in radio. Harry Harrison, Ron Lundy and Cousin Brucie are all true legends. These were guys that had millions of listeners hanging on every syllable. They were Jolly Green Giants walking the Earth -- with microphones.

If I had to pick my favorite of all time, it would have to be Dan Ingram. He is simply the best DJ who has ever lived. The rest of us are not fit to lick the soles of his Florsheims. I think a lot of my sensibilities of how to meld multiple ideas into a single, cohesive break (and do it quickly) go back to what Dan does. He is a giant. He is a God. I would kill for him.

3) What career path would you be following had it not been for this industry?

I think I would like to work in a hat store. "What size do you wear? No, I'm sorry. We don't have that." I think I could do that. What are the hours?

4) Where do you see the industry and yourself five years from now?

The industry and I are opening a haberdashery together on Martha's Vineyard. We've taken a lease out on an old, converted church. We're going to call it Hats in the Belfry.

5) What can we be doing with our station web sites to better our stations as a whole?

Less clutter, more info. I bail on some station sites before I actually see anything as there is so much crap slowing the page down. Also, more hats and hat-related items. Maybe the site sections with buxom women could be spruced up if the gals were in hats. Nothing says class like a half-naked harlot in a derby!

6) What is the biggest change that you'd like to see happen in the business?

Well, after killing all the lawyers, 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.

7) Tell us what music we would find on your car or home CD player (or turntable) right now.

I have not let up on the new Stone Sour album since it came out. It's one of my favorite records -- ever. Hell Yeah, Shadows Fall, Sevendust and My Chemical Romance are getting a lot of listens. Other stuff like Shock Nagasaki, Time Again, Street Dogs, Dead Schembechlers and The Briefs. Also, the new Dash Rip Rock album "Hee Haw Hell" which is a Cow Punk Rock Opera based on Dante's Inferno which I conceptualized and co-wrote. Finally, a great tune called "My Rifle" from an Italian band called The Manges that takes the "this is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine" scene in "Full Metal Jacket" and turns it, line for line, into a song. It's brilliant.

BTW, Cheap Trick is still turning out some of the best records in the world. The "Rockford" album proves it. If they don't go into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soon, I'm going to Cleveland to start busting heads. It's shameful that they and KISS are not in.

8) What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?

You can get more with a kind word and a gun then you can with a kind word.

9) What is the best advice you would give to young programmers/promotion people?

Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.

10) As you look back over your career, any regrets?

That I didn't make out with Paula Abdul when I had the chance.

BONUS QUESTIONS

Who would be your dream guest on the show?

Benjamin Franklin. He could discover electricity, down a flagon of buttered rum and bang four courtesans -- all at the same time. He was like the Vinnie Paul of the American Revolution.

What was the first song or full-length release you purchased?

The Beatles' "Revolver." It's the best album ever recorded if you don't count "Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy."

How do you stay in tune with your audience?

I have interns place giant seed pods under the listener's beds. The pod absorbs their very soul and being. We then run the data collected from the remains and argue about what the breakouts mean. We later take the rotting human husks and process them into Soylent Green. Mmmmmmm, Fergasoylicious.

What's the best piece of advice anyone's ever given you?

If you're going to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.

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Yakkity Yak!

LB has just done interviews with Keith Nelson of Buckcherry and Caleb Oliver of Decyfer Down You can hear both interviews on upcoming editions of hardDrive and hardDrive XL Next week, he's heading up to NYC to chat with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush! He will record two separate interviews with them The first for the Snakes and Arrows album premiere special being put together by the Friday Morning Quarterback which will air on radio stations around the country! We'll post a list of stations in the coming weeks You can read more about that Rush special here Lou's second Rush interview will air as a multi hour special on XM channels The Boneyard and Deep Tracks Times and days to be announced soon.

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Play Ball!

Brutus has put together another ultra cool channel for XM Satellite Radio It's called "Play Ball!" It celebrates the Opening Day of Major League Baseball with four days of baseball songs, classic calls, rare baseball related audio, classic baseball comedy and long form baseball themed shows from the Golden Age of Radio You'll hear the best of XM's Baseball Confidential specials, too It runs thru Monday at 5pm on XM 200.

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Mookie Hearns, Arf! Arf! Arf!

To make a long story short, Brutus is playing a practical joke on his old neighbor by setting up a MySpace page for the woman's DOG! There's a theme song and everything Lou needs your help Go to the site here and sign up as a MySpace Friend for the dog who's name is Mookie Hearns! Be sure to leave a comment Something really creative and nuts about how the dog has changed your life Yeah, Lou needs to get a life Just do it, huh Again, the site is www.myspace.com/mookiehearns Pass it on!

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Bezeball Been Berry, Berry Good to Lou

To celebrate the opening of the Major League Baseball season XM is doing a special channel of nothing but baseball songs and audio Brutus has been chosen to put it together as he's the resident baseball nut and collector of rare audio The channel is called Play Ball and will be on XM 200 from Friday thru Monday Lou is celebrating by making his epic poem of the Chicago Cubs most disasterous moment "Bartman at the Ball" available on his MySpace page Just go to www.myspace.com/loubrutus.

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Brutus Sez "Fuck Yeah" to Hell Yeah

Hell Yeah the new supergroup featuring members of Mudvayne, Nothingface and Pantera Lou scored a major interview with the band's Vinnie Paul and Tom Maxwell this week They talked about how the group came together, recording the record and each gave some hilarious road stories including one where Vinnie fucked a groupie underneath Mike Borden's drum kit during an Ozzy set at Ozzfest We shit you not You can hear it all coming up on hardDrive and hardDrive XL.

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Shadows Fall on Brutus

LB hooked up with Brian Fair of Shadows Fall for nearly an hour on the hardDrive Hotline this week They had a deep discussion regarding the forthcoming new Shads album Threads of Life, the current Jager Tour with Stone Sour & Lacuna Coil and lots more stuff You can hear it all on upcoming editions of hardDrive and hardDrive XL.

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Brutus Gets NJ Press Love

The Irish music channel that LB has put together, XM Green: Radio Ireland, is getting rave reviews from both listeners and the press Check out this article in the Bergen Record.

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Lou Brutus Goes to Hee Haw Hell!!!

Here's the latest "Hee Haw Hell" press release..

Radio legend Lou Brutus has added yet another feather to his creative cap...co-creator of the world's first cow-punk-rock-opera It's based on Dante's Infernoand is entitled "Hee Haw Hell."

"Hee Haw Hell" is the new album by country punk rockers Dash Rip Rock, best known for the novelty hit "Let's Go Smoke Some Pot" plus their decades of hard touring and hard living Brutus had written the lyrics for a song called "Hee Haw Hell" andcalled the band'sBill Davis about contributing the music After hearing the results and going over the lyrics for some othernew Dash Rip Rocksongs,Brutus suggested tying the tunes together as arock operabased on Dante's Inferno The band agreed and went ahead with recording their new tunes while it was Lou's part to write the "cantos" or short poems to tie the songs together in a coherent piece of audio theater.

The album tells the story of the narrator "Donkey" (Dante) meeting with Ol' Virg Virgil) andcrossing the river Sticks on a flatboat into Hee Haw Hell They encounter various demons, dead southern rockers and others in a send up of the New South who are voiced by a variety of underground music stars including Dead Kennedy's founder Jello Biafra and Mojo Nixon who plays Beelzebubba, the demonic leader of Hee Haw Hell.

As each part of Dante's Divine Comedy, including Inferno, ends with the word "stars," the last wordsspoken on the album are by a demonicCasey Kasem soundalike (voiced by Brutus) who exhorts Donkey to "keep reaching for the stars" as he escapes Hee Haw Hell.

"It was an absolute pleasure to work with Bill Davis and Dash Rip Rock on this album," said Brutus "To be able to take part in the creation of something so sick and twisted and then release it to the world is a nightmare come true."

The album is available now The band will tour through the rest of the year. Lou Brutus will be part of special shows in New York and Washington, DC where the opera will be performed from in its entirety

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Hee Haw Hell Clicks with Hicks in Styx

The new Dash Rip Rock album is in stores now! It's entitled "Hee Haw Hell" and is a cow punk rock opera based on Dante's Inferno. Brutus created the concept, wrote the cantos the tie the story together and co-wrote the title track and its reprise Here's the write up from Amazon.com: Considering today's Red State Blue State dialectic, you'd think Alternative Tentacles with our "San Francisco values" and a Southern-fried party band from Baton Rouge (which translates to "RED stick"), Louisiana would be like oil and water an assumption that couldn't be more wrong! AT and Dash Rip Rock continue the joint enterprise that began with their twenty-year retrospective Recyclone (Virus 329) in 2005 with Hee Haw Hell, an all new album by the undisputed kings of Southern country punk. Hee Haw Hell blows any stereotypes about Red staters, punks, and country rockers out of the water with the genius of its conceit: it's a country punk opera based on Dante's Inferno! With spoken parts and good ol' rock-n-roll, Dash Rip Rock tells the story of Donkey's tour of Hell (populated by ghosts of Lynyrd Skynyrd and hippie jam bands) with Ol' Virg. As if a country-punkified version of a 14th century Italian epic poem isn't over the top, guest stars Mojo Nixon and Jello Biafra among others guarantee that Hee Haw Hell will be a thespian and musical piece de resistance. If you can party to a Southern rock legend AND learn about Dante by osmosis at the same time, then what you got there is called a win-win situation.

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The Luck of the Irish

LB has been chosen to program the upcoming XM channel celebrating the St. Patrick's Day weekend XM Green: Radio Ireland. Brutus promises nothing but traditional Irish music and authentic Irish voices between the songs with no goofy leprechaun nonsense You can hear it on XM 200 Friday, March 16 thru Sunday March 18.

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Show Me the Eddie

This Monday March 05th Brutus will be the host for the latest in the XM Artist Confidential Series The guest will be the legendary Eddie Money It will debut this coming spring on XM.

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Lots of Shit Going On

Busy week for Brutus including interviews with My Chemical Romance, Bullet for My Valentine and Anberlin which can be heard on hardDrive and hardDrive XL He'll also get set to tape an XM Artist Confidential with Eddie Money in DC next week.

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Grammy Redux

It was a historic run of broadcasts for LB on XM's Grammy Radio On Grammy Eve he was on the Red Carpet for the Grammy Legends Awards speaking with the likes of inductees like Robbie Krieger of The Doors, Mickey Hart of Grateful Dead and Joan Baez The following day it was the Red Carpet at the Grammy Awards! He spoke to an incredibly diverse group of artists including George Clinton of Parliament/Funkadelic, Phil Lesh of Grateful Dead, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Buckcherry, Ministry, Wolfmother, Mastodon, Al Jarreau, Natalie Cole, George Benson, Red, Imogen Heap, The Klezmatics, Howard Benson, Alan Parsons and about two dozen more! We're still sifting thru all of the recordings!

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Grammy Boy

LB is in Hollylollylollywoodywoodypeckerpercker (as Frank Zappa would say) for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards He will once again be on the Red Carpet reporting live on XM Check out XM 200 Grammy Radio for it all.

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Interview Boy

Lou's a busy lad the last week or so with interviews with Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger of The Doors about going into the Grammy Hall of Fame Those interviews will air on XM 200 Grammy Radio and across the XM dial He's also been talking to Army of Anyone, Bullet for My Valentine and Stone Sour. All of those interviews will be heard on hardDrive and hardDrive XL.

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When Harry Met Louie

Brutus hooked up with Harry Connick Jr. and his orchestra at the historic Right Track Studios in NYC recently They taped an edition of XM's Artist Confidential It will debut on XM on Valentine's Day.

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Mastodust

Today, Thursday January 18, 2007, Brutus will be hooking up with both Sevendust and Mastodon for upcoming editons of hardDrive. Both bands have headlining tours on the way soon to lots of hardDrive towns!

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It Came from Planet Grammy Blog

Brutus will be reporting from the Red Carpet next month at the 49^th Annual Grammy Awards at The Staple Center in Los Angeles on XM. As part of the lead up to the coverage he was asked to contribute Grammy related blogs on XM’s web site. See all of the XM blogs here. Lou’s blogs are as follows…

Barbarians Thru the Gates

Ramones and The Clash Overrun Grammy Hall of Fame
Memo from the Rock Desk
By Lou Brutus
Senior Program Director Active Rock Cluster

And so it came to pass in the year 2007 A.D. that two of the greatest albums in all the history of recording would finally be welcomed into The Grammy Hall of Fame. What are these two behemoths of The Industry? Multi-platinum soft rock releases celebrated with $200 anniversary tour tickets on the arena circuit? Albums by golden voiced femme fatales bedecked in jeweled finery and studio polished perfection? Naaah. Just some filthy punks.

The self titled debut album by the Ramones and London Calling by The Clash have been announced as additions to The Grammy Hall of Fame. Fuck yeah.

As with anything Grammy related some people are going to yap endlessly that it means nothing, it means too much, it means the wrong thing, it’s too late, it’s too early, it’s too this, it’s too that and other such meaningless, mindless, meandering moronicisms. The fact of the matter is that two of the finest musical entities to ever exist are getting some well deserved respect. End of discussion.

Wanna hear one of the coolest pieces of musical trivia ever? The instrumental piece the band opened many of their shows with entitled Durango 95 was named by Dee Dee Ramone after the model of car that Alex and his droogs stole in the beginning of A Clockwork Orange. The tune is originally found on the group’s most underrated album (and that’s saying something) Too Tough to Die. That album also holds the distinction of having arguably greatest cover of all time. When it came time for me to launch the first ever, all punk rock radio station in history (XM’s Fungus 53) I chose Durango 95 as the inaugural song. No other tune deserved the honor.

I have always loved the Ramones. From the moment my school chum Steve Baise (later a member of the legendary Devil Dogs) first played them for me I thought they were perfect. Just perfect. I saw the Ramones in concert fifty times. I have the tinnitus to prove it. Actually, the night I realized that my hearing was pooched was a Ramones show at The Living Room in Providence, RI. I had intro-ed the band and darted offstage to go out into the crowd to get drunk and sweaty. Even though the set was underway I was able to walk within a few feet of the stage to a good spot to catch guitar picks. After a few moments I noticed that no one was standing around me. There was actually no one within about seven or eight feet of me. “How odd,” I thought. It was then that I realized that I was half standing inside the speaker column and that my body was being thumped into chitlin by the savage throb of band. However, it did not seem to hurt my ears. The volume was just right. In hindsight that should have perhaps set off a warning flag or two but I was too busy guzzling a highball glass of Jack Daniels and shouting out the words to Teenage Lobotomy. The lumps of useless flesh that used to be my eardrums still ache painfully at the memory.

My friends and I would go anywhere and everywhere to see the Ramones. I remember taking the Lincoln Transit bus up New Jersey’s Route 9 (yes, the one from Born to Run) from near my family’s home in Englishtown up into New York to catch another bus back into Jersey to get to the Capitol Theatre on Monroe Street in Passaic for the Ramones, David Johannsen Group and Shrapnel. I still have the program from that gig. John Scher used to give out programs that had really cool cover illustrations that looked like woodcuts at the shows he produced. I have a few dozen of them from various concerts. They are worth more than gold to me. I also gripped the front of the stage and held on for dear life seeing the band at The Ripley, The Chestnut Cabaret and the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia. I also caught them on the Paramount Theatre and the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ plus a zillion other joints. When I got into radio I always made sure to volunteer to emcee the shows as it not only meant free tickets but a chance to get all my Ramones stuff autographed.

The guys in the band (alternately Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, Tommy, Marky, CJ and Richie) and their tour manager (the long suffering but incredibly decent Monte A. Melnick) were always hospitable. I was never anywhere near being a band insider or anything like that but they did get to know me a bit as I could always been counted on to show up like a bad penny at any shows within a hundred miles of wherever I was living at the time. The guys were also aware and very appreciative of the gobs of airplay I gave them. I still fondly remember the unhappy shrieks of my Program Director at WHJY in Providence, R.I. Bill Weston as I would launch into thirty to forty five minutes of unscheduled, unapproved Ramones music on show days. I was rewarded several times from the stage by Joey giving me a shout out and having “Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio” dedicated to me. I also always had a blast producing and voicing over the top concert commercials for the shows. “More powerful than a pool of Jack Daniels…the Ramones” or some other such nonsense was used as the opening line. Stupid? Perhaps. Still a ton of fun for me to produce though.

Actually, one of the first dates my future wife Geri and I went on was to a Ramones concert at the Tower Theatre (technically in Upper Darby, PA. Not Philly). As she was (and still is) an upstanding, politically right leaning, church going conservative (very opposite of meself) she had never dreamed of going to see such a motley display of musical flotsam. I remember her incredulous tone as she said, “The Ramones? Aren’t they…punk rock?” The inflection she used while speaking the words “punk rock” were her shorthand way of saying, “These beasts play a sadistic form of audio abuse that can only be called music because seedy fools like yourself insist on referring to it as such and I would rather have my eyeballs plucked out by Satanic crows in a Hieronymus Bosch painting then attend such a sordid affair.” However, my wheedling insistence on her attendance was finally, begrudgingly agreed to and we went to the show. Monte answered the stage door, gave me a warm welcome and happily pointed towards…the chest. The Ramones always had a chest of Yoo Hoo backstage. No water. No Gatorade. Just Yoo Hoo. It was always the pre-show highlight for me. I introduced my date to the band and she struck up what became a thirty minute conversation with Johnny on his far flung knowledge of the Philadelphia Phillies minor league pitching prospects for that season. Seriously, that guy knew more about baseball than anyone who has ever lived. If ESPN’s Peter Gammons ever had to go mano y mano versus Johnny Ramone in a baseball trivia fight he would be reduced to a piddling puddle of petrified pilings by the guy with the white Mosrite guitar. She was blown away by his hospitality and geniality after expecting to be vomited on by a bunch of weirdoes. When the band later hit the stage she shoved her fingers in her ears and asked me, “When is the nice fellow’s band coming out?” I laughed and pointed to the mop of hair madly bobbing at stage right.

The downer part of that evening came as we had just left the dressing room. Geri said, “They all talked to you but never said a word to each other.” It was sad but true. For whatever reasons, the guys did just not seem to like each other. I cannot/will not explain it myself. I would heartily encourage you to read Monte’s phenomenal book on his adventures with the group On the Road with the Ramones to learn more about that and other, happier things. A friend once mentioned that he thought that they would all die early. When I told him that was kind of crappy thing to say he explained that he was not trying to be funny. It was just that they seemed to hate one another so much but spent so much time together that the stress of it all would manifest itself into early deaths for them. Unfortunately, he was proven right.

The Ramones always had a fatalistic sense that they would be come larger than life shortly after their lives ended. I chatted with Johnny Ramone backstage before the band’s last gig in Chicago and he seemed resigned to the fact they were well on there way to immortality…just not soon enough. “We’re gonna be bigger after we’re gone then we ever were while doing a hundred shows a year,” he said. He didn’t seem too happy about it. Joey had stopped by the studio for an on-air interview earlier that day and, while not too ecstatic about it, he seemed a little better with what he saw as the too late wave of glory. I did a rather lengthy interview with Johnny about a year before he passed away and he seemed more upbeat at that time. The compilation of Ramone’s covers, lovingly assembled by his friend Rob Zombie, had brought another wave of fans and he was feeling pretty good about it. I talked to Joey a couple more times before he passed away. A wonderful person. I still have his phone number programmed onto my cell phone as it would only break my heart to delete it. I was supposed to have interviewed Dee Dee about his book Lobotomy but was unable to make it up to New York on the assigned day. “No worries,” I thought. I’ll see him again and get it done. He died soon after. I still see Marky and Tommy from time to time. Monte, too. I still act like a geeky, dopey fan whenever I see any of them. I would not have it any other way.

BTW, did you ever think that the Ramones were a lot like KISS? I do. They both came out of the same basic scene at the same basic time. They were both horribly misunderstood because of their respective, iconic physical images. They both did short, catchy songs that should have been hits. Think about it. The Ramones were actually more sped up oldies music than punk (I mean that as a compliment). Songs like “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” would have fit perfectly on New York’s WABC-AM or WCBS-FM. KISS was more bubblegum hard rock then heavy metal (I mean that as a compliment, too) in the same way as Sweet (who had a nice gaggle of Top 40 hits).

And now we move to The Clash. I never got to seem them nearly as many times as the Ramones nor do I have the volume of meandering anecdotes about them but I do have probably the only story that involves Joe Strummer and a horde of Grateful Dead Heads. No, really.

I had seen The Clash a few times. Once with Burning Spear as the opener at the Class of 1923 Skating Rink on the University of Pennsylvania campus in the Center City section of Philadelphia. Shitty PA sound, great show. The walls there were concrete. Ouch. I also caught two of the shows where they opened for The Who. One at JFK Stadium in Philly and the other during the run of shows at Shea Stadium on Long Island. Anyway, I was working as an intern for WMMR in Philadelphia when Joe Strummer brought the Mick Jones-less version of the band to town to play the Spectrum. As fate would have it the Grateful Dead were also in town that night for a show. It was late on a Saturday morning and I was answering the request lines for DJ Pierre Robert. I seem to remember him being a big hung over that morning but perhaps not. Pierre was looking forward to going home for a long nap to get rested up for the Dead that night. Normally, I would have gone to see them too (I’m no genre snob and will go see anyone good) but Clash shows were few and far between compared to the Dead so I was chomping at the bit to go to the Spectrum. Just a few minutes short of the moment when Pierre could exit…the hotline rang. It was Program Director Charlie Kendall. He brusquely informed Pierre that Joe Strummer was on the way over and that he had to do the interview. I got to help him quickly coddle some questions together and we awaited his arrival. It was then that something very strange happened. We were looking out of the third floor studio window that overlooked Rittenhouse Square and the lovely park therein. With the Grateful Dead in town the park had been taken over by Dead Heads who were using is as a free camp ground. Then, from across the square, we saw the orange mohawked visage of Joe Strummer himself entering the park. Suddenly, he was surrounded by Dead Heads! Dozens of them! The Lord of Punk and the gaggle of hippie kids were face to face! What would happen? What were they saying? We were too far away to tell. When Joe walked in the studio I asked what the Dead Heads wanted to know. He said, “They asked if was coming out tonight to jam with The Dead. I told them, ‘No, man. I ain’t got no fucking acid!’” I hope it’s as funny in print as it was when he said it with his accent. He said it in such an over the top fashion that we were on the floor. The interview went fine and afterwards Joe asked if he could bum one of my smokes. He reached into my box of Marlboro reds and took out two. He put one in the corner of his mouth and the other behind his ear, “For later,” he happily blurted out. Before he left I had him autograph a piece of WMMR letterhead to me. I still have it. It’s a kind of a personally bizarre Grammy kismet for me that The Clash’s London Calling goes into the Grammy hall the same year the Grateful Dead their Grammy honor. Weird.

I never met Mick Jones but did a long phone interview with him a couple of years ago. Nice fellow and very open to talking about anything. Although he and Joe had differences Mick did get to play with Joe one last time when he ran onstage at a benefit gig Joe was playing in the U.K. I believe it gave him a great sense of closure and (my guess) made Joe’s tragic death a lot easier to handle.

Better minds than my own have written thousands (millions?) of words about the Ramones’ debut album and The Clash’s London Calling. Suffice to say here that my life would have been a lot less interesting and somewhat different in tone without them. Both groups have certainly been woven into the fabric of my life.

As for the Grammy honor…too little too late? I think not. I say, “Better late then never.”

Weir and Loathing at the Grammys

A Savage Journey to the Heart of the Staple Center via Englishtown, NJ
Memo from the Rock Desk with apologies to HST
By Lou Brutus
Senior Program Director Active Rock Cluster

It was recently relayed to me that the Grateful Dead would be honored with The Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. Ye Gods! Pigs are flying by a moon over Marin. There is a fly in the ointment and a shadow on the land. There are also reliable reports of a peacock in the woodpile and the inmates taking over the asylum. However long and strange the band’s trip to Grammy immortality I cannot help but ask myself whether it is mere chance or the planning of dark, freakish forces of nature that the honor comes during the 30th anniversary year of the band’s historic concert in my tiny hometown of Englishtown, NJ.

It was Labor Day Weekend of 1977 and I was but a broth of a lad immersed in the usual summer doings of our backwater community. My friends and I had spent the previous months throwing eggs at cars, cow tipping and lolling in the fields trying to ignore the stench of manure. We were simple people in a simple land with little of the outside world to invade the blissful ignorance of our single digit IQs. However, our serene stupidity was brashly invaded on the morning of Saturday September 3rd by the unexpected reek of patchouli oil wafting on the morning’s soft summer breeze. This odd affront to our nostrils was only the olfactory outrider of the full array of over powering; hippy smell that rose to choke us by late morning as over 150,000 Dead Heads from around the world arrived to besiege our one horse town and its two man police force.

From the air, the tie-dyed Technicolor spectacle must have looked like some giant being had just vomited several tons of Skittles on the usually quiet fields of Central New Jersey. Rasta curled fans, their heads come alive like trippy Medusa, danced like marionettes on acid (a half truth) in clouds of gigantic Jersey mosquitoes which then flew crazily thru the sky after ingesting the hyper-resinated hippy blood. The entire spew of half naked humanity was enough to cause the two Barney Fifes of the local constabulary to weep like scolded schoolgirls. Their judicial impotence in the face of this crush of long haired law breakers broke the spirits of these two legal giants who had spent their entire law enforcement careers writing up little old ladies for doing 26 in the 25 mile per hour zone on their way home Sunday mornings from Our Lady of Peace Church on Main Street.

In the middle of it all were the Grateful Dead doing what the Grateful Dead did best. Orchestrating not only the wonderful and bizarre musical cacophony that some people swore by and other people swore at but also the magical ability to bring together a medium sized city’s worth of people in a hitherto unknown place to jump around like loons with like minded strangers for a day of unbridled weirdness.

I stood around with my mouth wide open wondering what planet I had been transported to.

Judas goats on both sides of the musical spectrum may bleat out that the Grammy honor for the Grateful Dead is some kind of lunatic travesty. The cold hearted music biz types will dismiss them as a freak show with no hit records to speak of who do not deserve to stand in the hallowed presence of the musical giants who have gone before. Other elements will say that the band were always outsiders from the rest of the musical scene who will besmirch their legacy by accepting. I say a pox on both those arguments! The Grateful Dead has been one of the most unique and interesting chapters in the annals of music bar none. I hope you got to see the whole shebang at least once as there was nothing like it before or since in this portion of the galaxy. It was as exhilarating as the extravaganzas of ancientRome without all the fuss and muss of someone being messily devoured by ravenous lions. They deserve the honor as much as anyone has and perhaps more than most.

