Brehmer began working professionally in radio in January 1977. His first disc jockey job was in Albany, New York at WQBK-FM, where he earned the nickname, "The Reverend of Rock and Roll." After seven years at WQBK, Brehmer left the position and moved to Chicago to work for WXRT as music director beginning in October 1984.
WXRT
During the six years at WXRT, Brehmer was named "Music Director of the Year" by FMQB three of those years. In 1989, Hard Report's readers voted Brehmer as "Music Director of the Decade." In October 1990, Brehmer left WXRT and moved to Minnesota for a job as program director of KTCZ-FM. After completing a one-year contract at KTCZ-FM, Brehmer returned to Chicago’s WXRT to serve as the morning D.J., replacing Terri Hemmert. For the past 20 years at WXRT, Brehmer has been hosting a yearly remote broadcast for The Chicago Cubs home opening day. On September 1, 1995, Brehmer was the first non-Cleveland disc jockey to broadcast live from the radio studio of the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2009, WXRT sent a mass email to subscribers encouraging political action to lobby congress regarding music royalties using Brehmer’s name. In response to the mass email, Brehmer used Facebook to state that he did not write, nor endorse the email. Brehmer wrote, "It's just something they do. Send out e-mails and sign my name to them without my knowledge. I will always be on the side of the musicians." His catch-phrase, “it’s great to be alive”, was taken from the 1972 Frank Zappa and The Mothers album, Just Another Band from L.A. Brehmer describes himself as “your best friend in the whole world” and is on-air between 5:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Monday through Friday.
Lin's Bin
In 2002, Brehmer began writing and broadcasting essays entitled, Lin's Bin. The essays were developed from responding to listeners' letters and continues as responses to email. Each year, Brehmer writes just under a hundred essays. He stated that he has written approximately 1800 pages of Lin's Bin. The essays are written and pre-recorded with producer Peter Crozier. To date, the essays have not been published as a book.
