The Return of Grand Theft Radio

9/9/09 will mark the return of Grand Theft Radio to Live365.com. Originally started by Doc in December '04 to fulfill a dream of creating the ultimate mix of his favorite broadcast influences: SCTV, Dr. Demento, and the playlist of Chicago's 1970s rock 'n' roll powerhouses WDHF, WMET and The Loop... with a dash of Super CFL and WLS, and JMK thrown in, the station soon had an underground following in the Wrigleyville Area with Howard Stern-ish direct appeal to "Lesbians who like smoking dope and listening while playing Grand Theft Auto."

Listenership soon increased with marathon live-streaming shows that featured improv comedy, SCTV-type skits and Reality Podcast fusion about the goings on behind the scenes at the station, especially in the soap opera tale of a disillusioned Chicago neighborhood character with no desire to do a show, disheartened by the loss of his girlfriend, the late season collapse of the '04 Cubs, and the Re-Election of George Bush.

That neighborhood character was the basis of the Buzz Fugazi Show, which featured satirical rants about Bush and American politics, and also made Buzz the target of humor as he was bombarded by unwelcome sound effects, cut off in mid-sentence for alternate features, and left on a live mike while he sat burned out and mumbling, not wanting to perform and engaging his contentious producer Doc in small talk.

Aside from a wildly eclectic musical playlist from different eras and genres, shows included dead air from Buzz passing out or leaving to get food then returning, spoofing other DJs, TV personalities and political figures, all-night sessions of Skype calls to random people all over the world, reporting on the streets in the sketchiest parts of Chicago at odd hours, and promotions live from the Congress Theatre. It soon became the #1 show on GTR, but after a fallout Buzz went to msigarmy.com where "the ten minutes worth listening to out of every hour" was remixed into the Radio Basement podcast.

Grand Theft Radio continued to grow more popular after Buzz's departure with such personalities as Danny Donuts doing live variety shows in Chicago nightclubs and Roots Ryan spinning Reggae, however, as the station grew larger and more popular, Doc, who had started the station as a hobby, no longer had the time to manage it and shut it down, leaving what had grown to a large crew of over 30 disappointed performers to find other outlets.

Buzz returned to Grand Theft Radio for the final shows and Doc occasionally appeared as a guest on Radio Basement until recently acquiring commercial backing to restart the station.