I, for one, look forward to chatting with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead on the Red Carpet outside of the Staple Center. Will it be weird talking to them in that setting? Hell yeah, but no weirder then them showing up against all hope and reason in the previously music starved hamlet of Englishtown so long ago. I am sure I will have a grin a mile wide as they hit the stage but I might not be looking at them. I may not even be scanning the faces of the crowd to who’s delighted, who’s not and who’s just plain wigged out. I just might be seeing a flashback in my mind’s eye of a New Jersey kid standing around a usually quiet field just a couple of miles from his house thirty years ago wondering how he got so lucky as to have the strangest circus in history come to his town.

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Hee Haw Hell

He's worked behind the scenes on some incredible music projects before but the time has come for Lou Brutus to step up...and...well, he's behind the scenes on this one, too Lou has come up with the concept and written a large amount of material for the upcoming Dash Rip Rock album Hee Haw Hell It's a cow-punk-rock-opera version of Dante's Inferno No, really Along with Dash Rip Rock there will be special appearances by Jello Biafra, Mojo Nixon, Supagroup, The Upper Crust and a ton of others including...Lou Brutus Look for a March 2007 release and a full performance of the opera at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas that is rumored to have the whole cast You can check out a preview of the disc at myspace.com/heehawhell.

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Grammy Fo Yo Mammy

It was a pretty surreal scene as Brutus interviewed the cream of the pop music world during the Grammy Awards nominations in Los Angeles at The Henry Fonda Theatre Lou found himself chatting with Ludacris, Mary J. Blige, James Blunt, Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown, Amy Lee, Corinne Bailey Rae and K.T. Tunstall. The entire thing was broadcast on XM so we know we didn't imagine it Fucking weird He'll be back in L.A. in February to broadcast live from the Red Carpet at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards.

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Godsmackdown

Brutus conducted the final major interview with Godsmack on the current round of touring and it turned out to be one of the most in depth He chatted with drummer Shannon Larkin for nearly and an hour and a half prior to the band's show at the Mariner Arena in Baltimore You can check it out on an upcoming edition of hardDrive with Lou Brutus.

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On the Horizon

Two rock and roll travel tips for Brutus in the coming days He'll be in Providence, RI on November 15th to record a backstage hardDrive special from the opening night of the Music As A Weapon Tour He'll interview all of the bands including Disturbed, Stone Sour, Flyleaf and Nonpoint. From there he heads to Columbus, Ohio to cover the yearly Hate Michigan Rally at The Newport Music Hall featuring the legendary Dead Schembechlers with Watershed and B.A. Baracus That show will be the night before the titanic Ohio State versus Michigan football game which Lou will also attend.

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P Roach, Uncut Roach

LB hooked up with longtime friend of hardDrive Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach. They talked up how Lou's birthdays would also mark P Roach's first ever gig at Madison Square Garden in NYC They're the opener for Guns and Roses. Lots of other cool band stuff, too Check it out on an upcoming edition of The World Famous hardDrive.

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Over Wave and Over Dale

This Friday November 10th is Lou's birthday and he's celebrating with one of his favorite artists of all time Dick Dale the King of the Surf Guitar DD will join Lou at 12 noon Eastern on XM's Fungus 53 for the surf show Kowabunga Uber Alles It will be repeated that night at 9pm.

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You're in the Army Now

Earlier this week, Brutus did a loooong interview with longtime hardDrive friend Robert DeLeo of Army of Anyone. Robert's been doing the show since his days in Stone Temple Pilots and he gave Lou and incredible amount of information on the new band They spoke at length about working with legendary producer Bob Ezrin, how he and his brother Dean hooked up with Richard Patrick and a wealth of other topics Hear it on hardDrive.

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Lindsey with an "E" on XM AC with LB

Fans have been waiting with baited breath and the time has finally come Check out Lindsey Buckingham on XM's Artist Confidential series hosted by Lou Brutus The two chat in front of a live audience while Lindsey plays several tunes from his storied career Hear it Monday the 6th on XM 50 The Loft at 6pm E and Wednesday the 8th 9am E on XM 40 Deep Tracks.

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Tool Time Once Again

Brutus has once again been hand picked by Tool to do an interview with the band This time, it will be Danny Carey chatting with Lou about the latest doings with the group. You can hear it on an upcoming hardDrive.

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Alice the Pumpkin King

You can check Brutus out on Halloween Day with the legendary king of shock rock Alice Cooper! They team up for nearly two hours of Halloween sounds on XM 41 The Boneyard at 12 noon E with encores at 6pm E and 12mid E.

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All Work and No Play Makes Brutus A Dull Boy

Busy, busy, busy days for LB! In just the last week or so he's interviewed Sparta, Weird Al Yankovic, Sully from Godsmack, Alice Cooper, Dick Dale, Lars from Rancid and Danny from Tool

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Brutus Gets Under Lindsey's Skin

On Sunday, October 8th Brutus will host another prestigious edition of XM's Artist Confidential series, this time with the incredible Lindsey Buckingham His latest album is one of Lou's faves for 2006 Under the Skin His previous solo work and his music as one of the leaders of Fleetwood Mac is also the stuff of legend You can here this interview/performance soon on XM.

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Lou Gets to the Point w/Nonpoint & Into the Head of Godhead

A busy week for LB with interviews for hardDrive He'll chat with Nonpoint and then with Godhead Hold it! Almost forgot the Sparta interview as well It also looks like he will be returning to his old stomping grounds of Providence, RI next month to cover the opening of the Music As A Weapon Tour with Disturbed, Stone Sour, Flyleaf and Nonpoint You can hear all of this in upcoming editions of hardDrive with Lou Brutus.

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Dash to NO Fo' Dash

In an act of extreme bravery, Lou Brutus will be heading down to New Orleans, Louisiana on Friday Sept. 28th to hook up with his longtime partners in musical stupidity Dash Rip Rock The bravery part is the fact that he's actually going to try and party with them on their home drinking turf! Lou will head with the band up to Sharpy's in Shreveport, LA on Friday night and then head back to New Orleans to work on a musical project with the band for the following three days

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Mountain Climbing

Brutus was the host as longtime rock gods Mountain recorded a live show at the XM studios in DC They were there as part of the Then Again: Live series to do a note for note recreation of their classic "Climbing" album You can catch it later this Fall on XM.

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It's Melvin!

If you missed the September 22nd edition of The Chicago Tribune you didn't see a fab article on legendary band The Melvins Writer Steve Knopper called Brutus about the band and quoted him in the article You can check it out by going here.

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Another Nick in the Wall

Interviews with members of Pink Floyd are few and far between but Brutus is on his way to NYC to chat with Nick Mason Nick, drummer and founding member, will talk with Lou for two entire hours about the new Pink Floyd DVD Pulse, his fantastic new Pink Floyd biography Inside Out and other Floyd minutiae It will air next month on several XM radio channels Lou has also been invited to see Nick play with old band mate Roger Waters at Madison Square Garden the prior night.

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Rockets, Robots and Rock & Roll

Check out Brutus on Fungus 53 this Labor Day for visits from space traveling rockabilly cadets The Phenomenauts They'll host the Hee Haw Hell segments at 12 noon, 6p and 9p (all times Eastern) To learn more of their travels here on the Earth check 'em out at www.phenomenauts.com.

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Cheap Labor Weekend

To celebrate one of his favorite bands Cheap Trick, Brutus has put together an incredible Labor Day weekend on XM 41 The Boneyard The Cheap Labor Weekend feature two specials Cheap Trick recorded with LB in Atlantic City this Summer The first is XM Liner Notes: Cheap Trick's "Rockford" where all for members of the band walk you thru their latest album track for track The second is XM's Offstage where Rick, Robin, Tom and Bun E. guest DJ for an hour of their fave stuff The third day of the weekend is capped with an encore presentation of XM's Then Again Live: Cheap Trick Live at Budokan where the band recreates the original track for track in the XM Performance Theatre with Brutus hosting

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KoRn in Kanada: Brutus at Family Values

This Monday August 28th will find Brutus winging his way to Toronto, Canada to record a backstage at the Family Values Tour Special for an upcoming edition of hardDrive He'll speak with KoRn, The Deftones, Stone Sour, Dir en Grey, Bullets & Octane, Deadsy, Bury Your Dead, 10 Years and Flyleaf. Check it out next month on hardDrive with Lou Brutus.

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Rancid! Rancid! Rancid!

During their three night stand in Washington, DC Rancid basically shook the town down to its evil roots The shows also featured Ducky Boys, H20, The Ghouls, Theo & the Skyscrapers and The Heart Attacks Everyone kicked ass! There was a cool poster done for these shows that Brutus schlepped around for three straight nights until he had every musician in every band sign it He is a poster collecting geek! The Rancid boys were kind enough to send out onstage shout outs every night to Brutus and Fungus 53 Plus, on the final day of the shows, they all came by the XM studios in DC and recorded acoustically for over four hours! They did eight songs in all that will be featured on Fungus 53 in The You're Not Invited Concert Series It will air in late September with exact dates forthcoming Thanks again to Matt, Brett, Tim and Lars for all of the hospitality Thanks also to their kick ass crew

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Lord of the Inerviews

As only Lou Brutus could, it is a stretch of interviews with the cream of the rock world over the next few days Friday August 4th finds LB in Camden, NJ for Ozzfest 2006 Here he'll interview Ozzy Osbourne, System of A Down, Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, All That Remains, Lacuna Coil, Hatebreed, Zakk Wylde and Atreyu. Saturday is a travel day and then it's WJJO's Bandcamp 2006 in Madison, WI where Brutus will chat with Staind, Hinder, Dope, Nonpoint, Three Days Grace, Crossfade, Hurt, Flyleaf, Wicked Wisdom and Deaf Pedestrians. Think that's enough? Wrong! LB travels back to DC on Monday and then on Tuesday hosts XM's Artist Confidential Series with legendary group Chicago We're pretty sure he's the only guy interviewing Ozzy and Chicago in that same stretch but we'll check.

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Thanks for the Thanks

Many thanks to the great Jim Root of Stone Sour (Slipknot, too!) for including me in the thank yous on the new Stone Sour album Come What (ever) May I know a lot of people however I don't have too many friends...but I count Jim as one He's one of the good ones BTW, the album is simply fucking superb I recommend it higher than anything and I mean anything that is available to man or beast Get it and listen over and over again and let it sink into your head You will be glad you did.---LB 7.27.06

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Bitching for Butch

I'm not one for reviewing records or any of that shit Artists have a hard enough time without having to deal with assholes who don't make records giving their (often bitter) little diatribes about how to make records Often times a review can really give a royal screwing to the person who made the record That does not seem fair The artist should be able to challenge unfair reviewers to duels Pistols at ten paces Blow the fuckers brains out or a least scar them with a flesh wound That'll show 'em Limp around for the rest of your life you gimpy little toad! Well, I'm not here to review the new Butch Walker record I just wanna tell you how much I love it and why I think you should drop everything in your life to go out and get it The full title of the album is The Rise and Fall of...Butch Walker and the Lets-Go-Out-Tonites Yeah, that's a bit of a nod to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars Maybe you didn't know that One extra music geek point if you did...but only if you're under 35 It wasn't THAT trivial a piece of trivia BTW, don't let someone treat you like a lesser person just because you are not steeped in arcane rock and roll knowledge A large portion of the (mostly) guys who are, tend to be unhappy loners with large calluses on their palms from jacking off their entire lives because they discovered far too late that they ain't gonna get no wang dang sweet poontang by whipping out their vast knowledge of Big Star vinyl imported from Japan to impress some lovely young devotchka Trust me, I know...and I have the calluses to prove it However, I digress The record harkens back to a bunch of cool glam rock shit from the early seventies (like the aforementioned album by David Bowie) but, as is usual with Butch, there's a lot more going on Listen and you may pick up bits of Bowie, T Rex, Queen and others The beginning of one reminds me of Elton John's "Captain Fantastic." I could point out a lot of specific things in the songs but I'm too lazy to type that much I'm sure there's also a lot of stuff flying by my ears that I'm not geeky enough to ID Don't worry if you've never heard any of that old stuff though You will love the record even without insight into transgender pop music played by heavily made up men in platform boots from thirty plus years ago The plentiful hallucinogenic drugs back then may have made some of that stuff a tad bit more palatable although I would not want to try to explain to a tripping friend why Bowie had the lower body of a canine on the cover of "Diamond Dogs." My older sister had that album and the artwork fucked up my dreams for months Chased by cartoon Bowie dogs! Help, ma, help! Anyway, Butch Walker always has made great records Solo stuff, SouthGang, the Marvelous 3 Fuck! I loved the Marvelous 3 records He also does a phenomenal job producing and/or writing for the likes of Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan, Pink and tons more Yeah, I know Some people like to shit on those artists Fuck that nonsense I'm no snob Those records are making someone happy Who am I to rain on their parade? When I was a kid I listened to KISS every day Critics and hipsters thought KISS sucked Maybe they did but I knew I liked KISS and the critics be damned All of those worms and gnomes can have lunch at Le Dome and get a gigantic circle jerk going until they drown in each others jizz However, I digress...again The bottom line here is that I think the new Butch Walker is one of the best things I've heard in a looooong time It's a joy to listen to, sing along to or try to figure the influences if you're into that stuff Great songs, great playing, great everything Go buy it and if he plays your town go see him cause that's going to be great, too He's one of the best there is Now go buy it and thank me later Oh, one last thing, ten extra geek points for picking up on the Warren Zevon lyric I filched.---Lou Brutus 7.20.06

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Brutus Off to Find Mary Richards

Well, not really It's kind of ironic that a guy like Brutus has a schoolboy crush on Mary Tyler Moore's old TV character We doubt he will speak to her on his trip to Minneapolis this week but he will talk to Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars, Jim Root of Stone Sour, Dragon Force, Lacuna Coil, Disturbed, Crossfade and a bunch more It's all part of a series of concerts to celebrate the 10th anniversary of hardDrive with Lou Brutus BTW, when he gets back he'll be hooking up with Brian of Shadow's Fall for an interview.

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MXPX Clix with Guitar Pix

Many thanks to the lads from legendary punk combo MXPX They stopped by the Fungus 53 studios at XM to tape an edition of The You're Not Invited Concert Series with Lou Following their set, opening band on the tour Whole Wheat Bread popped by to tape an interview with Brutus Hear Whole What Bread on Fungus next Wednesday at 1pm Eastern The MXPX set will air next month

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Cheap Click

Wow! Not many of us knew that Brutus was such a great photographer No, really We're not kidding You can check out a bunch of shots Lou took of Cheap Trick in Atlantic City, NJ in June right on the band's official web site Check out the shots of Rick, Robin, Tom and Bun E right here.

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hardDrive with Lou Brutus 10th Anniversary Article

Radio industry publishing giants FMQB have posted a tremendously cool article on the 10th Anniversary of hardDrive Read it right here Many thanks to everyone at FMQB for their massive support thru the years!

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Only Complete Morons Don't Love Cheap Trick

This Friday, Brutus will begin the 4th of July weekend with one of his favorite all time bands Cheap Trick! They're playing The Borgata Casino in Atlantic City, NJ and Brutus will be there taping an upcoming XM Offstage special and an upcoming XM Liner Notes show highlighting the band's new album "Rockford." Lou had the following to say, "Well, once again I'm saddling up to hit the road and head off to do stuff with Cheap Trick I can't tell you how much I love this band They are simply the finest straight ahead rock and roll band that this country has ever produced On top of the fact that they have continually recorded and performed phenomenal music for over thirty years they are all nice, genuine human beings I don't understand people who don't love them They have everything you could ever want from a band including stellar song writing, incredible performing ability and a wicked sense of humor If you have not picked up their latest CD "Rockford" yet then we could probably never be friends I would only snicker at you behind your back for your lameness in not leaping out to pick up their latest I would later put lye in your coffee just like Eric Roberts did to The Bedbug at the end of "The Pope of Greenwich Village." I would be doing you a favor Don't let this happen Just get it Then I won't have to kill you.

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The Greatest Thank You List...Ever!!!

This 4th of July, hardDrive with Lou Brutus will celebrate its 10th anniversary as the greatest radio program in the history of Western Civilization. Lou would like to thank all of the listeners around the world without whom the show would not exist. Thanks to the over 110 radio stations that carry the show each week. He also thanks everyone in the hardDrive crew including Producer Roxy Myzal, Executive Producers Andy Denemark & Nick Verbitsky, and Engineers Kelly Kramer, Dave Lacey & Chris Caufield. Finally, he thanks the following short list of guests who have appeared on the show with him in its first decade...

10 YEARS, 40 BELOW SUMMER, 6 GIG, A DOZEN FURIES, A PERFECT CIRCLE, ACCIDENT EXPERIMENT, AC/DC, ADEMA, AEROSMITH, afi, ALICE IN CHAINS, ALIEN ANT FARM, AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE, ANDREW WK, APARTMENT 26, APEX THEORY, APHASIA, THE AQUABATS, ARMY OF ANYONE, ATOMSHIP, ATREYU, AUDIOSLAVE, AUDIOVENT, AUNT FLOSSIE, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, BETTY BLOWTORCH, BLACK LIGHT BURNS, BLACK SABBATH, BLACK STONE CHERRY, BLANK THEORY, BLINDSIDE, BOILER ROOM, BOY SETS FIRE, BREAKING BENJAMIN, BREAKING POINT, BUCKCHERRY, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, BULLETS & OCTANE, BURDEN BROTHERS, BUSH, CANDIRIA, CANDLEBOX, JERRY CANTRELL, CAROLINE’S SPINE, CHEAP TRICK, RICHARD CHEESE, CHEVELLE, CINDER, CKY, CLOCKWISE, COAL CHAMBER, COHEED AND CAMBRIA, COLD, COLLECTIVE SOUL, CHRIS CORNELL, CRAVING THEO, CRAZY TOWN, CREED, CROSSBREED, CROSSFADE, DAMAGE PLAN, DANKO JONES, DARK NEW DAY, THE DARKNESS, DARWIN’S THEORY, DEADLIGHTS , DEADSY, DEAF PEDESTRIANS, THE DEFTONES, DEPSWA, DEVIL DRIVER, DISHWALLA, DISTURBED, DOGFIGHT, DOPE, DOWN, DOWN THE SUN, DOWNSET, DRAGPIPE, THE DREAMING, DROPBOX, DROWNING POOL, DUST TO DUST, EARSHOT, ECHOBRAIN, ECONOLINE CRUSH, EIGHTEEN VISIONS, ELEMENT EIGHTY, EPIDEMIC, EVERCLEAR, EVERLAST, THE EXIES, FAKTION, FALL AS WELL, FEAR FACTORY , FILTER, FINGER ELEVEN, FIREBALL MINISTRY, FINGERTIGHT, FIVE BOLT MAIN, FIVE POINTE O, FIVESPEED, FLAW, FLYBANGER, FLYLEAF, FOO FIGHTERS , FROM ZERO, FULL SCALE, FU MANCHU , FUEL , FULL DEVIL JACKET, FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND, FUTURE LEADERS OF THE WORLD, GLADYS PATCHES, GLASSJAW, GODHEAD, GODSMACK, GONEBLIND, GOO GOO DOLLS, GRADE 8, GRAVITY KILLS, HARVEY DANGER, HATEBREED, HEADSTRONG, HED(PE), HELMET, HIM, HOLE, HOOBASTANK, HOTWIRE, HUCK JOHNS, THE HUNGER, HURT, ILL NINO, INCUBUS, INJECTED, INSTITUTE, INTANGIBLE, JIBE, JUDAS PRIEST, KILL HANNAH, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, KISS , KITTIE, KORN, LENNY KRAVITZ, LACUNA COIL, LAMB OF GOD, TOMMY LEE, LEISUREWORLD, LESS THAN JAKE, LETTER KILLS, LIFER, LIMP BIZKIT, LINKIN PARK, LIVING COLOR, LOCAL H, LOUDERMILK, LYNAM, MACHINE HEAD, MAD AT GRAVITY, MADSIDE, MANMADE GOD, MARILYN MANSON, MAYFIELD FOUR, MEGADEATH, MERCY FALL, MESHUGGAH, METALLICA, MINISTRY, MOMENTO, MONSTER MAGNET, MOTLEY CRUE, MOTOGRATER, MOTORHEAD, MUDVAYNE, THE MURDERDOLLS, MUSHROOMHEAD, NEUROTICA, NEW DISEASE, NICKLEBACK, NO ADDRESS, NO ONE, NO WARNING, NOISE THERAPY, NOTHINGFACE, NULLSET, THE OFFSPRING, OLEANDER, ONESIDEZERO, OPIATE FOR THE MASSES, ORANGE 9MM, ORGY, OZZY OSBOURNE, SHARON OSBOURNE, OTEP, OUR LADY PEACE, P.O.D., PACIFIER, PANTERA, PAPA ROACH, PEARL JAM, PILLAR, PITCHSHIFTER, PORCUPINE TREE, POWERMAN 5000, PRIMER 55, PRIMUS, PROJECT 86, PROM KINGS, PULSE ULTRA, PURE RUBBISH, PUSH MONKEY, PUYA, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, RA, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, RAMMSTEIN, REACHAROUND, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, REVEILLE, REVELATION THEORY, THE REVOLUTION SMILE, RIDDLIN’ KIDS, RUSH, SALIVA, BRETT SCALLIONS, SCREAMING TREES, SEETHER, SEMISONIC, SEPULTURA, SEV, SEVEN MARY THREE, SEVENDUST, SHADOWS FALL, SHINEDOWN, SILVERCHAIR, SILVERTIDE, SIMON SAYS, SINCH, SINISSTAR, SINOMATIC, SKINDRED, SKRAPE, SLASH, SLAVES ON DOPE, SLAYER, SLIPKNOT, SLITHERYN, SLOTH, SMASHING PUMPKINS, SMASHMOUTH, SMILE EMPTY SOUL, SNAKE RIVER CONSPIRACY, SNOOP DOGG , SNOT, SOAK, SOCIALBURN, SOIL, SOUL ASYLUM, SOUL WAX, SOULFLY, SOUNDGARDEN, SPEAK NO EVIL, SPINAL TAP, SPINESHANK, SPIRACELL, SPONGE, STABBING WESTWARD, STAIND, STATIC X, STEREOMUD, STONE SOUR, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, STORY OF THE YEAR, STRATA, STRUNG OUT, SUBMERSED, SUNNY LEDFURD, SUNSET BLACK, SUPERJOINT RITUAL, SWITCHED, SWORN ENEMY, SYSTEMATIC, SYSTEM OF A DOWN, TANTRIC, TAPROOT, THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH, TOADIES, TONIC, TOOL, TRAPT, TRUST COMPANY, UNION UNDERGROUND, UNLOCO, VAUX, VELVET REVOLVER, VERUCA SALT, THE VERVE PIPE, VIDEODRONE, SCOTT WEILAND, WHITE ZOMBIE, WOLFMOTHER, ZAKK WYLDE and ROB ZOMBIE.

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Sonic Youth Will Set the World on Fire

This just in...Friday June 16th the legends of feedback Sonic Youth will be performing absolutely live on XM 47 Ethel and Brutus has been asked to host The show will begin at about 6pm Eastern time and will run until the band stops! We're pretty sure LB will be doing some Q&A with the band but we won't know for sure until it happens

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Supreme Allied Commander of Rock

Congratulations are in order for Herr Brutus this week Lou Brutus has been named as Senior Program Director of Active Rock at XM Satellite Radio While LB will continue to program and host his groundbreaking punk channel Fungus 53, he will now also oversee things on The Boneyard (arena rock) and Liquid Metal (which plays Metal, duh!) Lou celebrated his promotion with an entire case of cough syrup!

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Buzzcocks and NOFX Jack Brutus

Tuesday June 20th will be a busy day for LB on Fungus 53 as he welcomes two legendary bands to the studio First, Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle of The Buzzcocks will join him They are part of the original wave of punk bands and have been kicking ass for over thirty years Then, its Fat Mike and Eric Melvin from NOFX who will lark about and pick tunes for a couple of hours Lark about? Ye Gods! Who uses terms like that anymore? Anyway, ch-ch-check it out.

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Allman Joy

How's this for a fairly interesting day at work? Brutus hopped into the private plane of XM Programming Guru Lee Abrams (the legendary XM101) in Manassas, VA They flew two hours to Savannah, GA where they hopped in a cab and went the the home of...Gregg Allman!!! LB hosted an upcoming "XM Offstage" special with Gregg that they recorded over the course of three hours while sitting on the couch in Mr. Allman's living room Don't you wish you got to do this shit for a living, too? A pic of Gregg and LB on the couch can be found in the Rogue's Gallery section of the site.

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Deadwood Star Names Brutus Official "Cocksucker from Yankton"

He is one of Brutus' favorite actors and one of the stars of Lou's all-time favorite TV show He is William Sanderson, E.B. Farnham from Deadwood! Brutus ran into him recently at XM while William was in DC visiting troops Taking time out of his busy schedule, Mr. Sanderson named Brutus an official "Cocksucker from Yankton" in recognition of his devotion to Deadwood You can hear a snippet of this momentous audio here Thanks again to William who is truly one of America's finest actors! Hell, besides Deadwood the guy was in Bladerunner for fuck's sake! BTW, don't mention to Brutus about this being the show's last full season as he may try and feed some of the HBO execs to Wu's pigs.

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Attack of the Aquabats! Brutus is Lobsterman?

Masked, marooned, musical marauders The Aquabats recently took time from their This Better Work or We Are Dead Tour 2006 to stop in to Fungus 53 to spend a couple of hours on air with Brutus The entire band including MC Bat Commander, Ricky Fitness, Crash McLarson, Jimmy the Robot and newest member Eagle "Bones" Falconhawk all showed up to pick out gnarly punk/ska tunes After that it was over to club Nation in DC to rock out a sell out crowd of Aquacadets but after the show one question remained Who was it onstage in the enormous six foot tall lobster suit appearing as super villain Sizzler the Rock Lobster?!?! While the world may never know we have posted a picture of this half man-half crustacean mutation and it sure looks like Brutus under that stuff! Check the Rogues Gallery section of the site and decide for yourself! Be sure to catch the tour with Whole Wheat Bread and The Aggrolites while you still can!

