mayor of the sunset strip
from mountain view to l. a. , rodney bingenheimer crowned himself the' mayor of the sunset strip'
raw footage from gwen stefani' s interviews featured in kroq' s rodney bingenheimer' s documentary, mayor of the sunset strip .
as seen in george hickenlooper' s fascinating documentary, mayor of the sunset strip, bingenheimer has lived a curious life at the intersection of pop music and celebrity .
movie review:' mayor of the sunset strip' the new documentary mayor of the sunset strip looks at the life of los angeles disc jockey rodney bingenheimer, who helped introduce such artists as david bowie, the sex pistols and nirvana. director george hickenlooper considers his subject the personification of america' s obsession with fame. los angeles times film critic kenneth turan has a review .
the new documentary mayor of the sunset strip looks at the life of los angeles disc jockey rodney bingenheimer, who helped introduce such artists as david bowie, the sex pistols and nirvana. director george hickenlooper considers his subject the personification of america' s obsession with fame. los angeles times film critic kenneth turan has a review .
the subject of george hickenlooper' s
mayor of the sunset strip
is rodney bingenheimer, a shy, soft - spoken elf of a man who came of age in hollywood during the' 60s (the young sonny and cher were like surrogate parents to him) and went on to become one of the most beloved, respected and instinctive djs of the' 70s and' 80s .
scored the music for the documentary
mayor of the sunset strip ,
based on los angeles dj / rock persona rodney bingenheimer, a. k. a .
rodney on the roq .
bingenheimer has reigned over the los angeles music scene for over two decades. a constantly evolving fixture as a rock fan, journalist, promoter, club owner and radio dj on kroq, bingenheimer has helped advance every adventurous rock mutation - - california pop, glam, punk, goth, new wave, alternative - - since he first hit the sunset strip during its psychedelic 1960s heyday .
urltoken mayor of the sunset strip: rodney bingenheimer, david bowie, joey ramone, exene cervenka, john doe, x, chris p. carter, courtney love, gwen stefani, brooke shields, kim fowley, brian wilson, george hickenlooper, christopher paul carter, donald zuckerman, greg little, greg s. little, julie janata, tommy perna: movies & tv
the mayor of sunset street (dir. george hickenlooper) provides a provocative and in depth analysis of rodney bingenheimer, one of the most influential pop - music media figures of the last 40 years, yet for all of his power and influence, the man seems lonely, adrift, and somewhat shattered. hickenlooper overwhelmingly makes the case that rodney was at the very epicenter of what was' hip' for many decades. however, by the end of the film, one wonders how such close access to wealth, celebrity, and mass adulation would gain rodney so very little. it is both sad and ironic that a man who' s impeccable taste brought joy to millions of music fans would end up in such a melancholy situation. the mayor of sunset street is a strikingly original portrait of a rather doleful individual .
mayor of the sunset strip arrives in australia on dvd, but in america it had a well - received cinema release, which focused attention on bingenheimer and prompted kroq' s management to briefly feature him during the daytime again. the dj is sanguine about having his life dissected by hickenlooper' s camera, despite the spotlight being turned on his childhood and an undercurrent of loneliness that runs through the narrative .
i had a great childhood ,
he insists .
the sheer number of artists featured in director george hickenlooper' s documentary about bingenheimer attests to his astounding influence: david bowie, cher, courtney love, brian wilson, blondie, gwen stefani, johnny marr and oasis, to name a few. hickenlooper, however, goes beyond celebrity interviews to explore celebrity itself and its powerful allure for bingenheimer, a lonely kid from suburban california who reinvented himself as the
mayor of the sunset strip .
a look at the history of fame in the world through the eyes of pop star impresario, rodney bingenheimer .
there are plenty of other moments in
mayor of the sunset strip
that aren' t easy to shake, as when rodney visits his father and stepmother' s house and they explain that rodney' s picture isn' t among the family photographs they have displayed prominently in their living room .
they' re in the other room ,
the stepmother explains. rodney heads for that other room and digs through some carelessly stacked pictures to pull out a snapshot of himself, age 4 or so, with the easter bunny. his stepmother looks on, musing idly ,
dad' ll have to put that in a frame .
