It doesn’t seem like that long ago that I met Lou Brutus but I guess it was
Thirty years ago, I was Program Director at CBS Radio Alternative KXTE/Las Vegas, also known as X1075, X-treme Radio. I got a call about the launch of a syndicated weekend show called Hard Drive that would feature the type of new Rock music we were already playing on the station. Even better, it was going to be hosted by Lou.
I was already a fan of Lou for several reasons. Not only had he been on some of the biggest Rock call letters in America like WMMR/Philadelphia, WHJY/Providence, and WRCX/Chicago, but I’d always thought his delivery was unique. And he had a comic book. Previously, when I had worked at Jacobs Media, we had Lou’s materials on file, and they included a fully illustrated comic book that I believe was called The Adventures of Brutusman. How could you not love that?
I signed up for Hard Drive immediately. I may have even been the first affiliate. Today, the show is celebrating its 30th anniversary and Lou promises there are still comic books though they don’t print physical copies anymore.
Simplicity and consistency built one of rock radio’s longest-running shows.
The secret to Hard Drive’s longevity, according to Brutus, comes from two simple premises — consistency and simplicity. “I’m sure the show has changed some, but it’s basically still the same as when we launched thirty years ago,” he says. “There’s not a secret formula. Each week we play new and recent music and have conversations with the people who make it. That’s it.”
Brutus believes it’s the musicians, not him, that truly drive the show. “The rock stars carry it for you. My dad used to say, ‘be Ed Sullivan’ because Ed has no talent. All he does is point and say, ‘here’s The Beatles.’ In my case it’s ‘here’s Slipknot.’”
Slipknot to Five Finger Death Punch, he’s earned his backstage pass
He also credits the team around him for making the show happen. He says it’s people like Programming and Content Director Randy Hakwe, Engineer Matt Ianni, and Affiliate Marketing Specialist Andy Denemark who make it all possible. “They manage the adult stuff, so I can continue to live in my adolescent rock and roll fantasy world and go out on the bus with Five Finger Death Punch for a week.”
And he’s not exaggerating about traveling with the band. One of the things that makes Hard Drive unique is Brutus’ often unlimited access to artists as he gets invited to hit the road with them, something he’s earned by building a lot of good faith.
“Groups that give you that kind of access are trusting you to act right,” he explains. “Whether it’s to not drink or do drugs — and I’m a total teetotaler — or to not shoot my mouth off if I see something. They know I’m a safe person to have around.”
Being the “radio nerd in the room” has its advantages.
He identifies closely with William Miller, the main character in the movie Almost Famous. “When William Miller is sitting in the hallway weeping because he can’t get his interview, that’s happened to me 50 times. Or when he’s sitting in the hotel and literally there’s a bacchanal of rock and roll in every other room and he’s sitting there typing out notes for an interview. That’s me — I’m the radio nerd boy out with the Rock and Roll circus.”
To be clear, Brutus is not lamenting all the times he’s been in those types of situations at all. “That’s how I like it, and maybe it’s part of the reason I get to do so much stuff. Because I’m not there to join the party.”
It does help him live up to what’s printed on his business cards. “I used to have Professional Music Fan on my cards. It was the best answer when people asked what I did for a living. I could explain that I am a music fan who went pro.”
That includes compiling thirty years of stories into a book, Sonic Warrior: My Life as a Rock N Roll Reprobate (Tales of Sex, Drugs, and Vomiting at Inopportune Moments). It includes anecdotes that range from throwing up from a helicopter above the crowd at the Live Aid concert to the time he was on a tour bus that clipped a pedestrian on the New Jersey Turnpike.
“The funniest part was when the book was announced and my phone blew up with people asking what was going to be in it,” Brutus recounts. “I had to assure them it wouldn’t be those stories. I can tell a lot of crazy stories without anybody looking bad except for me. I’m okay if I make myself look bad, but I don’t want to do it to other people.” He must have succeeded because not only is the book out, but a follow-up is on the way soon.
Hard Drive XL the nightly platform that goes deeper
Another follow-up worth talking about happened nearly twenty years ago when Hard Drive XL was added to the Hard Drive weekend show. It’s a five-hour night show that airs Monday through Friday. The beauty of being on the air nightly is that it gives Brutus a chance to inject more of himself.
“I’m able to do a lot of stuff we simply don’t have the time for on a two-hour weekend show,” Brutus says. “There are features that allow me to dip my toes in more creatively. It also allows us to play more catalog music so I can touch on the subjects and artists I might not hit in the weekend edition of the show.”
And of course, just like the weekend show, listeners will hear from the artists. “We have a list of people every night in terms of guests. So, if you can’t have somebody live and local on your station, we can be the next best thing for you.”
Brutus on Cornell, Bennington, and the voices rock has lost.
He’s also working on a podcast that will go back through Hard Drive’s thirty years of archived interviews to give listeners the chance to hear stories from Rock’s biggest names, some of which aren’t with us anymore like Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington.
With so much experience in the Rock world and championing new music on his show, I asked what Brutus thinks of the state of Rock music today. He answered, “I always say rock isn’t dead, it just smells that way from being in the pit.”
Being serious, he is bullish on where Rock is headed. “To measure the popularity of Rock, look at ticket sales. All these recently canceled tours and festivals — they aren’t Rock artists,” he says. “Plus, I do think there’s a change in the weather. American Idol wrapped their season with Shinedown and Mötley Crüe on the show. And you have all these country artists who are saying, ‘hey, I’m a Rocker.’ None of that’s an accident.”
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Mike Stern is a Classic Rock columnist and Features writer for Barrett Media. He has been with Jacobs Media consulting stations in the Classic Rock, Rock, Alternative and AAA world for more than a decade. Prior to that he programmed stations in Chicago, Detroit, Denver Las Vegas and other markets. He also worked as News/Talk Editor for Radio and Records, wrote about Top 40 Radio for Billboard Magazine and had his own radio talent coaching business called Talent Mechanic.