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All in the Family Values

Beginning this weekend Lou Brutus will be heard on dozens of radio stations coast to coast as host of the FMQB Family Values radio special His guests include all of the bands from the tour including KoRn, Stone Sour, Deftones and Flyleaf Here is a list of radio stations carrying the show Check locally for when you can catch it WIIL Chicago, WYSP Philadelphia, WRIF Detroit, WBZY/Atlanta, WMMS Cleveland, WHDR Miami, WXDX Pittsburgh, KCXX San Bernadino, WRZX Indianapolis, KISS San Antonio, WEDG Buffalo, WPBZ West Palm Beach, WBSX Scranton, WBZX Columbus, WLRS Louisville, WPLA Jacksonville, WHRL Albany, WBBB Raleigh, KQXR Boise, WWIZ Youngstown, WRWK Toledo, WCHZ Augusta, WXQR Greenville, WCYY Portland ME, KJEE Santa Barbara, WZOR Green Bay WYBB Charleston SC, WJXQ Lansing, WSFM Wilmington, KNRQ Eugene, WZBH Ocean City MD, KZRK Amarillo, WWCT Peoria, WCLG Morgantown, KZZE Medford, KRNA Cedar Rapids and WPTQ Bowling Green.

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To Yak and Yak Not

A couple of busy days this week for Herr Brutus May 17th finds him hooking up with Mark and Moose of Bullet for My Valentine The following day he heads up to Philly to speak to Coheed and Cambria, Avenged Sevenfold and 18 Visions You can hear it all in an upcoming edition of hardDrive.

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Slipknot and Brutus on eBay

Just a heads up to the radio geek types who collect stuff like this...a copy of The Slipkont Live 9.0 Radio Special hosted by His Brutness is now up for auction on eBay Click here to check it out.

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Brutus Does Liner Notes for New CD from The Methadones

In case you haven't heard Chicago punk stalwarts The Methadones invited Brutus to write the liner notes for their new cover song album "21st Centure Power Pop Riot." Lou, a huge fan of the band and the tunes they were covering, gladly agreed You can hear tunes from the album premiered on XM's Fungus 53 this Tuesday during the cover song show "Duped" at 12 Noon and 9p Eastern Here's the notes that Brutus wrote for the disc...

POWER POP.

IT DIDN’T MEAN THEN WHAT IT MEANS NOW

YOU ATTACH THE WORD “POP” TO SOMETHING THESE DAYS AND YOU IMMEDIATELY GET A GROTESQUE MENTAL PICTURE OF SOME DOLLED UP TART LIP SYNCHING HIS OR HER WAY THROUGH AN EXCRUCIATINGLY UNINTERESTING PIECE OF MUSIC THAT MAKES YOU WANT TO WRAP YOURSELF UP IN CHAIN LINK FENCE AND ROLL YOURSELF OFF OF A PIER WHERE YOU WILL BE SUCKED DOWN INTO THE DEPTHS, DOWN INTO THE COLD SILENCE OF SWEET, BLISSFUL DEATH WHERE YOUR EARS CAN NEVER AGAIN BE ASSAILED BY THE HIDEOUS SOUNDS OF THE WORLD OF THE LIVING.

IT WASN’T ALWAYS THAT WAY.

WHEN THE PUNKS FIRST BUSTED THE DOORS DOWN, THEY CHANGED THINGS IN MUSIC BUT ALL THAT SHIT ABOUT CLOTHING AND HAIR WAS JUST A SIDESHOW THE REAL CHANGE WAS A RETURN TO SIMPLICITY THE SUDDEN COLLECTIVE REMEMBRANCE THAT ROCK SONGS COULD BE BOILED BACK DOWN TO TWO MINUTES NO LONG SOLOS, NO MEANDERING LYRICAL CRAP, NO EXTRA ANYTHING BOIL THE FUCKER DOWN TO ITS MOST ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS, RECORD IT, SLAP IT ON A PIECE OF VINYL AND GET OUTTA THE WAY SURE YOU COULD LOAD THEM UP WITH GREAT MELODIES AND CATCHY CHORUSES THAT WAS THE POINT JUST KEEP ALL OF THE EXTRA MUSICAL BAGGAGE OFF THE TRAIN SO IT COULD MOVE…FAST.

MANY OF THE FINEST EXAMPLES OF THE SONGS FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF PUNK FLAVORED POWER POP IN THE 70’S AND 80’S ARE HERE COVERED BY THE METHADONES THE BAND HAS DONE RIGHT BY MANY OF MY FAVORITE ARTISTS FROM MY ILL SPENT YOUTH AND WITH ANY LUCK THIS DISC WILL INSPIRE YOU TO DISCOVER (OR RE-DISCOVER) SOME OF THE GREATS NICK LOWE, ELVIS COSTELLO AND JOE JACKSON, WHO IN MY MIND MAKE UP THE HOLY TRINITY OF THE ERA’S POWER POP THE MAN WHO’S JUNGLE BEAT GANG VOCALS ARE SHOUTED BY MILLIONS AT SPORTING EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD EACH DAY, GARY GLITTER THE RECORDS, WHO’S SONG “STARRY EYES” IS HAILED BY SOME AS THE GREATEST POWER POP SONG OF THE AGES CHEAP TRICK I FUCKING LOVE CHEAP TRICK THEY ARE AMERICA’S GREATEST ROCK AND ROLL BAND THEIR “HE’S A WHORE” MAKES MANY SONGWRITERS FALL TO THEIR KNEES AND WEEP LIKE SCOLDED SCHOOL CHILDREN AT THEIR MUSICAL IMPOTENCE IN THE FACE OF THE SONG’S GREATNESS THERE’S LOTS MORE CRASH STREET KIDS, POINTED STICKS, SCANDAL AND OTHERS MAYBE NOT HOUSEHOLD NAMES ANYMORE BUT WHO GIVES A SHIT ABOUT THAT? WHEN THEY GOT THEIR SHOT THEY MADE GREAT MUSIC AND THE METHADONES ARE HERE NOW TO REMIND US OF THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE

BEFORE THE WORDS “POWER POP” WERE HIJACKED BY THE SWILL MERCHANTS.

LOU BRUTUS
FUNGUS 53 OVER LORD
XM SATELLITE RADIO
WASHINGTON, DC

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More Schtuff on the Way

It's been hard keeping up with Brutus of late but we know he's hooked up with Bullets & Octane and Stone Sour among others He got a thank you on the new Time Again album and his liner notes will grace the inside of the forthcoming the album from The Methadones He is also going to be the host of the upcoming FMQB Radio Special highlighting the Family Values Tour It will be a one hour show airing on hundreds of radio stations around the world! The tour will feature KoRn, Stone Sour, Deftones, Bullets & Octane, Dir en Grey and Flyleaf. We'll get details on all of this shit as soon as Brutus tells us what the fuck is going on.

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Very Vocally Valiant Venusians

He claims to be from Venus and who are we to say otherwise? Valient Himself lead singer of Valient Thorr will join Brutus on Fungus 53 for a special edition of the hardcore show Slam-A-Lot on Wednesday May 3rd While he's there Valient will world premiere the forthcoming new Valient Thorr album No one outside the band has heard it yet so check it out!

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Brief Briefs Briefing

The Briefs will join Brutus on Fungus 53 on Monday May 1st 8pm E.

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Down with System

It was an intense one hour interview for LB at the Armenian National Committe headquarters in DC with John and Serj of System of A Down The band was in to talk to Congressional members about their crusade for the US government to recognize the Turkish genocide of Armenians during the First World War You can hear it all in upcoming editions of hardDrive.

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The Long Good Friday

It was a gnarly 24 hour span in mid April leading into Good Friday as Brutus found himself eyeball deep in rock star types Gogol Bordello gypsy rocked the shit out of the 9:30 Club in DC on Thursday Then on Good Friday it was the same venue for Anti Flag, Casualties, Smoke or Fire and The Unseen Many thanks to the bands for all of the shout outs to Brutus from the stage Brutus interviewed a bunch of other bands too but we lost track.

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This Was the Week That Was

A pretty fucking crazed week for our intrepid Mr. Brutus even by his exhausting standards It began with Lou catching the legendary Ray Davies of The Kinks at the 9:30 Club in DC A couple of days later LB had his first chance ever to interview Ray The two went toe to toe for over an hour and a half as RD opened up about his life and career A day later Brutus was in Baltimore for KoRn, Mudvayne and 10 Years Then, the next day, it was into DC for a lengthy interview with Rob Zombie. Lou also did some hang time with Andrea and Cristina of Lacuna Coil Then it was off to the show with Zombie, Lacunca Coil and Bullet for My Valentine Then Lou collapsed.

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Yadda, Yadda, Yadda

Brutus was his usual yapping self this week Two lengthy interviews were done back to back The first with Danko Jones The new CD hits North America soon but is already blowing up in Europe Danko called in to the hardDrive studios from Gothenburg, Sweden They'll hit the USA and Canada again in May Right after that it was onto a call from Lajon of Sevendust. hardDrive was the first ever national airplay the band had and they've never forgotten LaJon and Lou spoke about the new single "Failure" and a whole bunch of other cool shit You can hear both interviews in April on hardDrive

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Walk, Don't Run '06

After waiting his entire life, LB finally managed to see another band on his short list of artists he has always wanted to see but never had...The Ventures! If you are not hip to The Ventures you should know they are one of THE most successful and influential groups of ALL time Check it out, they have sold over 100 MILLION records! We shit you not Their surf leaning instrumental prowess has produced some of the best known hits of all time including "Walk Don't Run," "Telstar," "Surf Rider" and the theme from "Hawaii Five-0." Brutus got to chat them up prior to their gig at one of the great clubs in North America, The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA He spoke with the entire group including Don Wilson, Nokie Edwards, Bob Spalding and Leon Taylor. These guys are all uber legends You can hear the it all on an upcoming edition of Lou's surf spectacular Kowabunga Uber Alles on XM's Fungus 53 Thanks to the band, Fiona and Michael & Ben at the club.

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Fuck of the Irish

Most people would be happy with seeing one of the great bands of all time They would go home...happy and content Not Brutus. After catching the entire set from The Ventures he hopped in his car and drove like Goggles Pizanno up the Baltimore/Washington Parkway and arrived at Ram's Head Live just in time to catch The Dropkick Murphys! The band was their usual brilliant selves They drove the sell out crowd into an orgy of musical madness and drunken mosh pit abandon Brutus spent him time between the pit and the bar where he was free basing entire cans of Red Bull Thanks for the band for all of the kindness since they began their tour last year with a stop by XM to perform on Fungus 53 They now get ready for their annual St. Patrick's Day mind fuck in Boston Don't wear your good shoes.

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Go Waste, Young Man

LB just got back from yet another journey to Los Angeles This time it was to hook up with rock legends Joe Walsh and Rick the Bass Player Reports also have circulated that he met up with Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. The lunch with Jane Wiedlin of the Go Go's We heard he also went back out to visit Stone Sour again as they cut their new record Then he got back and immediately recorded something for broadcast with rap legend DMC Are all of these "talks" related? What could possibly be on the way? What does Brutus have to do with it? For now its none of your fucking business!

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Frank Vincent of The Sopranos Beats the Crap Out of Brutus

No, seriously Legendary actor Frank Vincent (Sopranos, Goodfellas, Raging Bull) recently stopped by the hardDrive with Lou Brutus studios to chat with our intrepid hero about his new book "A Guy's Guide to Being a Man's Man." Things went well until Lou became what Mr. Vincent described as "disrespectful." Frank than taught Lou some manners by picking up a chair and beating some sense into him We think it was all in fun We hope so anyway We'll ask Brutus as soon as he gets out of traction and off the morphine drip Check it out later this month on hardDrive and check out Frank's book which is great Then go get yer fucking shine box

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Grammy Behind the Eight Ball

It was an absolute triumph for our intrepid hero as Lou Brutus stormed Grammy Week in Los Angeles with microphones blazing! Basing himself in the pimp-like luxury of the Beverly Hilton, LB began his Cali time on Sunday by lunching with his old friend (and not so secret crush) Louise Post of Veruca Salt He hooked up that night with Kelly and Luis of The Dollyrots who gave him an advance of their forthcoming new album (it's great btw) On Monday LB attended an early morning Grammy Conference at USC where he spoke to Jimmy Jamm, super producer John Shanks and Randy Jackson of American Idol That night it was off to the Music Cares Person of the Year Award ceremony for James Taylor. Brutus interviewed James on his way in and then caught the show that featured performances by Bruce Springsteen, Carol King, Sting, Bonnie Raitt, Allison Kraus, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Sheryl Crow, Paul Simon and James Taylor. The following day it was off to visit Stone Sour in the studio (more on that below) and then a broadcast from the biggest shindig of Grammy Week...The Clive Davis Party! LB hosted the radio portion which featured performances by Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow, Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, Rob Thomas with Santana, Jamie Foxx, Kanye West, Chris Brown, Anthony Hamilton, Heather Headley and a whole bunch more Then it was finally Grammy Day! Brutus was on the Red Carpet (actually green this year) and spoke to Audioslave, Linkin Park, Mudvayne, Shadows Fall, Trey Anastasio, Fall Out Boy, Evander Holyfield, India.Arie, Jars of Clay, Keane, Kitaro, Michael W. Smith, Recording Academy President Neil Portnow, Red Grammer, USC star Reggie Bush, Redney Jerkins, Tierney Sutton and Tom Chapin However, the highlight was an emotional talk with Clown, Sid, Joey and Paul of Slipknot. Brutus started going off about how it was their time and that he guaranteed they would walk out of the building as Grammy winners Guess what They did For the actual awards Lou spent his time floating between the backstage area, the press area, the sound trucks outside the Staple Center and the audience He ran into Green Day after their upset win over Mariah Carey but he was too pleasantly shocked that they had won to actually say anything to them. Following the awards Brutus headed back to the Beverly Hilton, stripped, jumped in the pool and downed a pint of raw ether. It fucking rocked

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Sly and the Family Stone Sour

The day prior to the Grammys found Herr Brutus heading out to the foul suburban sprawl in the valley north of Los Angeles His mission? To get an exclusive interview with the members of Stone Sour! He found them hunkered down with producer Nick Raskulinecz at Studio 606 working on tracks for their sophomore album LB got to hear some basic tracks (they've been working on drums mostly to this point) and to get a quality time on tape with both Corey Taylor and Jim Root. Besides getting the scoop on the new music and tour plans Brutus pleaded with Corey and Jim to attend the Grammy Awards as he felt they were a lock to win Neither of them ended up attending Much of the audio can be hear on XM Satellite Radio and will also be available on an upcoming editon of hardDrive with Lou Brutus Many thanks to Corey, Jim, Josh, Sean, Joel, Nick, Scotty and Hugo the Wonder Dog for all of the hospitality! Hugo thanks Lou for the belly rubs Be sure to check out pics from the studio in the Slipknot section of the Rogues Gallery here on the site!

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Moon Over My Grammy

In a bizarre turn of events that has sent shock waves thru the recording industry...Lou Brutus is going to be on the Red Carpet for the Grammy Awards! Yeah, we just got a mental picture of him biting a cast member of Disney's "High School Musical" on the ass, too How in God's name could such an abomination be foisted upon the media? Well, LB has been chosen as one of the hosts for the massive Grammy coverage on XM Satellite Radio You can hear it all on Channel 200, Grammy Radio He will spend nearly a week in LA broadcasting from the Grammy rehearsals at the Staple Center, the ultra chic Clive Davis party at the Beverly Hilton, several other celebrity events and finally the Grammy Awards! Following his badgering of famous people on the red (which is actually green this year) carpet he'll be backstage to report on the hi-jinks Next week, stop down to this space for the full rundown of what goes down

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Viva Las Brutus!

In what may have been his most twisted trip yet to The City of Fear and Loathing, Doktor Brutus was at the center of a 72 hour whirlwind in Las Vegas the likes of which had never been seen before by man nor beast! LB rolled into LV with XM for the Consumer Electronics Show which is like an evil wet dream for gadget geeks Covering an area larger than 28 football fields with the latest in technical marvels it is attended by hundreds of thousands of pocket protector wearin' mutha fuckas from around the globe On his first day on the XM stage Brutus was joined by Snoop Dogg, Farrell of The Neptunes and XM's Leo G Later that night it was one of Lee Abrams' famous whacked out dinners with Todd Rundgren, Kevin Bacon, Jon Anderson of Yes, famed rock managers Eric Gardner and Toby Mamis plus none other than...Donny Osmond!!! Yes, it was as if Brutus had entered a bizarre portal to an alternate universe of mind eclipsing weirdness as he chatted with Donny over a pleasant dinner The next day found Lou onstage with his old friend Weird Al Yankovic but, later that night, it was another incredibly strange dinner with Brutus dining with Weird Al, David Coverdale of Whitesnake, Todd Rundgren, Jon Anderson and...Cal Ripken! As if that were not odd enough Brutus ended up at the bar far into the night scarfing down drink with Todd to keep off the desert chill while Ripken sat at the same table The final day of the show LB had a full slate of onstage interviews including Kenny Wayne Shepard, Levi Kreis from The Apprentice and an incredible session with music legends Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock!!! The dinner that night topped them all with Quincy, Herbie, Jane from the Go Go's, Christopher Cross, Kenny Wayne Shepard, Levi Kreis, Jon Anderson and whole bunch more that for reasons of security cannot be mentioned here Brutus was heard to say, "It was as if I was living on some far away bizzaro planet of celebrities I believe I was the only non-millionaire at the table." Following the dinner, just to make the night weirder, Brutus headed off the The Venetian Hotel and Casino to catch Blue Man Group and then the 2006 Pornography Awards where he drank till dawn with silicone injected midgets He was still trying to recover from the trip

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hardDrive with Lou Brutus Now on MySpace

Are you a MySpace junkie like Brutus is? If so, head over to the new MySpace page for hardDrive with Lou Brutus You can get there simply by going here Don't blame us if you become horribly addicted to it

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Viva Las Brutus

El Brute is off to Fear and Loathing Central...Las Vegas He's there as one of XM's hosts for the Consumer Electronics Show LB will be on the XM stage interviewing the likes of Quincy Jones, Kenny Wayne Shepard, Weird Al Yankovic, winning musician from The Apprentice Levi Kreis and a bunch more Keep your ears tuned for highlights this week on XM.

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Ol' Dirty Brutus Scores Holiday Write Up in Washington Post

As one of the world's foremost experts on bizarre holiday music Brutus is often called upon by media organizations to wax poetically in regard to whacked Christmas music On Christmas Day, Lou was featured in an Washington Post article written by Marc Fisher The piece touched on several of Lou's faves including Woody Phillips, The Del Rubio Triplets and Leon Redbone The article also focused on Lou's yearly holiday CD that he produces and his blind hatred of the song "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer." You can check it out here Thanks to Marc for the nice write up.

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Brutus' Holiday Hook Up with XM Public Radio

For the second straight year Lou Brutus is a guest on XM Public Radio with the legendary Bob Edwards As XM's resident Christmas music guru LB will be on discussing his favorite obscure holiday tunes He picked out songs by Keith Richards, The Ventures, Aimee Mann & Michael Penn, Leon Redbone and David Grisman Check it out all day Friday on XM 133 Also, check out the Christmas edition of The Washington Post as we're expecting LB to be quoted at length in a holiday music article!

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Brutus in the New York Fucking Times!

As the creator of XM's revolutionary Special Xmas holiday format, Brutus is becoming quite in demand by the press around Christmas time The following is taken from an OpEd piece in Sunday's NY Times...Satellite radio, with its ability to devote channels to specific music genres, has broadened listeners' tastes as well. At XM Satellite Radio there are five holiday music channels, said Lou Brutus, an XM programmer. ''It's not the same old dreck that's pulled up every year,'' he said. ''There's a huge untapped reserve of people who think they don't like holiday music but who would like it a lot if they weren't force-fed the same 20 songs." Check out the entire piece here.

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The Best of Fungus 53 2005

Lou Brutus and the Fungus 53 listeners have chosen the channel's best for the past year The following are the top albums and songs for 2005...

FUNGUS 53 TOP 25 ALBUMS FOR 2005
(LISTED ALPHABETICALLY)

AGAINST ME! “SEARCHING FOR A FORMER CLARITY”
ALKALINE TRIO “CRIMSON”
AQUABATS, THE “CHARGE!”
BANE “THE NOTE”
BRIEFS, THE “STEAL YER HEART”
DROPKICK MURPHYS “THE WARRIORS CODE”
GO BETTY GO “NOTHING IS MORE”
GOGOL BORDELLO “GYPSY PUNKS UNDERDOG WORLD STRIKE”
HORRORPOPS, THE “BRING IT ON!”
JELLO BIAFRA W/THE MELVINS “SIEG HOWDY”
LAGWAGON “RESOLVE”
LETTERS ORGANIZE, THE "DEAD RHYTHM MACHINE"
MILLENCOLIN “KINGWOOD”
MXPX “PANIC”
MIRET, ROGER & THE DISASTERS “1984”
PENNYWISE “THE FUSE”
PROPAGANDHI “POTEMKIN CITY LIMITS”
REAL MCKENZIES “10,000 SHOTS”
SUICIDE MACHINES “WAR PROFITEERING IS KILLING US”
SOVIETTES, THE “LP III”
THROW RAG “13 FT. AND RISING”
TIME AGAIN “TIME AGAIN”
TRANSPLANTS, THE “HAUNTED CITIES”
UNSEEN, THE “STATE OF DISCONTENT”
YUPPIE PRICKS “BROKERS BANQUET”

LOU BRUTUS’ TOP 10 FUNGUS53 TUNES FOR 2005

01 NOFX “FUNGUS 53”
02 DROPKICK MURPHYS “THE WARRIORS CODE”
03 AQUABATS, THE “FASHION ZOMBIES”
04 SOVIETTES, THE “MULTIPLY AND DIVIDE”
05 GO BETTY GO “SATURDAY”
06 BRIEFS, THE “GENITAL GENERAL”
07 GOGOL BORDELLO “I WOULD NEVER WANNA BE YOUNG AGAIN”
08 TIME AGAIN “I GO BACK”
09 AGAINST ME! “PROBLEMS”
10 THE WALDOS ‘SORRY”

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Roadrunner United

It was a who's who of metal as Brutus was on site to cover the 25th Anniversary show for Roadrunner Records: Roadrunner United Live Just a partial list of LB's guests is pretty fucking amazing including Jordan Wheeler of Still Remains, Jeff Waters of Annihilator, Glen Benton of Deicide, Joel, Justin & Mike of Killswitch Engage, Brian of Shadows Fall, Trivium, Adam Duce of Machinehead, Joey Jordison of Slipknot and a host of others Lou also managed to hook up with Disturbed and a number of other bands who were there for the shindig at the Nokia Theatre in NYC A good time was had by all You can hear it on an upcoming edition of hardDrive with Lou Brutus.

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Deck the Mutha Fuckin Halls

It's that time of year again Yes, the time when Lou changes from puking vodka all over his shoes to puking absinth laced eggnog all over his shoes! That means its also time for Lou's yearly holiday release! What started as a hand made cassette tape many years ago has snowballed to a professionally produced CD with original artwork by Alan MacBain The secret of the cover art and the music on the disc is always carefully guarded but word has leaked out that the cover will have a King Kong theme in honor of the upcoming film by Peter Jackson Only 150 copies of the disc are produced and as much of the recording and radio industries vie for copies they become instant collector's items As Brutus is considered by many to be one of the world's foremost authorities on bizarre Christmas music it should come as no surprise that he has recently been interviewed for upcoming articles on Christmas music by both The New York Times and The Washington Post We'll let you know when the articles will be in print.

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Night of 100 Friends

Poor Lou! He lives a pretty straight edge life only to find himself addicted to surfing on MySpace.com Hopefully, you've already signed up as one of his MySpace friends at myspace.com/loubrutus Now Lou has opened up a MySpace site for Fungus 53 listeners Go to www.myspace.com/fungus53 and sign up as a friend You can also hear some cool Fungus audio, check out photos of various punk stars visiting LB and get the info on how to save big bucks by joining the XM Friends and Family Plan Lou is accepting the friends sign ups now but won't 'approve' them until Friday so get the word out to your buds between now and then! We'll see how many we can do by then.

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NY, NY, A City So Nice He's Going Twice

Brutus returns to his home spewing grounds with two big trips to NYC in December On the 7th and 8th he'll be there as co-host of XM Satellite Radio's coverage of the Grammy Award Nominations We would pay money to see him hitting on Mariah Carey until her security detail beats him to a fruit, juicy pulp You can hear it all on XM Live Channel 200 throughout the morning of Thursday December 8th The following week LB returns to The Big Crapple to cover The Roadrunner United 25th Anniversary show Lou will be interviewing the greatest array of rockers ever assembled including with virtually every major and minor act in the history of the label Listen for that on an upcoming special edition of hardDrive with Lou Brutus.

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Brutus Gets the Skinny on the Fat Tour

It's been one of the major concert events of the year for Lou on Fungus 53: Fat Tour 2005 He interviewed all the bands on the tour at its Baltimore stop including The Soviettes, The Epoxies and Smoke or Fire The headliners on the tour, Against Me, actually came by XM earlier that day to tape a performance in The Fungus 53 You're Not Invited Concert Series That show will debut Monday, January 2nd at 8pm Eastern Many thanks to all of the bands involved in the tour for doing a kick ass job on the air with Lou.

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Holy Snapping Turtleturks! Brutus on "The Apprentice"

Lou Brutus will be appearing this week (Thursday Nov. 17th) on The Apprentice!!! How in God's name did this happen? Well, XM Satellite Radio is part of the featured task on the show We can't say much more than that because of the uber secret nature of the show and the fact that if we do huge lawyers will show up to beat Lou on the kidneys with sticks causing him to piss blood for several weeks Honestly, no one knows other than the show's producers what it will look like week so Brutus will be as surprised as anyone Check it out Thursday night on NBC!

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Brutus Finally on MySpace!

After a bunch of people writing and complaining that he did not have a site there to stalk him on (he owes most of them $$$) Brutus now has MySpace page The address is www.myspace.com/loubrutus or just click here Please feel free to pass it on to any of your MySpace friends and be sure to also pass on the details of the XM Friends & Family deal, too That site will be updated in the coming days with pictures and audio from LB's career.

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XM Close, Personal Friends & Family

If you've always dreamed of being able to hear Brutus say the word "fuck" on the air without being bleeped then you need to hear him on XM! Now's your chance to save a bundle of $$$ while getting signed up Just click go to the super, secret XM Satellite Radio Friends & Family page The address is friends.xmradio.com Be sure to enter Lou's email address of lou.brutus@xmradio.com as the sponsor email address!!! You will then be able to access super low prices on XM radios that are far below what you would pay anywhere else! Get an XM2Go for just $99, a Sky-Fi2 for just $39 or an XCS9 for free All you've gotta do is sing up for three months of service Be sure to forward this deal to all of your buds, just make sure that they enter LB's email address as their sponsor address!