yet
mayor of sunset strip
isn' t a downer. bingenheimer admits, only at hickenlooper' s prodding, that he could use more money, a comment that' s particularly wrenching considering that bingenheimer has helped his share of down - and - out dreamers over the years (one of whom, a 50ish transplanted texan who wants desperately to be a rock star, is interviewed in the movie). it' s possible that some of the acts bingenheimer has brought to prominence over the years have helped him out financially; if they haven' t, they need to seriously consider it. (liam and noel gallagher of oasis, to name just two, can surely afford it. )
but what comes through most vibrantly in
mayor of sunset strip ,
shining through bingenheimer' s low - key, laid - back, almost monotone manner of speaking, is how much the music has meant to him, even if it never exactly lined his pockets. one of the movie' s most beautiful sequences is a bit of footage filmed during one of bingenheimer' s fairly recent radio shows, in which he plays for his guest, brian wilson, ronnie spector' s 1999 recording of the song wilson wrote for her ,
don' t worry baby .
( phil spector refused to let her record it when it was written .) wilson' s expression melts into pure ecstasy at the sound of that voice, at last performing his song. bingenheimer looks on, clearly filled with a kind of impish pleasure at being the agent of such unadulterated happiness .
germany released, blu - ray / region a / b / c dvd: languages: english (dolby digital 2. 0), english (dolby digital 5. 1), german (subtitles), widescreen (1. 78: 1), special features: behind the scenes, cast / crew interview (s), commentary, interactive menu, scene access, trailer (s), synopsis: through the glitter and the grunge, from the monkees to coldplay, rodney bingenheimer - a. k. a. rodney on the roq - has reigned over the los angeles music scene for over two decades. a constantly evolving fixture as rock fan, journalist, promoter, club owner and radio dj on kroq, bingenheimer has helped advance every adventurous rock mutation - california pop, glam, punk, goth, new wave, alternative - since he first hit the sunset strip during its psychedelic 1960s heyday... . mayor of the sunset strip (blu - ray )
finally, a fitting tribute to the one and only rodney bingenheimer, the world' s best disc jockey (i wonder if kroq remembers that ?), rock music' s biggest fan, and altruistic to a fault when it comes to helping struggling musicians achieve their dreams - - a rarity in the recording industry these days. the music he chose for this cd is both comprehensive and immensely satisfying... worth every penny; mayor of the sunset strip, the documentary movie about rodney' s fascinating life, is scheduled for general release on 3 / 26 / 04 - - don' t miss it! ! rodney rules !
he migrated to the sunset strip, but instead of dying there or disappearing into drugs or crime, he simply ingratiated himself. people liked him. he hustled himself into a job as a gofer for davy jones of the monkees (they looked a little alike), and then became a backstage caterer; a survivor of a doors tour remembers a toronto concert where rodney had enormous platters of fresh shrimp backstage. but the beatles were backstage visitors, and rodney gave them the shrimp, so there were only a few left for the doors, who had paid for them. challenged by the doors, rodney shrugged and said ,
well, they' re the beatles .
for over 20 years as a d / j at kroq, i worked with rodney b. on the roq. rodney is a icon in l. a. radio. he broke more new music / bands than anyone i can think of. many, many artists owe there rise to fame to rodney b. . he truly is the mayor of the strip... .... all right! i would recommend this film for all music geeks. larry woodside formaly... .... kroq, klos, kmet, kmpc
through the glitter and the grunge, from the monkees to coldplay, rodney bingenheimer - - a. k. a. rodney on the roq - - has reigned over the los angeles music scene for over two decades. a constantly evolving fixture as rock fan, journalist, promoter, club owner and radio dj on kroq, bingenheimer has helped advance every adventurous rock mutation - - california pop, glam, punk, goth, new wave, alternative - - since he first hit the sunset strip during its psychedelic 1960s heyday .
radiohead goes insane on tour as they overtake oasis as the biggest band from the uk in the last years of the' 90s .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice, telling a story of startling cruelty. what a space it opens…
kind of a sad and unflattering picture of this catalyst in the beginnings of the alternative genre. seems like a media hound that never figured out how to monetize it for himself .
