Mayor of the Sunset Strip

For over two decades Rodney Bingenheimer, a.k.a. “Rodney on the ROQ”, has reigned over the Los Angeles music scene. After his parents divorced when he was three, Rodney lived with his mother until she pretty much abandoned him as a teenager. His search for a surrogate family took him to Los Angeles in the mid 60’s. The film explores how Rodney’s love affair with the famous took him from being to a rock-groupie to the most celebrated radio-DJ in L.A. to this day. Along the way, he worked as Sonny and Cher’s assistant, helped introduce artists such as David Bowie, The Clash and The Sex Pistols in America, and ran his legendary club Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco.
The sheer amount of musicians wanting to speak about Bingenheimer in the film is a testament to the immense influence he’s had over the music industry. Among others, David Bowie, Brian Wilson, Phil Spector, Paul McCartney, Debbie Harry and Courtney Love all participate. Hickenlooper, however, goes beyond the celebrity interviews to explore celebrity itself and its powerful allure to Bingenheimer. The film is a tender and fascinating portrait of a lonely kid from the suburbs who wanted nothing else than to reinvent himself as the Mayor of the Sunset Strip.
IKA JOHANNESSON