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Don't You Wish This Was Your Work Week...

This week Brutus is up in Philly for Slipknot's make up show there Sincere condolences to Clown on the loss of his Dad. Get well to Jim Root who fucked up his hand prior to the tour After that, it's up to NYC to interview Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool of Green Day for a multi hour special you can hear next month on XM Brutus will also be at DC's 9:30 Club this week to hang with his pal Tom Jones TJ and LB will crack open some champagne at midnight to celebrate Lou's birthday If some rich fan is reading this please buy Lou a 1962 GS 160 Mark II Vespa scooter as a present That or just blow him Whichever works for you Thanks!

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Slipknot: Live Brut.0

All around the nation this weekend, zillions of radio stations will be airing the Slipknot: Live 9.0 radio special hosted by Herr Brutus and produced by FMQB Clown and Corey of The Knot regale LB with tales of the last 20 months on the road and insight into how the album was made You can hear it this weekend on the following radio stations...WXTB Tampa Bay, WXDX Pittsburgh, 98 Rock Kansas City, WAZU Columbus, KXTE Las Vegas, WRZX Indianapolis, WPLA Jacksonville, KHBZ Oklahoma City, KATT Oklahoma City, WNVE, Rochester, WXEG Dayton, KFRQ McAllen/Brownville, WJBX Ft. Meyers, WRQC Ft. Meyers, WKLQ Grand Rapids, KRZR Fresno, KRAB Bakersfield, KDJE Little Rock, KAZR Des Moines, WJJO Madison WI, KILO Colorado Springs, WXTW Ft. Wayne, WBYR Ft. Wayne, WCHZ Augusta, WWIZ Youngstown OH, WJXQ Lansing, WZOR Appleton, KNCN Corpus Christi, WOBX Nags Head, KEYJ Abilene, KFMW Waterloo-Cedar Rapids, WQLZ Springfield IL, KDAM Fargo, KASS Casper, KBAZ Missoula, KZZE Medford OR, WGBF Evansville, WECS Willimantic, WAMX Huntington WV, WYYX Panama City FL, WRXS Ocean City MD, KZRK Amarillo, KCGQ Cape Girardeau, XTRE Salt Lake City, KATS Yakima, KIWR Omaha, WCLG Morgantown WV, WRQT LaCrosse and WHSN Bangor Check local stations for times!

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hardDrive's Halloween Hootenanny

It's baaaaaack! It's LB's fave show of the year hardDrive's Halloween Hootenanny! As usual, rock stars sit with Brutus and give him their fave stories of horror on the road The list this year includes Audioslave, System of A Down, 10 Years, Five Bolt Main, and Mudvayne Plus, the show turns the spotlight on the new film Saw 2 and Brutus spends quality time with its star Donnie Wahlberg (who was fucking great in Band of Brothers!).

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Veruca Salt Tours, Brutus Stalks (The Seether is Louise)

After a lengthy absence from touring here in the U.S., Veruca Salt is back on the road! The band is not only one of Brutus' faves but he also has been desperately in love with the group's leader Louise Post for several years He has spent much of his on air career reading her love poems over the airwaves and incessantly following the band on tour Seriously, the guy is a wreck when she's around. Louise was kind enough to throw a rose to the lovelorn Brutus at the band's show in Springfield, VA He then followed her around like a puppy dog following the show The next night at Ram's Head Live in Baltimore there was no flower for him so he wept at her feet until removed by security. Ms. Post is reportedly a bit unnerved by the incident but is carrying on with the tour Make sure to check out the band here and get thier phenomenal new disc Lord of Sounds and Lesser Things Check out a couple of pix of the night in by going here.

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Here, There and Everywhere in D.C.(The Walrus was Paul)

Finally! After being a fan since he was five years old (and whining about never meeting him ever since) Brutus has met Paul McCartney!!! Paul was at XM before his DC tour stop to do a private show in the XM Peformance Theatre for an invited audience of only twenty five!!! Lou was one of the lucky few! Sir Paul performed tunes from his latest opus Chaos and Creation in the Backyard while taking audience questions in between El Brute did the first set of questions with him and damn near peed his pants when he did When asked what he asked McCartney after the broadcast Brutus replied, "I don't remember All I can recall thinking was 'Holy Shit! Paul McCartney is talking to me!'" Following the radio program Brutus managed to hop a ride in one of McCartney's vehicles traveling to the gig at the MCI Center Brutus recalls, "It was like being a a presidential fucking motorcade! We were led by a phalanx of police motorcycles with lights flashing and sirens screaming We were doing about 60mph thru downtown DC without having to stop for traffic lights When we got near the gig there were hundreds of fans down the entire block screaming and yelling over the noise For just a few minutes it was just like getting to be in A Hard Day's Night. It was a few of the most exciting minutes in my life Later, I threw up."

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N.Y. Daily News Names Brutus the Best!

In the September 22nd, 2005 NY Daily News article on satellite radio writer David Hinckley named Lou Brutus as XM's "Best Homegrown Talent" from the New York area Brutus is, of course, a Jersey boy having been born in Tony Soprano's hometown of Newark, NJ while growing up in Englishtown, NJ Thanks to the NY Daily News and David Hinckley for having such good fucking taste.

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Thanks to Danks! Jello Got Mellow!

Our intrepid hero found himself at DC's 9:30 Club once again, this time to interview Toronto's Danko Jones The band and LB got along swimmingly as they are all fans of KISS, Dead Kennedys and AC/DC just like Brutus You can hear the interview next month on hardDrive with Lou Brutus More recently, it was off to DC's Black Cat Club to meet up with Jello Biafra and The Melvins who are touring on their latest disc together Sieg Howdy The show was great and afterwards everyone got laid.

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Big Apple, Big Easy, Big Lou

Much to his own surprise, Brutus was the co-host for the nationwide broadcast of "From the Big Apple to the Big Easy" benefit show at Madison Square Garden in New York City on September 20th He found himself backstage rubbing elbows with the likes of Paul Simon, Allen Touissant, Irma Thomas, Bette Midler, Jimmy Buffet, Cindy Lauper, Aaron Neville, Elton John, Bill Clinton and lots of others who never thought they would have to rub elbows with the likes of Brutus Thankfully, he didn't say anything stupid to any of them during the interview segments You can catch rebroadcasts this weekend on XM

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Brutus To Stalk Kirsten Dunst in Miami at MTV VMA's

Well, he's supposed to be their to interview rock stars and movie stars backstage at the MTV Video Music Awards but he has kind of a crush on Kirsten Dunst She's scheduled to be there so he hasn't stopped brushing his teeth and gargling for over a week Jeez, he's pathetic! Like some monobrowed shit like him as a shot at her?!?!? He's living in a dreamworld! Why we wouldn't be surprised if the Miami Police beat him on kidneys with their nightsticks causing him to piss blood for a few months However, if you see him there....be kind He obviously will just have had his heart broken by Kirsten who no doubt will react to meeting him much like Fay Wray meeting King Kong BTW, we're glad he doesn't read his own site.

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Aquacadets, Space Men, Punks and Chicks in Heavy Makeup

Saturday August 20th found our foul mouthed hero at The Ottobar in Baltimore for the Son of Teenage Pajama Party from Outer Space Tour Who in the hell would call a tour that? None other than LB's pals The Aquabats! Actually, the band met up with Lou at the XM studios in DC earlier in the day to tape an on air special for October That night it was one of the most raucous nights of rock known to man or beast! Time Again, a smokin' punk band on Hellcat Records began the night Next up, easily one of the most wonderfully bizarre bands Brutus has ever seen...The Phenomenauts Think of them as a rockabilly band dressed as space explorers from a 1950's sci-fi film with tunes about rockets, galactic pioneers and robots They were fucking brilliant! Next up the three sisters who make up The Eyeliners tore it up and then...The Aquabats! The lads were their usual maniacal selves with a great mix of old and new tunes in addition to an incredible array of stage theatrics including an attack by ultra villain Armani Ape! If you have not picked up their latest slice o'madness Charge! than you need to broaden your horizons!

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Looking for The List or Audio or Pix???

If you're looking for the list of artists that Brutus has seen and interviewed you will want to know that it is no longer at the bottom of the page We have moved it to its own part of the A Twisted Life section of the site Wondering when the fuck we were going to fix the audio in the 4 Yer Earhole section? Well it's fixed, wiseass! Finally, because the Rogue's Gallery section had gotten so large we've broken it down into separate sections! Just go to the same area and then click what you wanna see according to era or subject Yeah, we've gotten so many fucking Slipknot/Stone Sour pix that they get their own section More photo & audio from the archives will be added soon!

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Warped Pix Now Available for Your Gawking Pleasure

We just added a plethora of pix from LB's travels with Warped Tour 2005 You can check them out in the Rogues Gallery section of the site.

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This One Time, At Band Camp

It was a knock down, drag 'em out, rock and roll to fight to the finish for Herr Brutus as he returned to Madison, WI for hardDrive affiliate 94.1 WJJO's yearly opus...Band Camp! It's basically 10,000 hard rockers from Wisconsin getting fucked up, eating Brats and rocking the fuck out Brutus interviewed many of the band's on the lineup including Sevendust, Chevelle, Taproot, Dope, Life of Agony, Nonpoint and A New Revolution The weather was perfect Brutus took to the stage with the WJJO staff throughout the day to a hero's welcome from the crowd LB wanted to thank Randy Hawke, Ozz and the rest of the WJJO staff along with the thousands of hardDrive listeners who were there making him feel at home See you sick bastards next year!

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Killing Like Champions at Warped

Wednesday August 11th found LB once again covering the power and the majesty of The Warped Tour at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, VA It was a killer day as Brutus interviewed an incredible list of artists including The Offspring, Rancid, Transplants, The Vandals, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Dropkick Murphys, Thrice, MXPX, Avenged Sevenfold, Atreyu, Millencolin, Story of the Year, Mae, Bedouin Soundclash, Skindred, Riverboat Gamblers, Go Betty Go, Saosin, Strung Out, Dr. Neptune and the breakout artist of the tour Valient Thorr! We think there may be more artists but who can keep count of all of this! Many thanks to Kevin Lyman, Vizion and the rest of the Warped Tour staff along with the dozens of artists who were so good with their time We'll have a bunch of photos up in the Rogues Gallery section soon Also, a big FUCK YOU to the moronic Bristow Police and to the venue for having the most idiotic traffic patterns the world has ever seen We hope someone pisses in your breakfast this morning.

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Is “The Aristocrats” For Real?

Well, it’s just an idle thought but I wonder if we’re all being duped. In case you are not aware a film entitled “The Aristocrats” opens tomorrow July 29^th. The whole film is basically every stand up comedian you’ve ever heard of telling the same joke…but this isn’t just any joke. It is the most obscene, disgusting, profane and vomit inducing joke known to man. The joke always begins and ends the same. A family act walks into an agent’s office. The agent asks them what their act is. Now this is the point where the joke differs as each comic offers their own take on the family performing the most incestuous, obscene and degrading acts imaginable. When the agent asks what they call the act the punch line is always the same…”The Aristocrats!” According to the film makers this joke has been told for nearly one hundred years since the vaudeville days. Penn Gillette, one of the funniest people on the planet, is one of the people behind this film but that got me thinking. What if this joke never really existed before? What if, like much of the material in Penn & Teller’s act, it’s all a bunch of bull shit which will have them laughing at us harder than we are laughing at them? What if all of the comedians are in on the fact that the whole history of “The Aristocrats” joke was made up by Penn Gillette to pull the wool over the eyes of an unknowing public? Either way, I’m all for it! Penn Gillette is one of the coolest people ever in show biz and voraciously honest about the world which is kind of ironic as he cons us for a living. I wonder if “The Aristocrats” is his greatest con of all. --LB 07/28/05

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I Just Wanna Be with Lou

It was a phenomenal weekend in NYC as Brutus finally came face to face with power pop legends The Raspberries. It was the Raspberrie’s first New York gig since their legendary night at Carnegie Hall in 1973. LB managed to interview all four of the original band members including Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti. There was some hobnobbing going on to as the show attracted audience members like Jon Bon Jovi, Little Steven and even Jeopardy uber-champion Ken Jennings. You can hear LB’s Raspberries special next month on XM as a prelude to the airing of Saturday’s show.

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Hob Nob with Rob

Also while in New York, Brutus managed to track down Rob Thomas. Rob, lead singer of Matchbox 20 as well as a platinum selling solo artist, sat with LB at XM’s studios at Lincoln Center. You can hear this special across several different XM channels in September. We’ll keep you posted.

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Live 8 Pix Clix with Hicks in Sticks

Like the headline says. Pics of LB with just a few of his many interviews at Live 8 in Philly including The Dave Matthews Band, Stevie Wonder, Paula Abdul, Def Leppard, Sarah McLachlan, Jon Bon Jovi and a bunch more.

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Proof of A Loving God: Brutus Gets to See The Raspberries

Brutus has seen thousands of bands. He can count the ones he has wanted to see but has missed on one hand. This weekend (July 23 &24) he will see the band at the top of the list of those he never thought he would get to see…The Raspberries! Who are The Raspberries?!?! They are the early 70’s power pop sensations from Cleveland, Ohio who scored droves of hits with brilliant tunes like “Go All the Way,” “I Wanna Be with You,” and “Tonight.” The four original members Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti have reformed for (so far) a handful of gigs. Lou will be in NYC for their two shows at BB King’s. He will also interview all four band members for a special to air on XM prior to a nationwide broadcast of the opening New York show next month.

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The Great and Powerful Ozzfest

Once again, Brutus rode into the belly of the beast to talk to the bands of Ozzfest. He made the show in Camden, NJ where temperatures at the 2^nd stage reached nearly six thousand degrees! Among others, LB caught up with Rob Zombie, John 5, Shadows Fall, Gizmachi, Soilwork, Killswitch Engage, A Dozen Furies, Trivium, Wicked Wisdom and Mudvayne. After the interviews Brutus dropped his pants and burned off his hemorrhoids by scooting his ass on the hot pavement. Listen for it all on an upcoming special edition of hardDrive with Lou Brutus.

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Dash Rip Rock Rips and Rocks with A Dash of Ripping, Rocking Rock

Legendary cowpunk band Dash Rip Rock stopped by the XM studios on July 05^th to tape a performance in the Fungus 53 You’re Not Invited Concert Series. The band’s leader, psychobilly kingpin Bill Davis, is an old friend of LB‘s and co-wrote the Hee Haw Hell theme with him. You can hear Dash rip and rock during the first week in August. Watch for a new CD in the Fall!

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It Was 20 Years Ago Today…Brutus Backstage at Live 8 Philly

Nearly 20 years to the day of covering his first major concert event, Live Aid in Philadelphia 1985, Brutus returned to the City of Brotherly Love as host of XM’s nationwide broadcast. Lou interviewed virtually everyone backstage including Stevie Wonder, Natalie Portman, Jimmie Smits, Kaiser Chiefs, Maroon 5, Paula Abdul, Keith Urban, Jars of Clay, Rita Marley, Sarah McLachlan, Josh Groban, Def Leppard, Jon Bon Jovi and the entire Dave Matthews Band. He also spoke with caterers, police, fans and producer of the show Larry Magid of Electric Factory Concerts. Larry was also the producer of the original Live Aid in Philly. Many thanks to those who made this historic broadcast possible. Lots of pics in the Rogues Gallery soon!

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Marooned Masked Marauders The Aquabats Set Off Nerd Alert

They proudly categorize their music as nerd-core. They are The Aquabats and Brutus had them drop by the XM Performance Theatre to tape a live show for lucky Fungus 53 listeners on June 29^th. The band, in front of only about two dozen invited guests, powered their way thru a set that included new hits like Fashion Zombies and Plastic Lips as well as old faves like Pizza Day and Pool Party. You can check out a couple of pics from the day in the Rogues Gallery section of the site and here the broadcast in late July.

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The Dropkick Murhpys Open Tour, Brutus Insults Yankees

Friday June 17^th found legendary Boston punkers The Dropkick Murphys at the XM Performance Theatre in DC for a show in the Fungus 53 You’re Not Invited Concert Series. Brutus began the musical festivities with a rousing introduction that included the line “they are the band personally responsible for jamming the fucking chicken bone down George Steinbrenner’s throat in the Fall of 2004.” You can hear the performance on Fungus 53 during the week of July 24^th. Make sure to catch The Dropkick Murphys on the Warped Tour and pick up their phenomenal new album “The Warriors Code.”

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Brutus Shacks Up with Shed

It was Brutus teaming up with his old partners in musical crime Watershed on June 14^th to add to their long legacy of musical mischief. First, the band recorded two of their latest gems “Obvious” and “Small Doses” for XM’s Unsigned channel. Then they were joined by Brutus to record another batch of punk promo ditties for Fungus 53. The station tunes they did included “I Listen to Fungus When I Do Your Mom,” “Anarchy in the XM,” “Viva Las Fungus,” and “Rancid Radio.” Listen for ‘em on Fungus 53 and make sure to pick up the brilliant new Watershed album “5^th of July” on Idol Records. You should also hit their web site watershedcentral.com.

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Busy, Busy, Busy

This Friday June 10^th is a busy on air day for LB at XM. He’ll do a set of requests for the hardcore XM addicts from xm411.com then welcome Joe Esclante of The Vandals to the show and then The Fungus 53 Gala Musical Tribute to General Burkhalter. Yeah, you read that right, Fritz! Leon Askin, the actor who portrayed the General on Hogan’s Heroes passed away last weekend so Brutus will celebrate his legacy with the greatest anti-Nazi songs of all time including Nazi Punks Fuck Off by Dead Kennedys, Nazis Shouldn’t Drive by MDC and Stalag 13 by the Mentally Ill. Hard to believe he does this shit for a living, huh?

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NYC, Just Like I Pictured It

Brutus, decked out in a black Armani suit and fire red sunglasses, was in the Big Crapple on June 1^st as XM opened it’s new studios at Jazz at Lincoln Center with a massive shindige. Herr Brutdog found himself face to face with the likes of Wynton Marsalis and Tony Bennett before he had the good sense to get the fuck out of there and over to the Russian Vodka Room where he could behave like an animal. All in all a splendid time considering the night before LB was out late as he lived out a lifelong dream by finally seeing German synth pioneers Kraftwerk life in concert. Sehr gut!

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Gabba, Gabba, Hey Ho Let’s Go!

Today is May 19^th, the anniversary of the birth of the great Joey Ramone. Brutus is celebrating on Fungus 53 with 24 hours of Ramones called Ramonesmania. Every song ever recorded by the Ramones along with covers of the Ramones, songs about the Ramones and interviews with the band, crew, family and other musicians sharing their thoughts about the Ramones! Guests include Tommy Ramone, Marky Ramone, P.J. Soles, Pennywise, Anti Flag, Mojo Nixon, Maria Bartiromo (Joey wrote a tune about her!), The Lawrence Arms and even Joey’s mom!

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Lou Do That Voodoo that Foo Do So Well

May 14^th found Herr Brutus up in Baltimore to catch the big shindig featuring Foo Fighters and a host of others. Lou chatted on the record with Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins of the Foos about the forthcoming new album, the possibility of a tour later this year with Weezer and about Beatles cover band The Fab Four playing Dave’s wedding. You can hear it all soon on hardDrive with Lou Brutus. LB also talked with David Johansen after the New York Dolls’ set. Sadly, he and David mostly spoke about the recent passing of Frankie LaRocka the original drummer for the David Johansen Group. There was also hang time with others including Garbage, Jimi Haha of Jimi’s Chicken Shack and Baltimore music legend Val Yumm.

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Rolling Stone Gathers Fungus

If you pick up the May 19^th edition of Rolling Stone magazine (with Orlando Bloom on the cover) make sure you check out the article that names Fungus 53 among the best music in satellite radio! Says RS about Fungus, “Mostly underground punk, including Misfits, NOFX and tons of bands you’ve never heard before. Weekly shows include an all-ska segment and a program hosted by the members of Rancid.” Much thanks to RS for the love.

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Nice, Nice Very Nice

A busy week for Brutus. After arriving back from Madison, WI it was right on the air with visits by The Dollyrots, Mark of The Unseen and The Yuppie Pricks performing in the You’re Not Invited Concert series. This coming Monday looks like LB will hit NYC to check out System of A Down.

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Mad Sons of Madison

The last show of Slipknot’s tour with Lamb of God and Shadow’s Fall will go down in history as one of the most depraved chapters in rock history. While we may never be sure exactly what happened on that fateful April weekend in Madison, Wisconsin rest assured it will be enough to consign those involved to the infernal regions beyond the river Styx. What we do know for sure is that the weekend began with Brutus arriving in town on Friday and stopping by for a visit with hardDrive affiliate 94.1 JJO. Lou hung with his old friend Randy Hawke and chatted on the air with radio legend Blake Patton. Lou, Randy and JJO DJ Ozz then went out boozing until the wee hours of the morning. The trio may or may not have made it south to see Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos and Rick Nielsen jam with Velvet Revolver in Rockford, IL. What we are sure of is that the first night in the area for Lou passed fairly quietly. However, on Saturday all hell broke loose. Brutus apparently rose early that day and dressed from head to foot as Hunter S. Thompson. Green Las Vegas visor, amber hunting glasses, cigarette holder, Hawaiian shirt, khaki shorts, white socks and white Chuck Taylor high tops. What you must know is that when LB dresses like this, ugly things can happen. Answering only to the name Doctor Gonzo, Brutus stalked down State Street until he found the one thing missing from his wardrobe…a fly swatter. With it, he accosted passersby on the thoroughfare until the local police stepped in. Lou then hustled into a cab and went off in search of Slipknot. He found the band at the Reliant Energy Dome (or whatever the fuck corporate name the joint has) and proceeded to stalk about like a madman. Mentally, things were no better for the bands as they stared down the final night of the tour together. This would be a weirder closing night than most. The concert began with a special unannounced guest…80’s KISS. This KISS cover band (whose hysterical between song banter had several in the crowd urinating in their own pantaloons) may or may not have been made up of Joey Jordison on drums, two of the guys from Shadows Fall on guitars and Slipknot crew member Sully on bass. Brutus had been invited to emcee the beginning of the set but was quickly uninvited when he began smacking the band members with his fly swatter and locked himself in a dressing room screaming about, “those goddamned giant bats.” The 80’s KISS set ended with Sully flying on a cable thirty feet over the band where he was promptly left for the next half an hour. Things began to get weirder during Shadows Fall’s set with several inexplicable guest appearances onstage. One of which was Slipknot’s DJ Sid going onstage dressed as his alter ego Fuck You the Clown. Yes, it was Sid dressed in a full clown costume…bashing the band members in the head with a bowling pin. No sooner had the group pulled themselves back together than the most argued about moment of the night occurred. A man, naked save for his private parts which were wrapped in what appeared to be duct tape, ran out on the stage! Who was it though? Was it the Grammy award nominated lead singer for the headlining band whose name will not be printed here until the statute of limitations expires? No one could tell as his face was covered by a black mask and his hair was pulled back in pigtails. As the naked body reached the center of the stage another person ran out in front of the band…Doctor Gonzo! He ran after the naked man, screaming like a banshee and smacking the members of Shadows Fall with his fly swatter. He chased after naked man until the two disappeared off stage. Brutus/Doctor Gonzo was then accosted by several members of the Wisconsin State Police demanding to know just what the hell was going on! Brutus/Doctor Gonzo then set off a smoke bomb and disappeared into the resulting chaos backstage. As he was hiding beneath a tour bus, Lou was not able to tell us much more about the rest of the show other than that someone from Slipknot sent a remote controlled toy truck onstage with a tray full of drinks during Lamb of God’s set. When someone from Lamb of God sent a remote controlled vehicle onstage during Slipknot’s set it was beaten into pieces with baseball bats by Sid and Clown. Brutus retrieved the pieces following the set and gave them to JJO’s Blake Patton for on air giveaway. The evening ended with Brutus and the JJO staff running up a four thousand dollar bar tab at a local watering hole and Brutus making lewd gestures with his fly swatter. Brutus managed to slip by the police dragnet the next morning and flew safely back to the East Coast. We hereby apologize for any and all of his actions that may or may not have happened on this trip of which we claim no direct knowledge. Photos cleared by our lawyers have been posted in the Rogues Gallery.

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A Sure Sign of the Apocalypse

Earlier this week in his Sunday column Arch Conservative George Will mentioned LB’s XM punk channel Fungus 53! No, seriously. He was writing about alternative medias to traditional newspapers mentioning XM generally and Fungus specifically. We now fully expect to also soon see flying pigs, a concert appearance by Axl Rose and the repayment of the French war debt!

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It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Madison World

We wanna send a quick head’s up to Brutus listeners in Madison, WI especially longtime hardDrive listeners with Solid Rock 94.1 JJO. It seems that LB is flying out to your town this weekend for Slipknot, Lamb of God and Shadows Fall. It’s the last gig on the tour (at least in the U.S.) so Brutus wants one last chance to catch The Knot. If you want to find LB while he’s in town he’ll be holding up the bar with Randy Hawke!

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Grateful Deadwood

While Brutus does not watch much television he is totally addicted to HBO’s Deadwood. He says, “if for no other reason than it has brought the term ‘cocksucker’ back into popularity, Deadwood is arguably the greatest show in the history of the medium.” When recently contacted by a listener who was looking for a name for his garage band Brutus came up with several inspired by the show. Here is Brutus’ list of band names inspired by Deadwood:

The Bastard Sons of Seth Bullock

Cocksuckers from Yankton

Swijjin

The Heathen Dirt Worshippers

The Leering Celestials

The World Ends When You’re Dead

Balls of Dope

The Junkie Faro Dealers

E.B. Farnum and the Moist Palms

The Degenerate Tit Lickers

Maddie’s Dead Now

Pussified Shooting Instrument

and our favorite…Mr. Wu’s Pigs

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Aqua-Cadets Versus the Download Zombies of Doom!>

Disaster struck the Cadet Community of Aquabania earlier this week when the evil Download Zombies of Doom began their malicious spreading of new tunes from The Aquabats that had been world premiered by Brutus on Fungus 53. Here’s a translation for those of you not down with the Bat-speak: The Aquabats and Nitro Records were kind of enough to give Brutus an advance copy of the forthcoming new album from The Aquabats entitled Charge! Sadly, misguided souls were taping the tunes and putting them up on the net. To stop any damage to a band he really loves a lot LB has pulled the songs off the air at the request of the group. Luckily, the first single, Fashion Zombies, will continue on the air in heavy rotation. The album hits stores in June and Brutus personally recommends that you pick up the album and see The Aquabatswhen they play your town in June/July. They are one of his favorite all time bands and he has tirelessly supported them on the air for many years. In a related note, LB will neither confirm nor deny rumors of a private Aquabats performance at XM in June. There is talk of a “Cadets only” show that would be broadcast across the U.S. but when we ask him about it Brutus will only scream, “Take me back to my Happy Land!”