director hickenlooper, who previously revealed the madness on the set of apocalypse now in the documentary hearts of darkness, spent six years intermittently filming bingenheimer. what he finds is a child who never truly came of age, a peter pan figure who compensated for a lack of parental love with the approval of those he considered cool .
following the same course as westway, the future is unwritten jumps into the life at the heart of the clash, strummer, and the meandering turns his life took from his birth to death in 2002 .
boulevard angels - documentary. a journey into the' other side of tinseltown'
i was against the idea of the film at first ,
notes bingenheimer, speaking from his apartment in hollywood, which in the film appears crammed full of music and archived memorabilia .
in his more expansive days, bingenheimer was a dj on the radio station that was, 1975 - 85, the most eclectic in los angeles. on the strength of kroq and that sunset boulevard hole in the wall known as
rodney bingenheimer' s english disco ,
bingenheimer was in the right place at the right time. led zeppelin' s robert plant said rodney got more girls than he did. and bingenheimer' s knowledge of english bands was more thorough than david bowie' s - - or so bowie claims here .
flattering, no? as if we were all but formless spirits of punk rock that x conjured up out of the ether. rodney always knew the right words to describe you, the listener, as if you were but an orbiting satellite in the vast solar system of celebrity .
see metallica nearly kill each other in the studio while they spend two years to record an album that ended up being one of the most notoriously confused of their career .
the chick who made lady gaga possible takes us into her world with truth or dare, and manages to humanize herself in the midst of one of the most vanity - laced periods in her career .
documentary of the bewildered almost child - like la dj, ultimate music fan, and championer of new music who' s era is fading .
basically the story of a man forced to finally see the injustice around him. riley’s movie is designed to do the same thing to you. …
a documentary portrait that seems cruel at times as the director is more interested in the foibles of his subject than the life he' s lived .
an interview with terry gilliam, director of
the man who killed don quixote .
shelter follows the rolling stones as they march towards altamont at the end of 1969. the band is seen recording
wild horses
and traveling across the country. watch cocksucker blues to get the most vivid account of what it was like to be on tour with the band in 1972. you can almost smell the groupie sweat .
after the credits, we see the conclusion of the concert by the band x that starts the movie. then we see rodney talking with one of x' s members, who tells him that he always finds rodney' s radio show, no matter when it airs .
hands down, above all of these following music documentaries, craig' s hlist' s two favorite of all - time are the decline of western civilization part 2: the metal years, and the beatles anthology. we can watch both on repeat for days and not complain .
after making its world premiere as the centerpiece film of the 2003 ifp / los angeles film festival the movie sold to first look media and lakeshore entertainment for $ 1. 3 million, making it the second highest selling documentary of all time, next to
it' s easy to see how girls in' 60s southern california would have gone wild for the teenage bingenheimer, who looked like the innocent little boy every girl wanted to mother (and more). but bingenheimer didn' t have a particularly glamorous upbringing. he grew up in the small california town of mountain view. his parents divorced when he was 3. his father went on to remarry and, as he practically admits in his on - camera interviews here, had little to do with rodney' s upbringing. rodney was closer to his mother, who died several years ago, but even that relationship is a bit shadowy: bingenheimer was left on his own at a young age, roaming sunset strip and somehow (it' s never made clear exactly how) meeting and befriending the most sensational musicians of the day, from mick jagger to elvis presley to david bowie .
meet l. a. dj rodney bingenheimer, who helped launch the careers of blondie, the ramones, van halen, the go - go’s and countless others .
a thought provoking look at the thin line between 'the famous and the not so famous.'
from the april 7 - 14, 2004 issue of metro, silicon valley' s weekly newspaper .
bingenheimer was an early devotee of the church of st. warhol, accepting the doctrine of salvation through contact with celebrities. he actually knew the artist, showing us a christmas card he got from warhol, in which the artist is wearing wings :
andy is an angel, and he' s with my mom right now .
bingenheimer was particularly good friends of sonny and cher. in an interview, cher notes ,
rodney just seemed very gentle. you didn' t have to wonder what his ulterior motives were .