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Brutus to Get Happy?

The Brutusdogg gets on the road with Mudvayne, Life of Agony, American Head Charge and Bloodsimple this week. He’ll hook up with the bands at DC’s 9:30 Club and then at their (very intimate) gig at Jaxx in Springfield, VA. This is a kick ass bill and you should see it if it gets to your town before you find yourself having to go see these bands in arenas. You can hear the interviews on a special upcoming edition of hardDrive with Lou Brtutus.

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Prick Your Finger or Finger Your Prick

It was a whirlwind two days as Brutus welcomed his close, personal friends The Yuppie Pricks up from Austin, TX. The band, who wear tennis whites and sing punk songs about how great it is to be rich, on cocaine and demeaning to poor people, stopped by XM to tape a performance after their sold out show at the Velvet Lounge. You can hear the show on Fungus 53 the week of May 09^th. Brutus personally recommends their Alternative Tentacles debut album Brokers Banquet so hit their site yuppiepricks.com to get it!

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Slipping Into Hartford, Knotting Up in Philly

The opening night of the Subliminal Verses Tour and Herr Brutus was there! LB flew into the bustling metro of Hartford (yawn) to catch Slipknot, Lamb of God, Shadows Fall and Gizmachi. LB went from the airport to the hotel to meet the band who had been in Hartford for the previous couple of days rehearsing with new stage gear and theatrics. They all then hopped into tour buses and went to The Meadows for the final rehearsal and sound check before the big first gig. Watching the sound check was phenomenal as the band were in street clothes and bantered back and forth as they polish their performance. The crew worked like mad dogs to not only get all the sounds down but also dealing with all the stage theatrics being incorporated into this tour. Even with all the work there was plenty of time for fucking around backstage. Heavy wagering occurred as Corey Taylor perfected his putting game in the latest Tiger Wood’s opus on X-Box. Then it was time for E/A baseball where Joey Jordison’s sloppy defensive play led to an ass whooping of Biblical proportions as the hands of Chris Fehn. LB also managed to hook up with his old friend, New England radio legend Rick O.B. and his son Matt (who is considered the best young drummer in the state of Rhode Island). Oh, and then there was a concert! All of the opening bands killed on the first night with Gizmachi making the best of the tiny area of stage left for them. Slipknot roared out of the gate and never looked back. We won’t ruin the surprises for you by putting a set list here but rest assured you will hear your favorites on the tour along with some previously un-played tunes that will have you soiling yourself. After the show LB and Jim Root chowed down on cold KFC on board the “Enemy of the Party Bus.” This is the bus on the tour for more straight edge living. Then it was down to Philly. Brutus slept in a bunk on the bus, waking up in the parking lot of the Spectrum in Philadelphia. This is Lou’s fave large arena for a show as he’s been going there since he was a kid and has seen hundreds of shows there. This was a work day for El Brute and he did lengthy interviews with openers Lamb of God, Shadows Fall and Gizmachi. LB then did a great interview with Corey Taylor prior to the show and a late night (2am!) interview with The Clown after the show. BTW, as good as the performances were in Hartford, the show in Philly blew it out of the water. The pit on the floor was sick and the bands responded with incredible sets. Lamb of God in particular knocked everyone’s dicks in the dirt and then Slipknot damn near blew the place up. Many thanks to everyone on the tour for making Brutus feel so at home. He’ll join back up with the tour in DC and Hampton, VA then will attend the last show of the tour in Madison, WI with his buds from hardDrive affiliate 94.1 WJJO. See you there! Make sure you check out the Subliminal Verses Tour Special on hardDrive with Lou Brutus. It airs Easter Weekend!

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Ready or Knot

The Subliminal Verses Tour gets under way this Friday night and Ol’ Dirty Brutus is gonna be there! Lou flies into Hartford for the tour opener and will then travel with healiners Slipknot for the opening salvos on the tour in Philly and NJ. Along the way he will interview every band on the trek including Lamb of God, Shadows Fall and Gizmachi. It’s all part of an upcoming special on hardDrive that takes you backstage on the best fucking tour of 2005! Look for reports and photos from the road here next week!

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Yak, Yak, Yak

A chatty assed Brutus finds himself sitting down to talk this week with Flogging Molly, Hot Water Music and Theory of A Deadman for upcoming interviews on hardDrive and Fungus 53. Airtimes to be posted soon!

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Mark the Shark Drucker

This is turning into a rough week. First Hunter and now Mark the Shark Drucker. When I first broke into radio I was writer/producer for John DeBella’s show at WMMR in Philadelphia. The news guy/co-host on the show was Mark. He helped teach me the ropes and without his guidance early on I certainly would not have achieved the things that I have achieved. Sadly, Mark passed away today at the age of only 48. I believe that he was such a great radio personality because of his quirky nature. He was certainly not the type to just read cards. To my knowledge, Mark was the only reporter that boxer Mike Tyson liked. Seriously, Tyson fell all over himself when Mark did interviews with him which is kind of cool since Tyson has eaten most reporters he faced. Mark was also the only person I knew who paper trained his rabbit. It was the damndest thing to watch. I just wish to send out my best to Mark’s daughter and to his other family and friends. Terrible, terrible news.—LB 02/23/05

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Fuck, Fuck, Fucking, Fuck, Fuck!

And so it comes to this. Hunter S. Thompson has blown his own fucking brains out. Ahhh, and what brains they were. The greatest writer of our time and one of my favorite people on the planet. No one knows why he did it. My first thought was that he had a horrible disease and didn’t feel like sticking around to coddle it. Maybe he just wanted to go out like Hemingway. Whatever way it turns out that the deal went down it puts an exclamation point on one of the wildest rides ever undertaken by a mere human. I first met Hunter in 1988 at the Sommerville Theatre in Cambridge, Mass. My dear friend, the radio legend Rick O.B. and I had taken a limo to see Hunter do one of his “speaking engagements” there. We were waiting in the dressing room for him when he literally fell into the room. As I was standing nearest the door he approached me first. I held out my hand and said hello as he held what I assumed to be an umbrella close to my chest. After a few seconds of this he smiled, embraced me and asked me my name. He replied, “Yes, Brutus the Warrior. Brave, brave Brutus. We must drink, you and I.” With that he began pouring a bottle of Chevas Regal down my gullet. Later, when I expressed my surprise at such a warm greeting to his publicist I was told, “Of course he liked you! That was no umbrella. He held a fucking stun gun to your chest and you didn’t even flinch! He thinks you have balls of pure brass!” Rick and I returned to the same theatre to see Hunter again the next year knowing he would never remember us but the first thing he said when he walked in the room was, “Brutus, great to see you again. Sorry about the stun gun.” That’s a true story. I would call Hunter about once a year, usually late at night, to say hello. He would always take a little time out to chat even though I barely knew the guy. It seemed to my limited knowledge of him that when he wasn’t busy being the crazed character that everyone expected he was a real Southern gentleman. I, for one, am going to miss knowing that he’s around. I’m happy to have stomped the Earth with him and to have drank from the same bottle as he. I don’t really drink much anymore and have not even smoked a cigarette for a couple of months but, perhaps, I will go out tonight. I will put on a straw hat and a loud shirt, slip a Dunhill into a cigarette holder and drink rancid firewater. Ho, ho! It could lead to me jumping onto a police car, urinating on the windshield and the vicious scum beating me like a rented mule but it would be good for a grim laugh in these dark times. You see, I feel a strong urge to do something weird because I think it possible that Hunter is still out there somewhere. Maybe on some strange and savage mission known only to a few select angels and demi-gods. Perhaps Hunter was called up by God himself to wrestle with Richard Nixon in front of the Pearly Gates with our nation’s soul as the prize for the winner. I can see it now…Nixon locked in a death dance with Hunter. On one side it’s the demons of Hell howling like banshees for Nixon to win so the can obliterate what is left of the American Dream. On the side of righteousness and good is Hunter, totally naked save for his amber hunting glasses and a cigarette holder. They move at one another but, look out, Hunter! Nixon is fighting dirty by calling on his dog Checkers, now become a fire breathing hell hound, to menace Hunter from the rear! Hunter slashes backwards with preternatural strength and slices Checkers in his foul haunch. With the vile cur removed from the battle Hunter moves in towards Tricky Dick…how will it all end? Whichever way the battle goes, wherever Hunter may be, I am not going to rest until I find him and can gnaw on his skull with my own teeth. Because it still hasn’t gotten weird enough for me. Res Ipsa Loquitor.—Lou Brutus 02/21/05

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Back in the New York Groove

Old Dirty Brutus is back up to his old spewing grounds in New York City for a quick jaunt. On Valentines Day he’ll attend the rehearsal and performance for Unwritten Law on The Late Show with David Letterman. Following that it’s over to catch the new Monty Python musical Spamalot. The evening will probably end poorly with LB hanging with his Russian mob friends at the Russian Vodka Room into the wee hours. On the 15^th it’s over to the legendary recording studio NOLA where Lou will host a performance with Unwritten Law that can be heard on Fungus 53 as part of the You’re Not Invited Concert Series. The show will air in March.

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Knots in His Head

The Bruttenhoffer’s close, personal friends in Slipknot are hitting the road again soon which means that LB will forego his own life so as to catch as many shows is humanly possible. The band will be ready to go coming off the double dip of a great tour in Australia coupled with getting fucked out of winning a Grammy (again!). Lamb of God and Shadows Fall will be providing main support on the tour so get there on time. Brutus will be at opening night in Hartford along with shows in Philly, Fairfax and the tour closer in Madison, Wisconsin. As he’ll be doing a lot of interviews along the way you can hear a lot of cool stuff coming up on hardDrive with Lou Brutus.

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Well It’s About Fucking Time!

With a CD collection numbering about 10,000 (most of it autographed) you would think that I have every CD I ever wanted. Well, I had every one I did want…except one…and now I finally own it! Derringer Live is the 1977 opus by guitar god Rick Derringer. Since I was a kid this was not only one of my favorite all time records but also one that I thought was criminally underrated. Sure, when people talk about great live albums from the era they rightfully mention things like KISS Alive, Peter Frampton Frampton Comes Alive and Ted Nugent Double Live Gonzo but precious few make mention of Derringer Live. It’s now available for the first time ever on CD and this weekend was the first chance I’ve had to listen to the album in about 20 years. It still rocks the living fuck out of my head. If you want pure, unadulterated, undiluted, uncompromising and unconditionally kick ass guitar munching musical madness with marvelous melody then seek thee a copy of Derringer Live. You’ll thank me later.---LB 02/13/05

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Come Back Johnny

Just wanted to bid a fond farewell to Johnny Carson. A total class act and one of the driest wits on the planet. It is sad news but he certainly lived as cool a life as you can have. I remember when I was a kid and the first time I stayed up late enough to see him on The Tonight Show. It was like finally getting to join a super secret club. Johnny Carson was not only the most relaxed person in front of a camera, he was also gifted with some of the best comic timing this side of Groucho Marx’s brain. If you’ve ever tried to tell a joke you will always envy his timing. So long, Johnny!—LB 01/23/05

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Whuttup with Ol’ Dirty Brutus?

Busy days for ODB lately. Chats recently with Unwritten Law, Justin Sane from Anti-Flag and Randy Jackson from American Idol who kindly did a funny show open for hardDrive with Lou Brutus. Brutus was also stoked to have both Me First & the Gimme Gimmes and Rise Against by the Fungus 53 studios at XM for upcoming performances in thy You’re Not Invited Concert Series. Unwritten Law, Dash Rip Rock and The Pietasters will be by for performances in the not too distant future.

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Vomiting Into the Night in the Land of Fear and Loathing

It is no secret that Lou’s fave book is Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It should then be no surprise to hear of the depraved activity that filled his nighttime hours during a return to Las Vegas in January. Brutus was there to attend the techno-uber-geek wet dream known as The Consumer Electronics Show. Basically, every electronics company on the planet shows up with stuff you’ll never be able to afford. Shit like TV screens the size of football fields and electric nut scratchers. Anyway, XM was there so the company honchos invited LB out to help host the XM stage. He introed a great live set from Shinedown, interviewed Weird Al Yankovic, hung out with Cal Ripken Jr. and a host of others. However, the highlight was hosting a 45 minute Q&A session with Gene Simmons of KISS. Gene is currently being followed around every waking moment by a film crew putting together a reality show about his rock star life. Brutus is worried about that since he kissed Gene’s ass incessantly and will look like a total fucking dork if he makes it onto the show. We’ll keep you posted. The rest of the time in Vegas was spent by Lou drinking, gambling and trying not to vomit on his own shoe’s when stumbling into the men’s room. He was not always successful.

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Merry Whatever It Is You Celebrate!

I’ve has never been very particular about caring about people’s religious beliefs, racial background or sexual orientation. Everyone should be free to celebrate whatever they want with who they want. If some folks in the world were not so hell bent on trying to make everyone else think and act like they do then there would probably be a lot less misery in the world. So, whatever the fuck it is you celebrate, have a good one! ---LB 12/25/2005

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The Invariable Year End Lists

The end of 2004 is nigh which means LB has compiled lists of both listener favorites and his personal faves for the year. How did you match up with Ol’ Dirty Brutus and the rest of the crowd? Read on…

LOU BRUTUS FAVE OVERALL ALBUMS FOR 2004

01. SLIPKNOT VOLUME 3: THE SUBLIMINAL VERSES
02. BUTCH WALKER LETTERS
03. THE GAMITS ANTIDOTE
04. TOM WAITS REAL GONE
05. GREEN DAY AMERICAN IDIOT
06. FLOGGING MOLLY WITHIN A MILE OF HOME
07. DEAD SCHEMBECHLERS ROCKET TO ANN ARBOR
08. GO BETTY GO WORST ENEMY
09. MIKE KENEALLY BAND DOG
10. VELVET REVOLVER CONTRABAND

Rounding out the Top 20: Chip Robertson Looking Ahead, Mary Prankster Lemonade Live at the 9:30 Club, Chevelle This Type of Thinking Could Do Us In, Guttermouth Eat Your Face, Rise Against Siren Songs of the Counter Culture, Jello Biafra w/The Melvins Never Breathe What You Can’t See, Nirvana With the Lights Out, Brian Wilson Smile, Lamb of God Ashes of the Wake, The Who New York City 22.05.04

LOU BRUTUS’ TEN FAVE hardDrive SONGS FOR 2004

01. SLIPKNOT DUALITY
02. SLIPKNOT VERMILLION
03. MARILYN MANSON PERSONAL JESUS
04. KORN ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL
05. CHEVELLE VITAMIN R
06. RAMMSTEIN AMERIKA
07. METALLICA SOME KIND OF MONSTERS
08. GETTING AWAY WITH MUDER PAPA ROACH
09. GREEN DAY AMERICAN IDIOT
10. VELVET REVOLVER SLITHER

THE FUNGUS 53 TOP25 ALBUMS FOR 2004

01. GREEN DAY AMERICAN IDIOT
02. DESCENDENTS COOL TO BE YOU
03. THE GAMITS ANTIDOTE
04. FLOGGING MOLLY WITHIN A MILE OF HOME
05. BAD RELIGION THE EMPIRE STIKES FIRST
06. GUTTERMOUTH EAT YOUR FACE
07. JELLO BIAFRA W/THE MELVINS NEVER BREATHE WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE
08. THE VANDALS HOLLYWOOD POTATO CHIP
09. THE BRIGGS LEAVING THE WAYS
10. GO BETTY GO WORST ENEMY
11. VOODOO GLOW SKULLS ADDICION, TRADICION, REVOLUCION
12. HOT WATER MUSIC THE NEW WHAT'S NEXT
13. THE MATCHES E. VON DAHL KILLED THE LOCALS
14. SUM 41 CHUCK
15. RISE AGAINST SIREN SONGS OF THE COUNTER CULTURE
16. THE F-UPS THE F-UPS
17. TIGER ARMY GHOST TIGERS RISE
18. ME FIRST & THE GIMME GIMMES RUIN JOHNNY'S BAR MITZVAH
19. THE DOLLYROTS EAT MY HEART OUT
20. THE EXPLOSION HERE I AM
21. MAD CADDIES SONGS IN THE KEY OF EH
22. ONLY CRIME TO THE NINES
23. THE CASUALTIES ON THE FRONT LINE
24. THE SOVIETTES LP2
25. TSUNAMI BOMB THE DEFINITIVE ACT

LOU BRUTUS' TEN FAVE FUNGUS 53 SONGS OF 2004

01. DOTTES LINES THE GAMITS
02. AMERICAN IDIOT GREEN DAY
03. HOT DOG TO THE HEAD GUTTERMOUTH
04. TEN THE SOVIETTES
05. PLETHYSMOGRAPH JELLO BIAFRA W/THE MELVINS
06. STATE OF THE UNION RISE AGAINST
07. C'MON GO BETTY GO
08. SEVEN DEADLY SINS FLOGGING MOLLY
09. WORE OUT THE SOLES OF MY PARTY BOOTS NOFX
10. FEED ME, PET ME THE DOLLYROTS

THE TEN MOST IMPORTANT PUNK ALBUMS OF ALL TIME
(AS VOTED BY FUNGUS 53 LISTENERS)

01. NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS HERES THE SEX PISTOLSSEX PISTOLS
02. FRESH FRUIT FOR ROTTING VEGETABLES DEAD KENNEDYS
03. RAMONES RAMONES
04. LONDON CALLING THE CLASH
05. COMPLETE DISCOGRAPHY MINOR THREAT
06. NO CONTROL BAD RELIGION
07. YOUNG, LOUD & SNOTTY DEAD BOYS
08. SLIP IT IN BLACK FLAG
09. DOOKIE GREEN DAY
10. AND OUT COME THE WOLVES RANCID

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Brutus Appears with Public Radio Legend Bob Edwards?!?!?!

Did we actually just type those words? Apparently, yes! On Thursday, December 23^rd LB was a guest on XM Public Radio with broadcast legend Bob Edwards to talk up his role as the architect of XM’s Special X-mas. It’s holiday programming made up of the most bizarre Christmas goodies ever committed to disc. They talked up many of Lou’s faves including Spinal Tap’s “Christmas with the Devil,” Judith Owen’s jazz cover of it, Art Carney’s “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and whole slew of others. Lou thanks Bob and his producer Melissa for the invite.

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Lou’s World! Lou’s World!

What’s coming up in Lou’s World? Well, besides heading to Denver this weekend for The Gamits, he’ll host hardDrive’s Nightmare Before Christmas which can be heard across the nation. Then next week on XM’s Fungus 53, LB welcomes Go Betty Go to the studios for a performance in the You’re Not Invited concert series. As if that weren’t enough Brutus will be joined on Christmas Eve in the Fungus studios by Lars Frederiksen of Rancid and Lars Frederiksen & the Bastards. They’re dubbing it Larsmas Eve and will be a couple of hours of Lars and Lou shooting the shit and playing the coolest punk and holiday music you’ve ever heard.

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Why Do Shitty Bands Continue But Great Ones Break Up?

The above is the question LB has been asking this week as he prepares to act as emcee at the final performance of The Gamits. As the finest band to ever come out of Denver, The Gamits (led by Chris Fogal) have been tearing it up on the punk circuit for years. This Saturday, December 18^th the band will give their farewell performance at the Bluebird Theatre in Denver. As a huge fan, Brutus knew he had to make it for the show. If you can’t make it to the gig not to worry. It will be broadcast on Fungus 53 next month and will also be apart of the forthcoming box set from The Gamits in mid ’05.

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What the Fuck?

“’What the fuck’ is the only question I can ask in regard to the death of Dimebag Darrell of Damagplan/Pantera. I could weave you a few tales about boozing, whoring and tattoos but you’ve probably heard better stories like those about him from others who were closer to him. I will only say that I’m proud to have stomped the Earth with him if only on a few occasions. What a mother fucking shame. He was the real article and a fine Southern Gentleman to boot. Could play that fucking guitar, too.”---LB 12/2005

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Lou Brutus’ Best Rock Albums of 2004

Here it is! LB has laid out his fave albums for the year. Keep in mind that these are his overall picks regardless of genre and is separate from best of lists for hardDrive with Lou Brutus and Fungus 53. And now the list…

1. Slipknot Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses
2. Butch Walker Letters
3. The Gamits Antidote
4. Tom Waits Real Gone
5. Green Day American Idiot
6. Flogging Molly Within A Mile of Home
7. Dead Schembechlers Rocket to Ann Arbor
8. Go Betty Go Worst Enemy
9. Mike Keneally Band Dog
10. Velvet Revolver Contraband

Rounding out the Top 20: Chip Robertson Looking Ahead, Mary Prankster Lemonade Live at the 9:30 Club, Chevelle This Type of Thinking Could Do Us In, Guttermouth Eat Your Face, Rise Against Siren Songs of the Counter Culture, Jello Biafra w/The Melvins Never Breathe What You Can’t See, Nirvana With the Lights Out, Brian Wilson Smile, Lamb of God Ashes of the Wake, The Who New York City 22.05.04

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B for Butch, B for Brilliant

It’s a few minutes after 1am on Monday, December 06^th and I’ve just gotten home from the 9:30 Club in D.C. where I bore witness to a rock show worthy of the heathen Gods of old. Butch Walker. Excuse me, I meant to say Butch FUCKING Walker. Holy snapping turtle shit. If this wasn’t one of the best performances I’ve ever seen then I hope to be gang raped by an angry flock of Canadian geese with a nasty case of dysentery. Butch, backed by American Hi-Fi, is out on the road these days in support of his latest album “Letters.” This album is so good that I want to grab people who haven’t bought it yet and poke them in the eye. I believe that those who neglect to get it will have their names erased from The Book of Life and that their souls will be tossed into a burning lake of fire where they will roast for all of eternity while being forced to listen to Clay Aiken’s holiday album. I’m not fucking around here. I’ll be honest, I have seen thousands…no, wait...fuck that. I have seen TENS OF THOUSANDS of performers thru the years. You name the greats and I’ve seen ‘em play. Frank Zappa, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Black Sabbath, Ramones, Elton John, Paul McCartney, KISS. I’ve seen ‘em all and I can tell you straight up that Butch Walker can stand toe to toe with any of them and give as good as he gets. You reading what I’m writing here, motherfucker? This guy is so great that his birthday should be celebrated as a national holiday where everyone lines up to bitch slap lip synching twats like Ashlee Simpson. As a matter of fact, it may be a good idea to just douse her backing tapes in kerosene and set them on fire. Butch and the Hi-Fi lads could play a rousing set while we all dance around the cheery blaze. Hold it. No, no, no. Perhaps that would be too easy. We should just get some guys from the pipe fitters union in New Jersey to rub down the inside of her thighs each day with some extra coarse sand paper. Yes, that’s it. A life of brutal discomfort is what’s called for here. However, I digress. The show tonight was an exercise in just how compelling music can still be when you have a guy who’s songs are so catchy that he probably defecates hook shaped turds in the bathroom and who has charisma oozing out of his pores like pimple oil at a Junior Prom. I mean, the only time the show stopped was right before he played “Mixtape” so he could introduce some guy in the balcony who promptly dropped to one knee and proposed to his girlfriend. Later, he sang “Best Thing You Never Had” to some hapless bastard over the cell phone of the bastard’s jilted ex who had handed Butch their phone. Butch rocked out and also melted down. The centerpiece of the show was him alone at the piano. He did a gorgeous version of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas,” followed it with “Radio Tokyo” and then launched into the uber emotional new one “Joan.” I’d list more highlights but there were too fucking may of them. Well, I should actually mention the encore of “Sunday, Bloody, Sunday,” “Freak of the Week” and “Lights Out.” Fuck, it was great. Anyway, do yourself a favor. Go out and get “Letters” and see Butch when he gets anywhere close to your town. While you’re at it you may want to grab any radio programmers and record company execs who are not supporting the album and beat them into submission with a penny filled sock. Keep in mind that if you do this then you should hit them on the soles of their feet where you won’t leave marks. Ho, ho! No police records for us for we are quick and clever and we shall one day dance around Ashlee’s burning tapes together while singing “#1 Summer Jam.” One last thing. If someone you know complains about the lack of great music these days tell them to shut the fuck up, stop whining and seek out Butch Walker. They will later blow you in gratitude.”---LB 12/06/04

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The Nightmare Before Christmas Returns

It’s the 7^th editon of hardDrive’s holiday horror show! Lots o’ rock stars share their worst holiday memories with LB. Catch members of Metallica, Slipknot, Breaking Benjamin and a shitload more during the weekend of December 17/18 on the world famous hardDrive with Lou Brutus.

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Go Betty Go, Go, Go

The girls from Go Betty Go tore it the fuck up! The band took time off from their tour with Voodoo Glow Skulls to join Ol’ Dirty Brutus for a performance in the Fungus 53 You’re Not Invited concert series. While they featured tunes from their debut EP Worst Enemy they also broke out some new stuff from their forthcoming new album that will hit in Spring 2005 before they go out on the Warped Tour. Hear their set Christmas week on XM’s Fungus 53.

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An Incredible Christmas

Each year, instead of sending out some boring assed Christmas card, Brutus puts together a phantasmagorical CD from his collection of thousands of rare holiday recordings. This year is no exception with the release of his new opus Incredible Christmas: The Lou Brutus Holiday CD 2004. Some of the highlights of this year’s disc include the Evolution Control Committee’s Christmas Wrong which uses fancy editing to re-work Nat King Cole’s Christmas Song into horrific tune about reindeers being shot and missiles being fired into the sky. It also includes hard to find ditties by Art Carney, James Brown, The Beatles and Christmas comedy from one of Lou’s faves Eddie “The Old Philosopher” Lawrence. This CD is unavailable in stores but, if you’re on the list, look for one in the mail before Christmas!

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The Ten Most Important Punk Albums of All Time

Over the four day Thanksgiving Weekend be listening for LB on XM’s Fungus 53 with The Ten Most Important Punk Albums of All Time. These are the albums voted by Fungus listeners as the most indispensable pieces of punk perfection ever. They include (in no particular voting order) Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks Heres the Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, Ramones Ramones, Bad Religion No Control, Black Flag Slip It In, The Clash London Calling, Green Day Dookie, Rancid And Out Come the Wolves, Dead Boys Young Loud & Snotty and Minor Threat Complete Discography. Listen for these albums all weekend on Fungus 53.

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Brutus Recovering from Near Blinding By Wolverine Blood

LB was on hand in Columbus, Ohio earlier this month for the return of seminal Wolverine Hatecore band the Dead Schembechlers. This band of wretched miscreants performs only songs about their hatred of the University of Michigan Wolverines football team and their love of the Ohio State Buckeyes. Well, Brutus got a little too close to the edge of the stage at the end of the set when Dead Schembechler’s front man Bo Biafra bit the head off of a Wolverine and blood soaked everyone nearby. LB got an eyeful of Wolverine blood and was treated at the scene by an emergency medical crew. Lou wishes to personally thank those who treated him and saved his eyesite. He has no comment on what it feels like to be covered in gore. To learn more about this nightmarish scum of a band click here.

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hardDrive with Lou Brutus Has Thanksgiving Covered

It’s an all cover song version of hardDrive with Lou Brutus coming up for the Thanksgiving Weekend. Metallica does Queen, Recoil does Phil Collins and Local H does Britney Spear!?!?! Yikes, pass the Tums on the way to Grandma’s house!

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The Ten Most Important Punk Albums of All Time

Well, what are they? Brutus is taking votes at fungus@xmradio.com for The Ten Most Important Punk Albums of all time special that will air during Thanksgiving Weekend on Fungus 53. Take some time to put your list together and email them to LB.

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Brutus Rises Against His Own Birthday

LB celebrated the anniversary of his arrival on this planet (November 10^th!) by hosting the guys from Rise Against on XM’s Fungus 53. The entire band took a night off from their tour with Bad Religion to fly in for the festivities. Following that, Brutus was off to Baltimore to catch a show with his buds in Motograter. Thanks also to The Explosion who popped by recently!

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Dial M for Metallica in Montreal

Brutus found his way north of the border to the gorgeous city of Montreal to hook up with Metallica! The band was in the middle of a sold out, two night stand with Godsmack which almost made the city forget losing the Expos. LB spoke with James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo…yes, the whole band! Brutus also chatted up key members of the band’s crew about how they bring this massive production together. You can hear it all in an upcoming special edition of hardDrive with Lou Brutus.

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So Long, Fats!

Well, once again it is my painful duty to tell you of the passing of one of my heroes. Scott Muni was a New York radio legend who ruled the biggest roost in the biz since the 1960’s. He was on a first name basis with The Beatles and The Stones and was as cool as shit. I grew up listening to Scott on WNEW-FM although he had already been a star on other stations around the NYC radio dial for years. I first got to meet Scott when I was breaking into radio working at WMMR-RM in Philly. WNEW was our sister station and we were all pooling resources to cover the Live Aid show in Philly in 1984. When Scott learned that I knew a lot of the backstage crew (they were mostly local Philly guys I hung with) he told my Program Director (Charlie Kendall) that, “The kid is with me!” With those words, I became Scott Muni’s personal henchman for the biggest concert event in history. During a break from chasing down rock stars in the searing heat we retired for a few minutes to the broadcast trailer that had been set up. Dying of thirst, I picked up Scott’s apple juice on ice glass and asked for a swig. He said, “Hey, wait a minute, Fats! That’s the real hooch!” I smelled the glass and realized that what I thought was apple juice was actually Johnny Walker. Not wanting to appear as a lightweight I asked Scott if I could have a slug. He agreed and seemed amused at my effort. I almost choked to death. The Live Aid coverage went great and when the vast show was done and over Scott invited a number of us out for drinks to celebrate. Seven of us made our way to the parking lot where WMMR’s Kevin Gunn’s car was. Well, it was a Dodge Dart that could comfortably hold no more than four people. As the crowd of seven began to surround the car Scott turned to Kevin and very smoothly said, “Well, Fats. I guess we know where we’re sitting!” Five of us in the back with Scott and Kevin up front in comfort! None of us would have had it any other way. It was one of the great days of my life and it ended with Scott drinking us all under the table and picking up the tab to boot. Later, during my tenure at WMMR, I paid tribute to Scott by doing a character based on his voice. Scott Money (and his one hundred two point seven agents) was a regular character on Pierre Robert’s show. It was fun to have a chance to do Scott’s incredible voice for fun on the air. I am honored to have gotten to work with him but most of all am lucky to have gotten to listen to him. He was a giant. He was the real fucking deal. He conquered like a champion. So long, Fats! Thanks for making a kid from New Jersey feel on top of the world!—LB 09/29/04

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A Bushmill’s with A Wee Bit O’ the Stout

Sunday Sept. 26^th found our humble protagonist spending the day with his favorite group of drunken, Irish music playing loonies Flogging Molly. The band, who came in to XM to tape a performance for Lou’s “You’re Not Invited” concert series, wailed through a set of tunes from their phenomenal new album “Within A Mile of Home.” Then the entire group of seven sat down with Brutus for some in depth conversation. The opening band on the tour, The Briggs, came by XM the following day to tape a performance and interview with LB as well. You can hear it all throughout the month of October on Fungus 53. Be sure to catch Flogging Molly while the tour lasts.

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The Late, Great Johnny Ramone

“It just breaks my heart to be sitting here at my desk in the middle of the night writing about the passing of Johnny Ramone. He may very well be the most overlooked guitar player in the history of rock. Had it not been for Johnny’s balls out style than punk rock never would have sounded, or happened, the way that it did. I began seeing the Ramones when I was a kid, got to roadie for them at Six Flag’s Great Adventure, emceed about a dozen shows and saw them fifty times in total. I was always glad to talk to Johnny as he was a huge baseball fan, seriously it was like an addiction for the guy. He also made sure that there was cold Yoo Hoo backstage. That’s the truth. If you walked in the dressing room at a Ramone’s show there was quite often nothing else to drink but Yoo Hoo. Anybody who could invent punk rock, talk knowledgeably about baseball AND serve Yoo Hoo is A-OK in my book. I’m not kidding. Johnny Ramone was someone who’s every note I’ve hung on for thirty years. I’m glad I got to know him if only a little bit. There are a million other things I could think to tell you but I think I would rather go listen to “It’s Alive.” Do you have that? If you don’t than your life has been a waste up until now and I recommend you go get it today. So long, Johnny! Tell Dee Dee I’m sorry I missed him that last time!” LB 09/16/04

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El Bruto Named “Fan of the Week”

Brutus has been named fan of the week on the Suburban Home Records web site. It’s the label of one of Lou’s fave bands The Gamits. Click here to go to the site where you then click on the Fan of the Week link. You’ll see a pic of Lou in his home music library holding up his autographed Pete Townshend Gibson SG guitar. Lucky bastard!

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F-Up, Up and Away!

In one of the strangest moments of his career, Brutus found himself standing between punksters The F-Ups and members of The Fifth Dimension. How was this possible?!?! Was it a ripple in The Force? Well, LB was hosting The F-Ups in the XM Performance Theatre as part of the upcoming “You’re Not Invited” concert series on Fungus 53 when he looked up from the studio mixing console only to see Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. walking inside. Totally nice people who even laughed when they heard they had walked in on a punk band. Brutus managed pictures but although not all together, damn it! See them in the Rogues Gallery.

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Knot Again!

El Bruto is down to Virginia Beach this weekend to catch the Slipknot lads headline a show at some amphitheatre named after some big assed company that likes to see their name all over everything. No interviews, no sound or video equipment, just sitting around on the tour bus watching Tod Browning’s ‘Freaks’ on DVD. See ya there.

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Damnit! It’s The Gamits!

Lately, Das Brut just spent a goodly amount of time with his fave band out of Denver…The Gamits. He first went up to Baltimore’s Ottobar to catch the band on tour with The Queers and Ten Foot Pole. The Gamits then went to the XM studios in DC to record the opening performance of the “You’re Not Invited” concert series on Fungus 53. They kicked arse! Listen for the debut performance in late September on XM!

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Alice Cooper Tries to Murder Brutus!

Sure, we’ve all dreamed about wrapping our hands around Lou’s neck and squeezing until his eyes rolled up white in their sockets but Alice Cooper actually did it! Don’t believe us? Just go to the Rogues Gallery section of the site and check out the photographic evidence. The shot was recently taken at XM when Alice stopped in for a performance and interview. Following the incident Alice and his band took Lou out to dinner at DC’s Capital Grille where they all goofed on the Senators and Congressmen.

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Freakin’ Frantic Fungal Fun

Lots to report on the Fungus 53 front as Brutus gears up the nations first and only punk rock station for some new schtuff. LB hooks up with Stiff Little Fingers in DC on the 18^th at the Black Cat. The following day he’s up in Baltimore’s Ottobar to check out The Queers and The Gamits. Antidote is the latest bit of punk perfection from The Gamits and Lou highly recommends it! The Gamits will stop in to play in XM Performance Studio 2 to record an interview and live performance on the 21^st. Brutus also reminds XM listeners of the impending debut of Rancid Radio on Fungus 53. It’s a one hour weekly show hosted by the members of Rancid! They pick the music, do the DJing and conduct the artist interviews. Rancid Radio kicks off Labor Day Weekend. As if that weren’t enough Lou has lined up XM visits in the coming weeks with Flogging Molly, The Fuck Ups, The Briggs and Go Betty Go. To learn more about the miracle that is Fungus 53 click here.

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O’s Get the Runs, Trick Provides the Hits

Saturday August 07^th found LB at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The O’s pulled out a win versus the Rangers in the sun and then Cheap Trick rained down hits on a crowd of ten thousand after the game! It was the usual brilliant showing by Rockford’s finest who have just released the brilliant “From Tokyo to You” DVD. Get it, damn you! Thanks to Carla and the boys!

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Getting Warped On Warped

Herr Brutus rolled into the Warped Tour 2004 at Nissan Pavilion in Northern Virginia and killed like a champion! LB interviewed over a dozen bands on the bill including Bad Religion, Tiger Army, Anti Flag, The Vandals, Flogging Molly, The Matches, The Casualties, Army of Freshmen, Authority Zero, The Briggs, Bowling for Soup, Taking Back Sunday, Audiokarate and Rise Against. There were a lot more but we can’t remember them all! Listen for all of the highlights in the coming days on XM’s Fungus 53!!!

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Viva La Projekt Revolution!

When Linkin Park’s Projekt Revolution Tour rolled into the Philly area Brutus was there to greet it! Lou hooked up for interviews with Linkin Park, KoRn, Funeral for A Friend, downset, DJ Z Trip, Less Than Jake, No Warningand The Used. The highlight of the day was LB’s first ever interview with the legendary Snoop Dogg! To learn more about the highs and the er, highs of this interview read the next item below. You can also check out some pics from the tour in the Rogue’s Gallery sections of the site.

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Snoop Dogs Lou’s Grey Matter

During Lou’s first ever interview with Snoop Dogg the two of them chatted for over a half an hour about music, politics and sports. The interview went so well that Lou offered Snoop a Mini Cohiba. These are ultra good Cuban cigars that LB had recently acquired. Well, Snoop was so touched by the magnanimous gesture that he offered LB one of his own cigars. Lou’s recollections of this cigar are now quite hazy buy he believes it was referred to by the brand name “Blunt.” Lou picks up the story from there…” After smoking Snoop’s cigar I noticed an odd, mellow feeling moving up my spine. I informed him that I had never smoked a cigar that gave me a sensation like this before and he asked, ‘You’ve never smoked a Blunt before?!?! Damn, boy! You better brace yourself.’ I enjoyed several more puffs and soon after left his dressing room to move out to the pavilion to watch KoRn. Oddly, I found that I had lost quite a bit of motor coordination as I noticed myself stumbling thru the crowd. I put it down to the effects of the hot sun from earlier in the day and continued to the sound board where KoRn’s soundman Bill had been kind enough to leave me a seat. I settled into my seat to enjoy the show and became totally enraptured by KoRn’s set. Why, it almost seemed as if I could actually see the notes they were playing. I then looked over to Bill whose face seemed to change into that of a giant pink raccoon. ‘Why in God’s name is a raccoon mixing KoRn’s set,’ I thought to myself. Stranger things then happened. The beer cooler that my seat was next to transmogrified into a rainbow colored Dalmatian that sprouted wings and flew around my head barking like a loon. It placed me upon its back and transported me to the ceiling of the arena where it told me the meaning of life as a giant rabbit ran by yelling about his pocket watch. I was then flown back to my seat where the dog changed back to a cooler and I sat like a lobotomy patient for the next forty five minutes drooling into my own lap. While I may never be sure what caused this episode I think it may have been a combination of the hot sun, lack of hydration and…just maybe…the after effects from Mr. Dogg’s cigar. As I am not a regular cigar smoker it may have been a tad bit too strong for me. I urge caution to any who face similar circumstances.” As Brutus is a total straight edge we don’t have the heart to explain to him what really happened. However, we urge you to check out the shot in the Rogue’s Gallery section of the site to find the pic of a very red eyed Brutus staring up at Snoop Dogg.

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Rolling and Rocking in Muddy Cow Shit

The final weekend of July found Herr Brutus up to his knees in mud and bovine fecal matter as he hooked up with the bands at the Rolling Rock Town Fair 5 outside of Pittsburgh, PA Other than the incessant rain and the fetid smell it was an Earth shattering show Lou spoke to many of his buds including Velvet Revolver, Staind, Disturbed, Sevendust, Finger Eleven, Three Days Grace, Thornley and Hoobastank Highlight of the day was smoking Cuban cigars with Duff and Slash of Velvet Revolver in their dressing room prior to their set Lowlight of the day was almost getting run over by the tour bus for Finch who were in kind of a hurry to leave to avoid getting their asses beaten into the muddy ground by Disturbed If you want more on that story look elsewhere as Brutus ain’t no stool pigeon You can hear it all on hardDrive the weekend of August 14/15

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Brutus Braves Bermuda Triangle

Our fearless protagonist has ventured where few have dared to tread…The Bermuda Triangle!!! Brutus, at the invite of Jimmy Hoffa, Amelia Earhart and a lost squadron of naval fliers has trekked to Bermuda While in The Triangle Lou looks forward to exclusive interviews with Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Hillary Duff (who’s not lost but should be) If you happen to find yourself lost in the Sargasso Sea be sure to look for LB in one of the seedier boozing holes where you can bet he’ll be doing his impression of Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean We’re sure the locals will think he’s really funny Look for them to beat the shit out of him and leave him for dead.

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The Great and Powerful Ozzfest

Ozzfest opened with two shows in New England and, as usual, Ol’ Dirty Brutus was there! July 10^th began with LB catching an early flight out of DC to the bustling metro of Hartford where he hopped a limo to his hotel Not only was it filled with degenerate Ozzfest attendees, it seemed the hotel had also booked a contingent of Holy Roller Church Groups Yes, Lou was staying on the very front line of good versus evil! He dashed thru the hotel lobby, and although his skin was burned by some holy water thrown on him by an irate minister, he was otherwise unscathed The opening show was then a monster event of revolting sights and sounds! The most impressive sets on the second stage included Lamb of God, Hatebreed (playing to hometown friends and family) and, of course, Slipknot! The lads from Des Moines were in rare form with a set list that mixed old faves with tunes from the best album of 2004 Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses After the set, Corey Taylor was nice enough to show LB around his Family Assault Vehicle where he keeps his loved ones, a case of grapefruit and a pack of vicious dingoes Speaking of wild beasts, Lou watched in horror as Jim Root’s pet wolverine, Smedley, chewed the arm off of a hapless roadie It was terrible to behold During a break from the show Brutus ducked into the car of his old friend Neil Mirsky, Program Director for Lazer in Springfield, where they were treated to the new music from Chevelle by Epic Record’s Rock Goddess Cheryl Valentine From there it was over to the main stage which, among others, had killer sets by Zakk Wylde, Slayer, Black Sabbath and an outfuckinrageous set by Judas Priest It was a thrill to see Rob Halford back in the fold and it is safe to say that Priest stole the main stage Special props to their soundman Martin for doing the best sound Lou has ever heard in a shed In between sets Lou found himself swilling booze in the backstage picnic area with the mysterious Mama K and Miss Samantha After the show it was back to the hotel for a night of hard liquor and cough syrup with LB only stopping on the way out the back stage gate to wrestle with Sharon Osbourne’s dog No, we’re not kidding The party ran into the wee hours breaking up only when one of Slayer’s runners stripped naked in the bar and began performing unnatural acts on a piece of furniture The following morning hardDrive producer Roxy Myzal managed to get enough Advil down Lou’s gullet so she could get him into the limo to Providence, RI for a day off The two joined up with 94 HJY’s Big Jim and New England radio legend Rick OB for a seafood feast at one of LB’s fave restaurants Hemenways Then, that Monday, it was up to the Tweeter Center outside of Boston for day two of the tour Lou taped interviews with Slipknot, Judas Priest, Atreyu, Hatebreed, Lacuna Coil, Lamb of God, Magna Fi, Otep and a whole bunch more After the show it was back to Providence for a high cholesterol meal at Haven Brothers, a quick nap and the flight back to DC In the coming weeks LB will be going to Ozzfest shows in Holmdel, Camden and Bristow Can you believe that Brutus gets payed a shitload of money to do this nonsense?!?! Isn’t America great!!! We’ve put a few Ozzfest 2004 pics up in the Rogue’s Gallery section of the site for your perusal.

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Saliva of the Fittest

Brutus teamed up with Josey Scott and Chris Debaldo to Saliva in NYC recently to tape a special edition of hardDrive celebrating the band’s forthcoming new CD “Survival of the Sickest.” They talked about Josey’s recent wedding at Graceland and polishing Elvis Presley’s jewels No, really You can check it out on hardDrive the weekend of August 13^th/14^th.

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Man the Moto-Merch Booth, Brutus!

It was double duty for LB on June 29^th at Jaxx in Springfield, VA Lou had a pre-show interview with his buds Ghost and Grater of Motograter The interview, to be heard later this month on hardDrive, went great but then…disaster struck! A member of the Motograter’s crew took ill and there was no one to work the band’s merch booth so it was Lou to the rescue LB ran the booth for the night, saving the day and earning him self some free band schwag BTW, Motograter is touring to take a break from recording their second album They are a fucking trip to see them live so do it if you can! The new song they’re playing, “Failure,” is phenomenal.

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Good Dog!

One of Lou’s favorite musicians has a brilliant new album It’s the Mike Keneally Band’s new disc entitled “Dog.” LB first met Mike when he was playing in Frank Zappa’s final touring band in 1988 and has been a fan ever since Here’s what Brutus has to say about the new MKB album, “If you rage against they dying of the musical quality in the world than you must get the new album from Mike Keneally It is as good as music gets Out of the dozens of musicians who played with Zappa thru the years it is Mike Keneally who most boldly carries forward Frank’s brilliance and sense of absurd genius Go and fetch ‘Dog!’” To get the album Lou personally recommends you go to www.keneally.com.

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I Loathe L.A.

It was a whirlwind 72 hours for our intrepid hero in the swillish hellhole known as Los Angeles Brutus feels it to be the sleaziest, scummiest, most weasel overrun place on Earth…and those are its good points Anyway, LB recorded interviews with Alter Bridge, Instruction and Crossfade After that it was off to Bar Sinister for the Ministry party He also managed to catch a number of showcase performances including a totally whacked set by The Dresden Dolls Lowlight of the trip was seeing the new film “Napoleon Dynamite” which Lou describes as, “A wretched turd so foul that it fails to rise to the level of steaming piece of shit. Those who made it will find themselves damned for eternity ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ does not blow up, it just blows”

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The Ministry of Reverend Al

Brutus hooked up in NYC with the always amusing, yet frightening, Al Jourgensen of Ministry for some speaks about the new album “Houses of the Mole.” The conversation also covered politics, Michael Moore’s new film and Al’s visits to local PTA meetings No, really You can check it all out during Industrial Disease on Fungus 53 this Wednesday, June 30^th.

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He Travels Fastest Who Travels Alone

Brutus is prepping himself for upcoming adventures in rock Late June, LB is off to (shit hole capital of the planet) Los Angeles to attend the Radio and Records Shindig He’ll hook up with Alter Bridge, Instruction and Crossfade while there Mid-July, he covers the opening salvos of Ozzfest 2004 including the gigs in Harford and Boston Lou will be talking to everyone on the bill including Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Slipknot He will also be hooking up with all of the bands at The Rolling Rock Town Fair outside of Pittsburgh at the end of July Velvet Revolver, Three Days Grace, Staind, Sevendust, Finger 11, Hoobastank and Disturbed will all get microphones jammed in their faces by Herr Brutus.

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No Time to Shut the Fuck Up

Recently, Brutus did a bevy of interviews with newer bands and some legends In just the last week, he has recorded talks with Guttermouth, Tiger Army, Authority Zero, Pulley, 1208, filmmaker Dick Rude (about his great new Joe Strummer flick) and Waped Tour founder/producer Kevin Lyman You can hear all of these in the coming days on Fungus 53

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So Wadduh We Gunna Kawl It?

Brutus recently got some musical help from his pals Colin Gawel and Joe Ostereich of the band Watershed It seems LB wanted to record short, punked out songs (in the 10-15 second range) to promote his XM punk channel Fungus 53 The Watershed guys were kind enough to lay down the guitar, bass and backing vocals while Brutus handled the singing. They set down over a dozen Brutus penned originals like Everything That’s Not Fungus Sucks, Fungus 53 Is Where the Bands All O.D., and Fungus 53 Says Fuck A Lot Drumming chores were handled by Skippy Bolt of legendary N.J. punk outfit The Amazing Bolts who came out of retirement for this session The tunes will begin airing on Fungus 53 the weekend of July 4th

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Not That It’s Any of Your Business Yet…

On Sunday, June 13^th LB was the proud host of ***** ***** at the XM Performance Theatre in Washington, DC The show, in front of a hand picked audience of private guests, was held to celebrate the **th anniversary of the band’s legendary album **** ** ******* Brutus not only interviewed vocalist ***** ******, drummer *** *. ******, bassist *** ********* and guitarist **** *******, he also chatted up the album’s producer **** *******. Look for this special to air sometime in *** ***** ****. As we’re not supposed to say anything about this please keep it a secret.

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Brutus Whacked On Air By Sopranos Hit Man

During his trip to New York this week Brutus ran into his close, personal friend Frank Vincent Frank, one of Lou’s fave actors, can currently be seen in The Sopranos as Frank Leotardo but has also appeared in films like Casino, The Pope of Greenwich Village and one of the greatest movies ever made…Goodfellas It was in that film, (playing the role of mobster Billy Batts) that Frank utters his immortal line, “now go and get your fucking shine box!” Mr. Vincent was nice enough to take some time with Lou to record a special sequence for an upcoming edition of hardDrive with Lou Brutus We’ve put up a pic of Frank and LB in the Rogues Gallery section of the site You can check out Frank’s site by clicking here. Your life will not be complete without a Billy Batts coffee mug It’s what Lou guzzles his own caffeine out of!

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Eat Your Pizza, Joey

An amazing time was had by all at The Joey Ramone Birthday Bash in NYC on May 19^th! Brutus attended the proceedings, taking time to rub elbows with Joey’s mom Charlotte Lesher (who offered Lou pizza!), Bebe Buell, Mickey Leigh of The Rattlers (Joey’s bro), Arturo Vega, Tommy Ramone and a bevy of other punk legends By far, the biggest thrill for Lou that night was getting to fawn all over actress P.J. Soles of Rock and Roll High School! Lou actually got a pic with her (in the Rogue’s Gallery section of the site) while he sighed into her ear Thanks to all who made the show so great and who took part in LB’s Ramonesmania broadcast that day While in town, Lou also got to check out shows with Magna-Fi and The Who which were both pretty fucking cool, too!

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Brutus to Host the Slipknot Radio Network

As the May 25^th release date for the new Slipknot album Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses approaches, fans have something extra to look forward to Radio stations around the world will become part of the Slipknot Radio Network the week of the album’s release to broadcast a radio special entitled Slipknot Unveil Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses The show, hosted by Slipknot’s Joey Jordison, Corey Taylor and Lou Brutus, delves deep into the making of album and gives listeners a listen to some of the best cuts The special is produced by FMQB and you can check your local loud assed rock station for a day and time in your area.

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Brutus Falls in Love with P.J. Soles All Over Again

The highlight of Lou’s prep for the upcoming Ramonesmania special was recording an interview with the one and only P.J. Soles She is one of Lou’s favorite actresses having starred in films like Carrie, Stripes, Halloween and (of course) Rock and Roll High School As we understand it, Lou made a complete buffoon out of himself fawning over P.J. like a love struck schoolboy We would like to thank P.J. for being so kind and we publicly apologize to her for Lou gushing so much during the interview We also wish P.J. good luck with her role in Rob Zombie’s upcoming sequel to House of 1000 Corpses

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Ramonesmania Prepares to Grip Amerika!

Brutus’ day long Ramones celebration Ramonesmania is on the way! Here is the official 411 from XM on the festivities that Lou has programmed and will be hosting…

On Wednesday, May 19th 2004 XM Satellite Radio's new fulltime punk channel FUNGUS 53 celebrates the birthday of Joey Ramone with the biggest special in the history of the band...RAMONESMANIA!

RAMONESMANIA is a 24 hour celebration of the greatest punk band of them all FUNGUS 53 will play an entire day of Ramones songs, Ramones solo work, Ramones demos, Ramones cover songs andtunes written aboutor inspired by the Ramones

In addition, there will be interviews with and about the Ramones Guests include Tommy Ramone, Marky Ramone, Joey Ramone's Mom, "Rockand Roll High School" star P.J. Soles, Slipknot, Rob Zombie, Drowning Pool, Talking Heads, Descendents, Local H, Alkaline Trio, Against Me, Pennywise, Neil Pollack, The Lawrence Arms, 36 Crazyfists and longtime Ramones tour manger Monte A. Melnick Plus,archival interview pieces with the late Joey Ramone.

As if that weren't enough youwill also hear dramatic Shakespearean stylereadings of timeless Ramone's lyrics in "Beat on the Bard" segments and Ramones trivia forcopies of Monte A. Melnick's new book "On the Road with the Ramones" autographed by boththe author and Tommy Ramone.

Gabba, Gabba, Hey! It's RAMONESMANIA from the world's first all punk radio, FUNGUS 53 onXM SATELLITE RADIO!

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New Fungus 53 Shirts Are On the Way!

Loyal listeners of LB’s XM punk station FUNUGS 53 have been clamoring to get fungus on their bodies! Well, the wait it almost over Check out the artwork collaborations by Brutus and his longtime partner in artistic crime Alan MacBain that will be used for the FUNGUS 53 and KOWABUNGA UBER ALLES shirts by going to the COMIX section of this website!