l. a. is so full of ulterior motives that the exterior motive is almost extinct. that lack of ulterior motives may be bingenheimer' s claim to fame, and so the life of a second - generation dweller in the antechamber of celebrity is movingly captured .
happily, bingenheimer still does the show midnight to 3am on sundays, which - - in the cutthroat world of l. a. radio - - is like winning the nobel prize for longevity. deborah harry of blondie is today a wistful character actress. the angry samoans, who composed a musical letter to rodney titled
get off the air
(
get off the air, you fucking square
), have long since been broomed out of the punk - rock spotlight by the sweep - clown of oblivion. and bingenheimer still paces the boulevard, dines at denny' s and hangs out with kim fowley .
this hardcore chronicle is great, covering all the cities with scenes of fans and bands, interviewing the men and women who were on the frontlines of the genres birthing, including godfathers henry rollins, keith morris, and ian mackaye. read the book too, it' s got plenty about houston' s hardcore history as well .
as the credits roll pictures of rodney' s life, and appearances with his famous friends, are shown .
hickenlooper mixes contemporary and vintage footage, crisscrossing the past and the present to sift out every possible fleck of glitter from bingenheimer' s sometimes glamorous, sometimes pedestrian, career. zelig - like, bingenheimer shows up in photograph after photograph, as well as in live - performance footage, sidled up to the big stars of the day. he was never a stone' s throw away from a photo op with the likes of the doors, the mamas and the papas, jimi hendrix, bob dylan and frank zappa .
the ramones made great music together, but they seemed to hate the shit out of each other while they were together. for a band as documented as the ramones, this film actually manages to shed new light on the band, even for the devotees out there .
while hickenlooper never takes the cheap route of making bingenheimer a figure of pity, he manages to capture the halo of sadness that hovers around the man. bingenheimer has a close friend named camille, a tall brunette with an intense, but not unkind, demeanor. it' s obvious the two care for each other, but bit by bit we catch glimpses of the nature of their relationship. it becomes clear that bingenheimer has romantic feelings for camille, whereas she announces, almost flatly, that she
has a boyfriend, and rodney' s just a friend .
at the age of 58, bingenheimer has been cutting his hair like the former ramones drummer for several decades now. he also knew him, along with, it seems, virtually every other musician of note to even momentarily set foot in la over the past four decades .
the director sees his subject as the person who got there earlier, and got closer, than the millions who followed .
if you aren' t a fan of these prog gods from the great white north, you will at least have a respect for them after checking out this star - studded doc. trent reznor and billy corgan are just some of the followers who weigh in on the power trio .
hickenlooper is a smart young filmmaker who co - directed the 1991
hearts of darkness: a filmmaker' s apocalypse ,
which documented the making of francis ford coppola' s
apocalypse now .
more recently, he gave us the flawed but inescapably elegant
the man from elysian fields .
here, hickenlooper doesn' t set out just to tell the story of an unsung hero (although that' s surely part of his goal). he' s deftly filling in a much bigger picture, a sprawling, abstract canvas, rendered in some pretty melancholy colors, about the ways our love of music can affect our lives: sure, music enriches us. but the rough truth is, it can also beat the crap out of us. i' ve heard more than one musician reflect ruefully ,
music ruined my life
- - in other words, the love of it spoiled them for anything else .
for those of us old enough to remember the music scene of the late 60' s, 70' s and beyond (even the popularity of the monkees !) this film is like going to a wonderful, emotionally affecting family reunion. the stills and video footage are so wonderful, it makes you want to see the film more than once, or own a copy. what is most striking about the film, though, is rodney himself. i' m sure that there are many people in the world he inhabits who are conceited or arrogant or dismissive of ordinary people. but rodney' s pureness of heart shines through in this film. you can clearly see how unpretentious, genuine, and generous of spirit he is, and how he relates to people like cher or nancy sinatra as real people, not because they are famous. although the filmmaker seems to focus on areas of rodney' s life that remain unfulfilled, and this brings more than a little pathos to the overall tone of the film, the film really makes you care and want to know more about this unique man, who truly has a beautiful spirit .