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Scoring Local H Locally>

It was Friday April 23^rd when one of Lou’s fave guests stopped by the hardDrive studios in NYC, Scott Lucas of Local H They talked up the phenomenal new album “Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles” (P.J. is the actress who starred in films like “Stripes” and the Ramones “Rock and Roll High School”) Following the interview Scott performed several songs acoustically from the album including “P.J. Soles” and the new single “California Songs.” Brutus will be checking out the show at the Black Cat in DC on the 24^th and if they come to your town you’re a damned fool to miss Local H!

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Hee Haw Hellraisers

Hot Damn Bonus! Brutus’ upcoming new psychobilly/cowpunk feature on Fungus 53 at XM is going to have a familiar voice doing the theme song!

Bill Davis, legendary founder of crazed cow punk band Dash Rip Rock is going to be performing “The Theme to Hee Haw Hell.” The song, with music by Bill and lyrics by Brutus, will be used as the intro and outro music for the feature Bill will be cutting it in Nashville this week and you can hear it debut on Fungus 53 on Monday, May 3^rd Many thanks to Bill who is one of Lou’s oldest friends in the music biz and a helluva guy!

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Just Keep Squawking

Interviews coming up this week for Brutus include Bill Stevenson of Descendents, Mr. Brett of Bad Religion and Mark Adkins of Guttermouth You can hear them all on Fungus 53 at XM Satellite Radio LB is also gearing up two new Fungus 53 features including Hee Haw Hell (psychobilly and cow punk) and Kingdom of Swine (a multi hour industrial mélange).

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Live At Brutuskon

After disengaging from the Slipknot tour, Brutus stuck around one more night in Philly to chat with his close, personal friend (usually when we say that it’s bullshit, but in this case its true) Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick They interviewed before and after Trick’s set with Aerosmith at the Something or Other Bank Big Assed Arena (sorry, can’t keep track of these corporate names anymore) in regard to a super secret show the band is doing later this year We’d tell you more but we’d rather be smug about the whole thing.

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Young, Loud and Knotty

Jumpin’ Jehosephat! Brutus returns from the road with Slipknot with amazing tales and a bad limp LB says he got the limp after hurting his knee while helping a busload of orphans and nuns get out of the way of an out of control truck We hear he got it stumbling down the stairs of a topless bar where he went with the band after the gig in DC You decide Either way, it was an amazing string of shows with Slipknot, Fear Factory, Chimaira and Sworn Enemy in Washington DC, New York City and Philadelphia Highlights for Lou included the after show party in NYC, shooting the shit with Max Weinberg of the E Street Band & Conan O’Brien in the dressing room in New York (his son’s fave band is Slipknot), hanging out with the guy dressed in the full Winnie the Pooh costume at Roseland and recording the FMQB album premiere special for Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses at Indre Studios in Philly Corey and Joey of Slipknot did the Q&A with Lou that you can hear around the world right before the release Lou reports that this was the best string of shows he has ever seen Slipknot do They are at the top of their game and have the biggest part of their career in front of them The NYC gig was especially nuts with Chimaira fucking ruling, too!

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Brutus Slips the Knot

It’s official! Lou Brutus has been named as the host for the FMQB’s world wide album premiere special for the new Slipknot album Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses The show, which will be taped on April 13^th at Philly’s Indre Studios, will feature the members of Slipknot talking up their latest opus and their plans for the band thru 2004 Check back for information on when and where you can hear it!

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Thankster to Prankster

Many thanks to the lovely Mary Prankster for giving Lou the honor of writing the liner notes for her new album Lemonade Live at the 9:30 Club The album, recorded 05/10/03 at DC’s 9:30 Club, also features backing vocals by Brutus, Corn Mo and Val Yumm on the title track Brutus was in attendance at the album premiere party at Fletcher’s in Baltimore on April 03^rd Here are the Lou’s liner note for the album:

Mary Prankster was never supposed to have a live album recorded in front of a standing room only crowd at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC that showed off a musical side of her that few had ever dreamed existed.

She was never supposed to have a movie made about her during a tumultuous year in her life and career.

She was never supposed to weather the upheaval of changing her cast of musicians.

She was never supposed to be able to build a ravenous following throughout the United States and Canada based on her live shows.

She was never supposed to seize control of her destiny by releasing music under her own flag without having to humble herself before a filthy horde of evil record company jackals.

She was never supposed to have stopped traffic on major interstates causing ten mile traffic snarls by playing free shows at rest stops while the Maryland state police flew overhead in helicopters.

She was never supposed to become a radio legend with her hysterically honest and musically kickass on-air appearances.

She was never supposed to have advanced past the local Maryland clubs that banned her early on for not changing her lyrics.

She was never supposed to get booked in the first place.

She was never supposed to get her songs recorded.

She was never supposed to do any of that but she did it anyway.

Mary Prankster is living proof that it’s not the size of the dog in the fight…it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

Lou Brutus
Washington, DC
December 2003

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A Plan to Drown in the Damage Pool

Mix one part Damage Plan with one part Drowning Pool along with one part Lou Brutus and you get…a really hung over radio host Brutus and his liver were used and abused by the members of both D.P. bands on the MTV Headbanger’s Ball Tour at Nation in Washington, DC Thanks to both bands for the conversation (which you can hear in the coming weeks on hardDrive) and for the er, hospitality Brutus would like to publicly apologize for the couch incident Please send the dry cleaning bill when you get it

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Deep in the Heart of Austin

This week is the big South By South West music festival in Austin, Texas and Brutus is heading down to rope some rock doggies! LB will be there for most of the week interviewing the likes of NOFX, Alkaline Trio, Jello Biafra, Papa Roach, Retisonic, Drowning Pool and a host of others If you see Lou down there make sure you walk up to him and say “hello!” After you say hello you might want to help him up out of the gutter, get him some coffee and get him back to his hotel room Don’t let him puke on your shoes!

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Gabba Gabba Hey Ho Let’s Go

It’s up to New York City this week for Herr Brutus as he tapes a slew of interviews for his upcoming Ramones special on XM’s Fungus 53! Lou will chat up founding drummer Tommy Ramone, artistic director Arturo Vega and the Ramone’s tour manager for all of the band’s 2263 concerts…Monte Melnick Monte is the co-author of the new book “On the Road with the Ramones.” Brutus has the following to say about the book, “I saw fifty Ramones concerts, interviewed them a horde of times, have everything they’ve ever recorded and have read every book about them ‘On the Road with the Ramones’ is the definitive book on the band as it is written by the only guy who was there to watch the whole story from start to finish The pictures of the concert posters and backstage passes alone are worth the price of admission If you love the Ramones you must own this book.” You can hear the interview in five parts Weeknights this week at 10p E/7p W on XM Satellite Radio’s FUNGUS 53

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No Biz Like Sno Biz

The Sno Core 2004 Tour opened in Washington, DC and Lou Brutus was there! Well, you would expect no less! LB shacked up backstage and in the tour buses with Trapt, Smile Empty Soul and Finger Eleven Many thanks to all for the hospitality and keep an ear peeled for it all on an upcoming editon of hardDrive!

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hardDrive with Lou Brutus Feels the Love

Kudos from the broadcast world continue to pour in for hardDrive with Lou Brutus reaching the 100 affiliate mark! The following write up was by the lovely and vivacious Cyndee Maxwell for Radio and Records…Hooray for hardDrive The nationally syndicated hardDrive with Lou Brutus rock program has cleared its 100^th affiliate-WKLQ/Grand Rapids The United Stations Radio Networks show is a two-hour weekly long-form program with new rock music, artist interviews, news and information on all things in the world of new rock music The program is produced and written by Roxy Myzal, an experienced radio producer and a music industry veteran It is hosted by well-known new rock radio personality Lou Brutus, who has been an air talent at stations WMMR/Philadelphia, WHJY/Providence, WHFS/Washington and WRCX/Chicago.

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We Miss You, Doc!

“It was one year ago that the tragic fire in Rhode Island took the lives of so many including my buddy Dr. Metal. I just wanted to extend my thoughts to his family and everyone in Southern New England who have been dealing with this over the past twelve months. I popped up on my old station, 94HJY in Providence a couple of times this week. The first with Paul and Al during their radiothon to raise money for the families of the victims. The second with Big Jim to recount some old drinking stories of the Doc and me. I had donated a couple of posters (autographed by Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick and the guys in Slipknot) that I was glad to see raised a couple of bucks for the charity. I just want to let any and all in the Providence area know that I’ve always got your back if you ever need my help with anything. I’m sorry for everyone’s losses and look forward to walking thru the Pearly Gates where I know the Doc will be waiting for me with a couple of shots of JD.” LB 02/20/04

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Penny Wise, Gutter Wise Ass

February 18^th found Brutus once again at one of his fave venues in the country, The 9:30 Club in DC LB hooked up with Fletcher of Pennywise following the sound check for an interview you can hear March 5th on Fungus at XM During the bands set later that night, Fletcher was nice enough to change the band’s set list to fit in a cover of the Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop” that Lou had requested He even gave Brutus and Fungus a shout out before playing it After the interview with Fletcher, Brutus headed back to the XM studios with Mark Adkins from Guttermouth who were sharing the bill that night He is one funny son of a bitch and one of the few who still understands what punk is supposed to be about Both bands had phenomenal sets although it was hard to tell with Guttermouth since Mark had everyone rolling on the floor laughing their asses off Mark will be live with Lou on Fungus the evening of March 3^rd

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Knot Prepares to Slip Round Your Neck

It was on February 12^th that LB hooked up with Joey Jordison of Slipknot for a talk about the Knot’s upcoming album and tour. As you may remember, Lou spent part of November in LA with the band as they soldiered forth on the record in the old, haunted Harry Houdini mansion Joey spilled the beans on the new stuff, their look and sound for the Jagermeister Tour and their spring/summer plans with Metallica and Ozzfest You can hear all about it on an upcoming edition of hardDrive.

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hardDrive Hits One Hundred!!!

Praise the Radio Lords above! With the addition of its latest affiliate (Pure Rock 94-5 KLQ in Grand Rapids) hardDrive with Lou Brutus can now be heard on one hundred radio stations around the country!!! Here’s a note from Lou on the auspicious occasion…”Yee-fucking-ha!!! We made it to one hundred! I don’t believe it! Many thanks to everyone at United Stations, all of the totally cool radio stations who have been behind us for so long, our engineer Kelly Kramer and most of all to my producer Roxy Myzal Mucho thanks also to the thousands of artists who have been so giving of their time thru the years We also could not have done it all without everyone who listens each week They are the ones that keep it alive Rock the fuck on!”

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Tonight’s the Night

AT 12 Midnight Eastern February 1^st one phase of Lou’s career ends and another begins That is when the switch will be flipped at XM Satellite Radio ending the three year run of Lou’s Special X channel and beginning his latest programming opus, the world’s first full time punk station, Fungus It is a mixed emotional bag for Brutus as he is incredibly excited about Fungus but very sad to see Special X end What will happen to Lou’s character Generalissimo Stoshu Ortega? Will he survive the final attack or die with his boots on? What will be the first song on Fungus and what will be the last on Special X? Damned if we know so we’ll be listening, too!

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Cheesesteaks With A Meaty Aura

January 20^th found our humble protagonist back in the City of Brotherly Cheesesteaks and Clogged Arteries Ummm, that would be philadelphia LB hooked up with everyone on the Linkin Park/P.O.D./Hoobastank/Story of the Year tour at the Spectrum Great conversation with all the bands and phenomenal sets, too Highlights included Hoobastank’s cover of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” P.O.D.’s laser lights and basically all of Linkin Park’s emotion packed set Thanks to all involved especially Smitty and the great Ike Richmond.

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Brutus to Helm America’s First Nationwide Punk Station

Beginning on February 1^st LB will launch the first coast to coast punk rock radio station in the history of the nation! Fungus is the new channel at XM Satellite Radio that Lou will lead as Program Director and it promises to be another musically diverse and adventurous chapter in his storied career Fungus (XM 53) will play everything! Pioneers like the New York Dolls, early heroes like The Ramones, The Clash and The Dead Kennedys, later bands like Pennywise and Rancid plus all the new shit You can also look forward to healthy doses of ska and whatever the hell else anyone asks to hear Brutus is already starting to take musical suggestions via email at fungus@xmradio.com Sadly, this all means that Lou is bidding farewell to his beloved Special X channel which is being put out to stud He thanks the hundreds of you who have written to rage against its demise

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Slipknot to Wrap New CD at End of Month

Brutus spoke with his close, personal friend Corey Taylor of Slipknot/Stone Sour this week Corey was kind enough to do concert report for hardDrive on both his appearance at the Ralph’s Grocery Workers Benefit in Los Angeles in December and his New Years gig in Des Moine with The Dumb Fucks Corey was able to confirm to Lou that he is heading out to LA this weekend to begin the finishing touches on the new Slipknot album and hopes the entire band will be done by January 31^st As always, many thanks to Corey and our best to the Taylor family in the New Year.

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If It’s Pranks, Thanks!

Indie Rock Goddess Mary Prankster is planning her first live album for release in March of this year Entitled Lemonade: Live at the 9:30 Club the CD is befouled by Lou Brutus in both text and sound LB not only has written the liner notes for the album but also lends his (hilariously bad) backing vocals to a tune on the disc as well Check back here to get a release date or just watch for neighborhood dogs to start baying with pain, a sure sign that they are picking up on Lou’s vocals.

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Brutus’ XM Channel Lauded by The New York Times

In a December 18^th article on satellite radio in The New York Times, LB’s Special X channel was the only singled out by writer David Pogue Here’s what he had to say about Lou’s award winning programming: “At the moment, several channels at each company are broadcasting non stop holiday music One of them is XM’s jaw droppingly bizarre Special X station, which usually plays weird, obscure and funny songs, from cartoon themes to hillbilly yodeling This time of year, it has played the bogus Christmas carols from the animated “Grinch” special, a recording of the Christmas song by Alvin and the Chipmunks not sung in Chipmunk voices, and a hilariously re-edited old recording of “The Christmas Song” that now goes: “Jack Frost roasting on an open fire Chestnuts nipping at your nose.”

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Fear and Loathing at the North Pole: The 2003 Lou Brutus Holiday CD

“We were somewhere outside of Santa’s Workshop, on the edge of the Arctic, when the drugs began to take hold.” And so it begins…well, not really Every year around the holiday time instead of sending out a boring card, LB sends the gift of music by mailing out a festive CD filled with offensive Christmas music! This year is no exception as Lou’s close, personal friends around the world breathlessly await the arrival of his opus “Fear and Loathing at the North Pole: The 2003 Lou Brutus Holiday CD.” Featuring original cover art by Alan MacBain, the disc boasts crazed Christmas crap like “Fuck Christmas” from Fear, “I Hate Fucking Christmas” by The Rugburns and “Merry Fucking Christmas” from South Park The disc has been made in a limited edition of only 100 discs! Didja get yours?

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And Into the Winter We Go…

The first week of December finds Brutus scurrying about the Mid-Atlantic states in search of rock music! He was in Baltimore on Saturday night to catch his old friend Mary Prankster’s sold out gig at Fletchers Mary has honored Brutus by asking him to write the liner notes for her live album which will be out in early 2004 Lou hooks up the Chevelle on Monday in Baltimore for an interview to be heard in the coming weeks on hardDrive, Tuesday its up the Electric Factory in Philly for KoRn.

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hardDrive Returns to Chicago, Brutus to Pay Off Old Bar Tabs

Ye Gods! Is it true? No, not the part about hardDrive returning to Chicago, the part about LB paying off his bar tabs Well, it’s actually a yesh on both counts This Sunday night, Chicago’s New Rock 94.7 The Zone anoints Lou and hardDrive as the anchor of their Sunday night lineup! Denizens of The Windy City can once again marvel at the unrivaled list of guests AND the sound of Lou’s monobrow scraping against the microphone The Zone will air hardDrive from 8-10p Sunday nights Brutus also promises to visit The House of Blues real soon to fess up for what he owes Luckily for him Spike’s Rat Bar closed a while back so that saves him a couple of grand.

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Bang, Bang, Kiss, Kiss

For the 26^th time in his worthless little life, Brutus was on hand to see the hottest band in the land…KISS!!! November 20^th found young Lou at the MCI Center in DC sitting front row center courtesy of the always courteously courteous Gene Simmons Many thanks for all the love to Gene, Doc and the Aerosmith lads who also played that night KISS is still one of the greatest bands ever to exist If you’ve never seen them then you’re a fool.

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The Universe Will Provide

Brutus recently hooked up with his old friend Mike Keneally in Wilmington, DE to discuss Mike’s forthcoming new release “The Universe Will Provide.” It’s an orchestral album composed by Mike and performed by him accompanied by the magnificent Metropole Orchestra. It’s incredible music from an incredible person Listen for this world premiere broadcast special early in the new year on XM If you’re not hip to MK’s music than your life is poorer for it Try clicking here to find out more about Mr. Keneally.

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Brutus Goes Back to Cali, Cali, Cali

“Sunset Strip is like the winding blue vein in the middle of the Satanic weenus that is Los Angeles.” So spoke Brutus in the wee hours of the morning standing atop the bar at The Rainbow on Sunset Strip at the end of his recent whirlwind trip to L.A Lou was in town to interview the guys in Slipknot as they continue to work on the upcoming new album which should be out around March of 2004 Brutus spent three days with the band where they are recording and living together in the old Harry Houdini mansion The mansion, owned by the album’s producer Rick Rubin, is haunted as shit! “Creepiest place I’ve ever been other than Courtney Love’s dressing room,” said Lou He was treated to hordes of songs and heard many tracks while they were being lain down It’s fucking phenomenal He also got to hear about twenty demos from the upcoming new Stone Sour album which will be out late next year Besides interviewing the Knot, Lou also spent an afternoon with the guys from DEVO at their studio complex on Sunset Strip Mark Mothersbaugh and Bob 2 took Brutus to lunch, gave him a tour of their facility, allowed him to goof around with their many rare musical instruments and even let him sit at rare electronic creations from the late music pioneer Raymond Scott On the social side of the trip, Lou also did a bit of bar hopping and spent some time with Scott Ian from Anthrax, photog Mr. Bonzai, sculptor Keiko Kasai and a really nice lady who turned out to Meatloaf’s daughter Lou thanks her profusely for the shots of Russian vodka Hope her dad feels better soon! We’ve added a few pics from the trip to the Rogues Gallery section of the site.

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Actually, It IS Unusual

I’ll bet you didn’t know that Lou Brutus is a huge fan of singer Tom Jones No, really “Tom Jones is one of the great entertainers of our time,” said Brutus shortly before going to see Tom perform live on November 4^th in Washington, DC The following day Tom visited Lou at XM where the two conducted a two hour interview for an upcoming music special You can catch it all the week of November 17^th on XM Satellite Radio

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And What Do We Do With Witches? BUUUUUUURN!

Halloween is the Brutmeister’s fave holiday The weekend of October 25^th and 26^th hardDrive listeners can check out the 7^th annual Halloween Hootenanny special as Lou talks to bands like Staind, Linkin Park, Sevendust, Hoobastank, Powerman 5000 and Sloth about cool Halloween schtuff Then from October 27^th thru November 2^nd listeners to XM Satellite Radio can check out Lou’s Special X channel for Halloween X-Tacy It’s seven straight days of every horror-sci fi-monster related song (regardless of genre) ever recorded Brutus has once again put together one of the most ambitious theme programs ever attempted in broadcast history.

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Manson in DC/Slipknot in LA

Busy times ahead for out intrepid hero as Brutus gears up for an in-depth conversation with Marilyn Manson following his gig at The 9:30 Club in Washington, DC on October 25^th Soon, it’s off to Los Angeles where Lou will hook up with his bros in Slipknot LB has been invited to check out the proceedings as The Knot records their new album with God-like producer Rick Rubin It’s all being recorded at the old Harry Houdini mansion in Laurel Canyon which is heavily reported as being haunted If Lou runs into the ghost of Fred Berry he promises to let us know right away.

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All Hail The Interview King

Radio and Records(one of the most influential recording industry publications in the world) has once again featured Brutus in a lengthy article on interviewing techniques Many thanks to writer Frank Correia for doing a flash job on the whole thing If you want to check out the interview, hit your local bookstore for the October 24^th issue of R&R

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The Bleat Goes On

During the closing moments of the Cubs NLCS loss to the Marlins, Brutus penned the following epic of baseball fear and loathing…

Bartman At the Ball

by Lou Brutus

The outlook was quite brilliant, for the Wrigley Nine that day

The score stood three to zip, with five outs left to play

The Cubs had Prior on the mound, his arm was throwing flame

There seemed right than but little chance for the Marlins in the game

Then from Castillo’s bat, a ball, right down the foul line flew

It rose up thru the night air, and fell toward Moises Alou

It tumbled down over the rail, The Fish would taste defeat

But it was then, that Steve Bartman, rose straight up to his feet

A million eyes were on him, this faithful Cubbies fan

His cap was blue, his sweatshirt, too He wore a cheap Walkman

And now the leather covered sphere came hurtling to his seat

He reached his hand to catch it, instead of backing in retreat

There was ease in Bartman’s manner, as Alou stretched to above

A certain out deflected, from the doomed left fielder’s glove

Umpire Everitt made the call, that no one interfered

The Cub faithful did cry out, they threw things and they jeered

The Marlins soon had more runners on, and Cabera took a chop

The ball bounced towards Gonzalez, then took a fatal hop

Glancing off the shortstop’s glove, a groan rose from his throat

Did it hit a pebble…or the hoof mark of a goat?

McKeowen’s lads got eight runs in, that fateful scoring spree

They won Games Six and Seven, God ignored the Cub’s fans pleas

Poor Bartman he was whisked away, he’d cost the Cubs the game

The goatly curse placed on his neck which hung now down in shame

Oh, somewhere in a baseball park, a pop fly safely lands

Without it being knocked away, by overzealous hands

And somewhere fans are laughing and raise a victory cup

But there was no joy in Wrigley, Steve Bartman had fucked up!

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Never Mind the Pollacks

“Totally fucking whacked” is how Lou described his forty eight hour period with novelist and rock god Neal Pollack Neal and Brutus taped an interview at XM Satellite Radio in DC for the upcoming special “A Conversation with the Neil Pollack Invasion.” The name of Neal’s current book and CD is “Never Mind the Pollacks” and it recounts his place in some of the watershed moments in the history of underground rock The best part of the book is that none of it is true However, for the interview Lou and Neal made as if everything in the book was the absolute truth We’re pretty sure that they left out the part in the book where Neal dies, though You can hear the interview on XM this Friday night at 12 midnight (Eastern) To find out more about Neal Pollack try clicking here.

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Back in the New York Groove

The weekend of October 4^th and 5^th found Brutus back in his old spewing grounds of New York City Twas a whirlwind of time as Lou recorded an interview with Mushroomhead, taped some TV spots and then headed with the hardDrive crew out to Shea Stadium to catch the closing night of the Bruce Springsteen tour While at the show, Brutus managed to speak to one of the on stage guests It was none other than Bob Dylan who told LB, “Aarggameammmmthafetaummear.” Well, we think that’s what he said

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The World’s Most Interesting Couple?!?!

On September 23^rd, Lou had the pleasure of interviewing of the world’s most interesting couples Judith Owen (the acclaimed singer/songwriter) and husband Harry Shearer (founding member of Spinal Tap, The Folksmen and the voice of many of the characters on The Simpsons) The hour long conversation, which will also feature musical selections from both of these incredible individuals, will be entitled “A Conversation with One of the World’s Most Interesting Couples” and can be heard on XM Satellite Radio beginning October 6^th Brutus also had the pleasure of catching Harry perform with the “A Mighty Wind” tour the previous night in DC Be listening for the broadcast and find out more about Judith and Harry by clicking here or here Check out a pic of Judith, Harry and Lou in the Rogues Gallery.

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A Perfect Circle Comes Round

Check with your friendly, neighborhood rock stations this week for when you can hear Brutus hosting the album premiere broadcast for A Perfect Circle’s new album “Thirteenth Step.” If you’re somewhere in North America there’s a good chance you can catch sometime this weekend Thanks to all at the Friday Morning Quarterback for inviting LB to host!

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Fair Thee Well, Mr. Bad Example

Warren Zevon passed away this week and I feel like I’ve been kicked in the balls by the news The world is a much poorer place without him If you were a fan of his music than you know what I’m talking about If you were not clued in to the fact that this guy was the best songwriter of our time than you’ve been fucking up big time My prayers and thoughts go out to the Zevon family on their loss.

I always liked Warren’s music but became a rabid fan back around the time he released “The Envoy” album That was also the first time I met him It was during my early WMMR/Philadelphia days and a friend there by the name of Kevin Gunn took me backstage after a show at the Tower Theatre I still have the ticket stub that Warren autographed for me that night I also have the picture we all had taken and when I can dig it out I’ll put it up on the site as its pretty funny to see my deer in headlights look standing next to Warren I look like a total geek boy I don’t even think I was old enough to shave at that point either

It was during my years at WHJY/Providence that I was actually in pretty close contact with Zevon It was at that time I appropriated his tune “Mr. Bad Example” as my theme song. I even promoted it by bungee jumping off of a twenty story tower while singing the lyrics and holding a copy of the album I think Warren was pretty amused and flattered by the whole thing Whenever he would come to town I would promote it like the Second Coming For one gig (was the name of the place “Shooters”?) we got hit with a blizzard and figured the crowd would be pretty sparse As it turned out over a thousand people came out to see him…in the middle of a damned ice storm! That night was even better as I had had a local artist do a life size, plywood stand up of Warren’s favorite singer, Dean Martin I thought he would piss himself when he walked onstage and saw it Also, an old listener from those days, the semi-sane Steve Todd, just wrote me a nice email reminding me of a gig Warren played for WHJY at a place called the Campus Club and how I figured into the fun Warren was breaking in a lot of the music from Mr. Bad Example and had not memorized all the words yet Well, I had them down pat as I had listened to nothing but that CD for weeks so I stood in front of him as he played and mouthed the lyrics for him When he got to “Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead” he actually substituted my name into the lyrics singing, “I was working on steak the other day, when I saw Brutus in the Rattlesnake Café.” Well, that might not seem like much to you but it was a pretty big fucking thrill for me! I got to be a character in a Warren Zevon song if only for a moment

After my Providence years I kind of fell out of touch with Warren but would still see him from time to time although I don’t think I had spoken to him these last few years I wish I had had a chance to tell him goodbye and to say that I was sorry that he was feeling so bad but I never got it It makes me very sad that I did not

By the way, I must say how I was heartened by the words about Warren spoken by David Letterman on Monday night of this week. I wish that Letterman, an unabashed Zevon fan and supporter, was within arms reach of me now so I could shake his hand His show with Warren last October was the best hour of network television ever done What a class act

If you don’t have any of Warren’s music you may want to start with the recent “Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon” on Rhino Records You should also pick up his new album “The Wind.” My favorite song on it is the closer “Keep Me In Your Heart” but it will be a while before I think I can listen to it again as its just too emotional Perhaps I will find a bar this weekend, drink a lot of vodka and sing “Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School” at the top of my lungs There are worse ways to spend an evening.

I cant’ say that I knew him real well but I will always be grateful that I got to stomp the Earth with him a bit and I’m sure going to miss him Warren, I’ll see you in the next life…wake me up for meals.—Lou Brutus 09/10/03

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On the Horizon

This week, LB will be attending the closing night of Bruce Springsteen’s ten concert run at Giant’s Stadium in New Jersey where he’ll be hanging with E-Streeter and Sopranos star Little Steven on Sunday Tuesday he’ll be in Philly putting the finishing touches on his upcoming A Perfect Circle album premiere broadcast for the FMQB Wednesday it’s a live concert taping at XM in DC with Brave Combo Thursday and Friday Lou hooks up with his buds Cheap Trick in DC and Philly.

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The Labor Day Car-B-Que Weekend

If you’re a listener of LB’s uber eclectic Special X channel on XM Satellite Radio than make sure you check it out this weekend. For the third straight year Brutus has put together his patented Labor Day Car-B-Que Weekend! It’s 72 straight hours of the greatest car, hot rod, driving, highway, road and drive-in songs known to man Remember…if you’re driving somewhere this holiday weekend make sure you drive as fast as your freakin’ can! That way, you’ll get their sooner and be a lot safer! (The previous message has not been approved by the National Traffic Safety Board)

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Mars Music Maelstrom

So how do you celebrate the Angry Red Planet’s closest pass to the Earth in 60,000 years? If you’re Lou Brutus you put together a six hour special based around the greatest music and sound about Mars! Tuesday August 26^th at 6pm (Eastern) Brutus rolls out his Mars Music Maelstrom on Special X (the channel LB programs for XM Satellite Radio) It will be a truly twisted and bizarre six hours of Mars music, flying saucer songs, clips of Sci-Fi films and other stuff straight out of a Ray Bradbury book Listen to it with someone you love…or someone you’d love to get an alien probe.

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No Sleep Till Nissan

Fear and loathing were the operative words as Brutus took to the road last week with the guys from Motograter LB hooked up with the band after their performance at XM Satellite Radio in Washington, DC From there it was down to Virginia Beach, VA for an Off-fest date While there Lou managed to get together with David from KoRn and LaJon from Sevendust among others The band then traveled all night to make to Northern Virginia’s Nissan Pavilion for an Ozzfest show Motograter, Chimaira, Voivod and Marilyn Manson had the best sets of the day Many thanks to Motograter, Danny and the whole crew for letting Brutus live with the band for the week Mucho appreciated! Make sure you check out Motograter soon.

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Rock Over London, Rock On Chicago

“I just wanted to take a few moments to talk about the late, great Wesley Willis who passed away this week Wesley was dealt a pretty tough hand when he was born but never let it get in the way of his burning desire to create art Even with everything he had to deal with I really feel that he squeezed more living into his years than most people could do with more than twice the time He is also the only person who ever took the time to write a song about me and for that I will be forever grateful The world is a lesser place without him I’m going to miss him I just wish I could have seen St. Peter looking all dopey after Wesley got to the Pearly Gates and head butted his ass to the ground.”--Lou Brutus 08/23/03

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Motobrutograter

Brutus returned to his home spewing grounds of Central New Jersey on August 16^th to hook up with Motograter They tore up the attending Jerseyites with an evil set that featured an appearance by the members of Grade 8 (who hail from Jackson, NJ) Chimaira also turned in a smokin’ set that night On Wednesday of this week LB hooks up with Motograter at XM in Washington, DC before traveling with them for the week in their tour bus From DC it’s down to the Off-fest show in Virginia Beach, VA (where Lou will also interview KoRn and Sevendust) and then back up to DC for the Ozzfest show at Nissan Pavilion Brutus will be taping scads of stuff for hardDrive

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A Perfect Circle from DC to NYC to Philly to DC

The week of August 3^rd found young Lou on the road for adventures with A Perfect Circle He headed up to New York for a private listening session to check out the new APC CD Thirteenth Step (which LB thinks is “brillant”) Later that night it was over to NY’s Irving Plaza to catch the band’s live set Irving Plaza, by the way, has been hosting shows for decades Brutus used to sneak in with a fake ID years ago to see Johnny Thunders The following morning Lou was off to Philadelphia where he caught a private radio set played by Chevelle at Indre Studios Later in the day at that same studio LB recorded a lengthy, in depth interview with the members of A Perfect Circle The interview will be used on the band’s world wide album release broadcast presented by radio trade magazine The Friday Morning Quarterback the weekend of September 13^th Check back for details on the broadcast in your area!

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No Rest for the Wicked,

Gadzooks! The last couple of weeks have flown by for Ol Dirty Brutus as he has been besieged with multiple musical missions Interviews over the last several days with Corey Taylor of Stone Sour/Slipknot, Shawn Crahan of To My Surprise/Slipknot plus Mushroomhead, Sevendust, Spineshank, Ill Nino and probably a few more we’re forgetting about LB’s also been hanging at a bunch of the East Coast Summer Sanitarium gigs, too The gig outside of DC was particularly neato in Lou’s opinion Brutus is now currently on vacation, probably passed out in some Jersey Shore gin mill as you read this If you see him, feel free to pick his heap up off the bar and say hello.

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Freddy Vs Brutus

Jumpin Jehosephat! The rumors are true! Robert Englund, best known to the world as Freddy Krueger, is teaming up with Brutus to co-host an upcoming edition of hardDrive Lou damn near wet himself when he got the confirmation They’ll talk about the film, hang with a bunch of the bands on the Freddy Vs Jason soundtrack and discuss using Jason’s hockey mask for a litter box after Freddy disembowels his ass Watch for details on the air date. This is too cool.

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Locked in the Rubber Room at Summer Sanitarium

What better way to spend a summer day than a free ticket and backstage pass for Metallica’s latest foray into the deafening of America? How ‘bout throwing in all the food and booze you can cram down your gullet? Well, that’s how Brutus spent his day on July 12^th in Philly at Veteran’s Stadium (a real shit hole to see a show or a game) Lengthy interview with Matt of Mudvayne (picture in the Rogues Gallery section of the site) that touched on a lot of kewl shctuff Great sets by all particularly Mudvayne and Linkin Park LB also ran into Jame Hetfield in the Rubber Room area backstage (an air conditioned luxury tent filled with booze, food and games) and Chester of Linkin Park After the show it was off to the heart of South Philly for some Geno’s Steaks Many thanks to the uber lovely Cheryl V (one of LB’s favorite humans) for the all the hospitality! Nice hangin’ with Rose M.,too!

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Grandma Sex, America, & Cheap Trick

Actually, there should be a comma between the words “Grandma” and “Sex” in the above headline The way it is now is kind of creepy Anyway, the 4^th of July found Brutus at his All American best That morning he returned to his home spewing grounds of Englishtown, NJ to help his Grandmother celebrate her 96^th birthday Then it was down to Pennsauken, NJ to meet up with his pals Cheap Trick for a killer set in front of 60,000 screaming fans The highlight for most in attendance was an encore that featured CT’s newest piece of audio delight “Scent of A Woman” plus old faves “Dream Police” and “Goodnight.” However, the highlight in Brutus’ pea brain was when Rick Nielsen shouted out “Lou Brutus” in the middle of “Ain’t That A Shame.” Lou has some ego issues which would explain that Many thanks to Rick, Tom, Robin, Bun E, and Carla for a great 4^th!

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Ozzfest 2003 in Dallas

It was Sunday June 29^th when our illustrious web site namesake braved the hellish Texas heat to tackle the task of reporting on the opening weekend of Ozzfest 2003 Highlights are too numerous to list here but include meetings and interviews with KoRn, Disturbed, Chevelle, Motograter, Depswa, Sworn Enemy, Grade 8, Twisted Method, Endo, Voivod, Cradle of Filth, Hotwire, Memento, Nothingface, The Revolution Smile, and Nothingface Lowlight of the day was probably almost running over Ozzy Osbourne who was on his way into the backstage AA Meeting Listen for the interview highlights on the upcoming Ozzfest Edition of hardDrive We’ve posted a few pictures from the day in the Rogues Gallery section of the site.

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LB Drinks with Pantera…and Lives!!!

Brutus thought that the musical highlight of the Ozzfest show in Dallas was Disturbed bringing out Vinny and Dime from Pantera for a kickass version of “Walk.” Some of the Drowning Pool guys hopped onstage as well Following the show Brutus did the massive alcohol thang with Vinny for as long as he could stand up LB learned a valuable lesson…no one can beat the guys in Pantera in a drinking contest on their home Texas turf It simply can’t be done.

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Brutus Smokes the Gold

Major congratulations are in order for LB! On June 26^th he was recipient of the International Gold Medal Award in Radio Programming from the prestigious New York Festival Lou hobnobbed with members of The Untied Nations before beating out competition from Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to bring the Gold Medal to the U.S. He followed his win at the Marquis Marriot Times Square by heading over The Russian Vodka Room on 52^nd Street in Manhattan and drinking far into the night with Eastern European mobsters No, we’re not kidding.

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Shock the Skunkey

June 21^st and 22^nd found LB in Philly and then Northern Virginia to catch the latest tour by the legendary Peter Gabriel The shows were typically brilliant affairs which featured bass/stick/keyboard work by longtime Gabriel collaborator Tony Levin Brutus has often stated that he would “walk on his hands over hot coals to listen to Tony Levin play.” Following the Virginia show at the Nissan Pavilion Brutus was confronted by a skunk underneath his car but was able to chase him off after he began shrieking like a little girl Anyway, to learn more about more Peter Gabriel click here, to learn more about Tony Levin click here and to learn more about skunks click here Much thanks to Tony for the hospitality at the shows!

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Bill Davis Gains Immortality

Longtime friend of all at Brutus World Industries Bill Davis of one of LB’s fave bands Dash Rip Rock, has gained immortality of a sort. On Friday June 20^th Bill had the honor of playing onstage for the first time at The Grand Ol’ Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. It’s been Bill’s lifelong dream to play there and everyone on this end is stoked for him and proud of him God Bless ya Bill!

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Something to Line Your Birdcage With

Brutus and some of his co-conspirators at XM Satellite Radio are interviewed in the July edition of Sound and Vision Magazine If you’re too cheap to buy it than just click here and read the parts featuring our fearless protagonist Of course, if you read it online and don’t buy a copy, your bird can’t take a dump on Lou’s face.

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Rock Radio Rabble Rouser or War Gaming Turbo Geek?

While LB is known to millions as the nation’s premiere Idiot Rock Savant, not many know of his deep seated lust for geeky war games Those who share Lou’s interest in uninteresting things like this will be interested to know that Brutus is currently working as a beta tester for the return of The Perfect General If you’re a computer war game playing geek this is undoubtedly exciting news, the rest of us have already fallen asleep reading this item.

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Lonely, Lovelorn Lou Laments Lost Louise

Longtime listeners to Ol Dirty Brutus know that he has always carried a romantic torch for the girls of Veruca Salt Poor Lou recently made his tri-yearly phone call to the band’s Louise Post but…no answer and no call back LB has been crying himself to sleep since then so if you see Louise please ask her to call Brutus back as all of us here are getting really tired of hearing him whine about it It will also save Louise the embarrassment of having him stalk her when Veruca Salt tours Australia later this year!

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F*ck the Naysayers, New Metallica Rocks

While in NYC, Brutus took up the kind offer from Q-Prime, the company that manages Metallica (amongst other rock superstars) to get a private listen of the new Tallica album St. Anger Here’s what LB had to say, “St. Anger is gutsy, ballsy, loud, abrasive, and totally stomps the Earth to its foundations. While I know it has become fashionable to diss Metallica in some circles, those that do should get an operation performed to take their collective craniums out of their own rectums Great soul searching songs that will crush your balls into little testicular cutlets Bring on Summer Sanitarium!” Brutus was also blown away by the Q-Prime offices which not only feature scads of Platinum Records, Gold Records, MTV Awards, and incredibly rare concert posters (which LB avidly collects) it also sports a photo of Lou’s beloved N.Y. Mets winning the 1969 World Series that has been signed by the entire team Thanks to everyone at Q-Prime and God Bless Ed Kranepool!

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Swinging Stone Sour Suarez

Brutus once again hooked up with the Pride O’ Des Moines for fun and frivolity as he was back on the road with Stone Sour in Philly and NYC on May 27^th and May 29^th! Philly was more of a hang out and do nothing night but for the final stop of the U.S. tour in New York all the stops were pulled out! LB interviewed all four bands on the bill Stone Sour, Powerman 5000, RA, and Systematic He also did some hang time with the lovely Scarlett and Griffin (the fat baby) of the Taylor clan Following the mucho killer show it was off to the decadent glory of The Russian Vodka Room to run up a four figure bar tab with the band and crew before Stone Sour jetted off to Europe for the Castle Donnington Festival. Many thanks to all of Stone Sour and their crew for all of the love and hospitality over the course of the entire tour.

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There’s Something About Prankster

May the Rock Gods have mercy on the 9.30 Club! Brutus returned (again!) on May 10^th for swingin’ sets by indie pop goddess Mary Prankster. The show began with rawkin’ schtuff from Big Meanie who’s CD “Where Dozens Cheer” is well worth picking up. Next up was the incomparable Corn Mo Well…he is a bit hard to describe. Think of a one man band with a guy who looks Bjorn of Abba and sings just like Meatloaf all while accompanying himself on a white accordion. We’re talking twisted.Finally, Mary hit the stage for a kick arse set of her rock thangs followed by a second set of countrified music. She was her usual brilliant self. The country set also featured guest appearances by Corn Mo and the ultra bitchin’ Val Yumm. To finish out show Mary invited Corn, Val and Lou Brutus up for an off key (well, LB was off key anyway) rendition of “Lemonade.” What a night!

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If It’s Pranks, Thanks!

In case you haven’t seen it, Washington DC music paper OnTap has a nice blurb about an upcoming Mary Prankster show that also makes kind mention of Brutus It goes as follows: “It seems like only yesterday that Mary Prankster was getting some of her first major radio airplay in DC and Baltimore, when Lou Brutus-the 99.1 WHFS morning DJ at the time-fell in love with here song “Blue Skies Over Dundalk.” It’s actually been five years since Prankster became the darling of the HFS morning show Brutus has long since moved on-he now hosts the nationally syndicated program hardDrive-and Prankster has continued to climb the music industry ladder, winning fans over through constant touring up and down the East Coast.”

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Animotolollisomina

Another night, another gig at DC’s 9.30 Club LB was back there May 07^th for a whole bunch of interviews and to kill off the small remnant of hearing that the Motorhead lads didn’t fry the previous night First on the bill was an incredible new band called Motograter You’ll see them on Ozzfest but if you have a chance to catch them prior to that do it! Phenomenal music and an onstage look not unlike a marauding band of Saruman’s Uruk-Hai in The Lord of the Rings Next up was the criminally underappreciated band Lollipop Lust Kill These guys f*cking rule and will get to work on new music when their tour cycle ends in the next couple of months They also let Brutus drink all their Vanilla Coke Finally, it was Ministry The words fear and loathing keep coming to mind when trying to describe the set Disturbing, that word fits, too as does creepy It f*cking rocked Many thanks to all three bands for the talk time and hospitality.

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Lemmy Entertain You

Brutus had the honor of hanging with a true legend on May 06^th when he came face to face with Lemmy of Motorhead Lou got to thank Lemmy in person for his heartfelt contribution to The Doctor Metal Tribute a couple of months back The show at DC’s 9.30 Club was nothing short of ferocious as the band buzzsawed thru faves like “Going to Brazil,” “Overkill,” “RAMONES,” and of course “Ace of Spades.”; Many thanks to Lemmy for all the kindness thru the years As scary as he looks, he’s actually a nice guy.

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Deafening Def Jam

It was the opening night of The Deftones tour and Ol’ Dirty Brutus was on the scene at the 9.30 Club in DC on May 04^th The club was packed to the f*cking rafters when the band hit the stage and basically mopped up the floor with the thousand or so people there Along with the hits, the band jacked everyone with kewl new stuff like “Minerva” and “Hexagram.” Prior to the set LB did an exclusive interview with the band’s Abe Cunningham and Chi Cheng that you can check out in the coming days on hardDrive

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God, Smack, and A Cheesy Western

On Friday May 3^rd LB took the trip down I-81 to Roanoke, VA for an exclusive interview with Sully Erna of Godsmack backstage at the Roanoke Civic Center Following the show, which also featured a great set by Breaking Benjamin, Lou was treated to an evening of strong drink by the staff of hardDrive affiliate 96-3 WROV After the boozing it was over to Roanoke institution The Texas Tavern for a bowl with and a couple of cheesy westerns Mucho thanks to ROV’s Aaron Robers, Heidi, and JD for the drinks, the food, and for carrying LB back to his hotel room Oh, and thanks to them for paying his bail, too. Damned sweet of you!

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Never Had A Lot to Lou

Are there any finer words to hear than, “Please welcome Cheap Trick”? April 28^th and 29^th found the Brutmeister in Baltimore and then DC seeing one of his all time fave groups The Tricksters roared thru incredibly cool sets that included not only concert warhorses like “Dream Police” and “Surrender” but also brilliant new music from the forthcoming new CT album (due July 8^th) like “Best Friend” and “Scent of A Woman.” Rick Nielsen was kind enough to introduce LB from the stage in DC and lead the crowd in a chant of “Lou, Lou, Lou” but the fans turned ugly when they figured out that Rick was only kidding when he said Lou would be picking up everyone’s bar tab Mucho thanks to Rick, Bun, Tom, & Robin along with Carla & the crew.

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Gonna Raise Hell…and Your Cholesterol Level

Saturday April 26^th found Lou lying around on his ass with no plans to speak of when Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick rang him up and suggested dinner that night since CT had the day off LB quickly hopped into The Brutmobile to meet the band in Baltimore but instead of going to a local eatery Rick and drummer Bun E. Carlos loaded Lou and their crew into the tour bus for a two hour drive to Rick’s fave restaurant Mamma Zu in Richmond, VA On the drive down Rick treated Lou to a listen of Less Than Jake’s brilliant new cover of Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” but was the meal worth the drive?; F*ck yeah! Brutus proclaimed it, “the greatest meal served to humans since the days of the heathen Roman emperors!” On the ride back everyone (now bloated like fattened calves before a Biblical slaughter) laughed themselves into a frenzy with the An Evening with Kevin Smith DVD. (Uninteresting factoid: Kevin Smith’s and Brutus’ grandmothers were best friends). Brutus gets to see his 31^st and 32^nd Cheap Trick concerts this week in Baltimore and DC Many thanks to Rick, Bun, Carla, and the crew.

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Cool Columbus Kids Kick Collective Cans

Its always a great night in LB’s book when he gets to see the musical pride of Columbus, Ohio… Watershed On Friday April 25^th the Shed lads blew away a raucous crowd of rock starved kids in Hanover, MD Highlights included their hits “Can’t Be Myself” and “Suckerpunch” along with a killer cover of Cheap Trick’s “Elo Kiddies.” Following the show Lou and the band hung in the tour van watching Johnny Thunders and Chuck Berry DVDs Yesh!

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Yo, Ho, Ho and A Bottle of Jack

April 23^rd found our fearless protagonist at The Boathouse in Norfolk, VA where he hooked up with his buds from Stone Sour While there, LB also managed to interview the other bands on the bill including Powerman 5000, RA, and Systematic Great sets by all but it was particularly kewl to see PM5K for the first time in a couple of years Brutus was also jacked to see his old school chum Steve Baise, legendary punk rock producer and bass player for The Devil Dogs The highlight of the after show party was some guy puking Jack Daniels all over Lou’s new Chuck Taylor All Stars.

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LB Snaps on Tony Levin

During the Tony Levin Band’s “Snow Tires Tour” LB snapped a whole slew of pics at Jaxx in Northern Virginia Tony (one of Lou’s fave musicians) has been kind enough to post a bunch of the shots at tonylevin.com Click here to see the pics and keep an eye out for Tony as he tours this year with both Peter Gabriel and his own Tony Levin Band Tony Levin is as good as music gets That is no lie!

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Music As A Weapon, Too

It was a groovy, feel good, family oriented good time for Brutus on the Music As A Weapon Tour 2 at the Baltimore Arena on March 30 LB did the interview thang with all of the bands on the bill including Disturbed, Chevelle, Taproot, and Unloco Highlights included a truly in depth talk with David from Distrubed and Steven from Taproot punching up an MP3 of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” on his laptop No, we’re not kidding Hear it all on the upcoming Music As A Weapon special edition of hardDrive Thanks to all the bands, tour managers, and kindly record folks for taking care of LB Check out photos from the gig in the Rogue’s Gallery section of the site.

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Lou’s Liver Flees from Zakk Wylde During Interview

Ye Gods, man!During an interview on March 20, guitar god Zakk Wylde caused Lou’s liver to quiver, weep, and finally cut itself out of Brutus’ body and run for cover It seems they were discussing hooking up backstage at the forthcoming Ozzfest show in Dallas when Mr. Wylde suggested that Brutus go out drinking after the show with Zakk and Dimebag Darrell of Pantera The very mention of trying to go drink for drink with these two noted party hounds was enough for LB’s liver to declare for free agencyYou can hear the (demented) details of this interview on an upcoming edition of hardDrive.

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Stone Sour Roots Out Gold

LB conducted another interview on March 20 for an upcoming hardDrive show, this one with his close, personal friend James Root of Stone Sour/Slipknot The interview was held the day after the Stone Sour debut album was officially declared a Gold Record with sales exceeding five hundred thousand copies! James sent his thanks to all the fans for the love, also speaking about working on new Slipknot music and the forthcoming tour with Powerman 5000 Brutus sends out hearty congratulations on the CD going Gold to the band, management, and the folks at Roadrunner Records Well done, you!

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Slave to the Jager

Jumping Jehosephat! Saturday, March 09 saw Brutus in Washington, DC at Nation for the Jagermeister Tour Jeez, what a night! LB interviewed the entire bill of Saliva, Hed PE, Systematic, Stereomud, and Breaking Benjamin for a future hardDrive special Killer sets by all and some great conversation Many thanks to all the bands and crews for letting Brutus empty their liquor cabinets and soil their bunks Special thanks to Jeremy Hummel of Breaking Benjamin for the kind words about hardDrive and to Tim Narducci of Systematic for playing LB the new CD on the bus Total killer schtuff. This tour rolls for awhile; you’d be a damnable fool to miss it!

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Slave to the Audio

Many thanks to the intrepid lads from Audioslave for their time and a great show at Philadelphia’s Electric Factory on March 08. Brutus interviewed Chris Cornell and Tim Commerford for an upcoming edition of hardDrive Following the show, LB exclaimed, “I’d drive three hours just to watch Tom Morello play the f*cking phone book!” Thanks also to Cheryl Valentine and Ed Pinka of Epic Records for helping to get things together.

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Listen to the Metal Zone Tribute Show

If you are one of the many that have been in contact asking how you can listen to Brutus hosting the Dr Metal Tribute edition of The Metal Zone on 94HJY in Providence look no more. Simply go to harddriveradio.comto download an MP3 version. Lou also strongly urges you to go to whjy.com to find out how you can help the people who have been affected in Providence. Thanks!

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The Final Edition of The Metal Zone

“I just wanted to thank WHJY/Providence and the family of the late Doctor Metal for allowing me to host the last edition of The Metal Zone I could not think of a greater honor I would also like to extend my gratitude to the artists who were so gracious of their time for joining me to share their memories of The Doctor including Lars Ulrich of Metallica, Gene Simmons of KISS, Max Cavalera of Soulfly, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest, James LaBrie & Mike Portnoy of Dream Theatre, Eric Adams of Manowar, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, Corey Taylor & James Root of Slipknot/Stone Sour, Joey Jordison of Slipknot/Murderdolls, Paul Gray of Slipknot, Lemmy of Motorhead, Ronnie James Dio, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, Chris Caffery of Savatage, Dan Donegan of Disturbed, Bobby Blitz of Overkill, Morgan Rose of Sevendust, Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard, John Bush of Anthrax, Tony Rombola of Godsmack, and Geoff Tate of Queensryche. I am indebted to each one them. Lastly, thanks to Joe Bevilacqua, Big Jim, John Laurenti and Steve Scarpetti of WHJY for their invaluable assistance in making the show happen. We did our best to give the The Doctor a nice send off. I hope our efforts were worthy of Doc’s seventeen years of giving it his all. ”---Lou Brutus

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You Can’t Spell LOUZER Without the Letters L-O-U

For a record breaking ninth time…Lou Brutus was a loser in the annual Billboard/Monitor Airplay Awards! His nationally syndicated show, hardDrive, had been nominated for the sixth straight year as Network Syndicated Long-Form Program but the fates, and winner Howard Stern, conspired to send Brutus and hardDrive to another crushing defeat. LB has also lost three times in the Major Market Personality Category While hardDrive producer Roxy was on hand in Miami Beach, FL to accept defeat in person, Brutus spent the evening at home drinking Bombay Gin and crying into his pillow like a little girl. When reached via phone for a comment Brutus said, “It’s an honor just to be nominated but losing sucks moose nads.”

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Lou Brutus Named One of the Five Coolest

Stone Sour/Slipknot front man Corey Taylor was recently asked by a fan via the Roadrunner Records UK web site to name the coolest person he has ever met in his life. Here’s what Corey had to say, “I’ve met some really cool people so I’ll do the top five, hope that’s alright. Scott Ian and the guys from Anthrax, Henry F*cking Rollins, Lou Brutus (!), Max Cavalera, The King Ozzy and the rest of the Osbournes Honorable mention: Sebastian Bach, who I have talked to on the phone many times, but have never met.”

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LB's Groveling Lauded In New KISS Concert Tome

In 1996, as the world waited breathlessly for news of a KISS reunion, "the fuse was lit" by Lou Brutus. So says Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs, co-authors of the new book KISS: Alive Forever. According to this phenomenal new book "Brutus groveled, demanded, and implored" for confirmation until KISS bassist Gene Simmons broke into an impromptu version of "Young At Heart" singing, "fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you…" Many thanks to Curt and Jeff for the kind mention. If you're a KISS fan this book is a must.