there' s also hickenlooper' s underlying theme, that bingenheimer is emblematic of america' s celebrity culture, that he presaged the current welter of tabloid magazines, celebrity trials and publicist - approved romances .
you don' t realize how much of am insufferable smart - ass bob dylan was in the beginnings of his fame until you see d. a. pennebaker' s don' t look back, which follows him on his 1965 uk tour. the opening scene is the most iconic part, with dylan famously rolling through the lyrics of
subterranean homesick blues
on large cards as allen ginsberg hangs around behind him .
british filmmaker nick broomfield investigates the death of kurt cobain and tries to determine if his widow courtney love was behind it all .
the film was directed by george hickenlooper, who made the classic doc
hearts of darkness: a filmmaker' s apocalypse
( 1991), about the nightmare of coppola' s
apocalypse now ,
and the wonderful fiction film
the man from elysian fields
( 2001). why did he make this film (apart from the possibility that someone named hickenlooper might feel an affinity for someone named bingenheimer)? hickenlooper has been around fame at an early age. he was 26 when he released the doc about the coppola meltdown. he cast mick jagger and james coburn in
elysian fields .
he was aware of rodney bingenheimer when the name still opened doors. his film evokes what the japanese call mono no aware, which refers to the impermanence of life and the bittersweet transience of things. there is a little rodney bingenheimer in everyone, but you know what? most people aren' t as lucky as rodney .
this is one of the best, if not only, documentary on black metal that adequately explains the bands and their ethos. it' s harrowing and sad at parts .
rodney on the roq (kroq in so cal) were instrumental in many people lives at that time - the late great 80' s. that was the music that molded many of today' s bands. however, it stands the test of time and that sound has been distorted with many new bands as well. that music will never die .
bingenheimer has a zelig - like ability to position himself at the elbow of the famous (rich, in itself, doesn' t interest him), a diminutive figure with a mop of dark hair, a chalky complexion and eyes that seem to light up with genuine affection when alongside the well - known .
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rodney bingenheimer is doing what he does best: reeling off a list of noteworthy names .
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im the designated driver between the famous and not - so - famous .
rodney bingenheimer
hello rodney, you' re the greatest. i love your contribution to the world. you and others like you were playing the best music in the early 80s. it was a great time. i' ll bet many from different rock periods say the same thing about you. mary now for my take on the movie: i guess the theme is about fame and how it does not necessarily come with monetary riches. that is a powerful point. the only thing is i wish that there was less emphasis on rodney' s personal life and more about his love of rock. rodney has remained pure to his love of new music and exposing us to all kinds of new rockers. along the way, he mingled with the rich and famous, never benefitting from their success. he met some crafty folk like kim fowley. wow, now he' s something. in the end though, the interviews with some of the so - called friends of rodney should have been cut. their candid self - promoting callousness made me depressed .
thin is in ,
rodney says to the camera next to a woman who later admits that she is not rodney' s gal, but just his friend. why did that have to be included? rodney probably has a great deal of valuable bootleg recordings or rare lps and 45s that many of us love and love to hear about. more about the music and less about the sad facts in rodney' s life please. can someone redo the movie ?
the sex pistols get the documentary they always deserved, with director julien temple looking back with the band using footage he shot during their short reign of terror. watching john lydon get misty - eyed when he recounts sid vicious' death is heartbreaking .
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looks like a tragic picture; certainly it' s darkened by the death of the subject' s mother. bingenheimer seems to have jay gatsby' s problem: a loneliness only truly quenched by parties. the movie is at its most scarifying when it pins down the subject' s love life, an exercise that is like nailing the proverbial glob of quicksilver. the pop world' s zelig is serenaded on the soundtrack with a well - chosen sonny bono song ,
laugh at me
(' cause i' m praying for you
) .
this was an excellent movie that shows that the happiness of that comes with a celebrity life - style is a very thin veneer covering something empty and sad. rodney bingenheimer is an la disc jockey who has introduced many major musical acts over the last 25 years, including david bowie, the ramones, coldplay and more. his' friends' include bowie, cher, nancy sinatra, debbie harry (blondie), and a multitude of other celebrities. what begins as an amazing story of essentially a street kid who became a famous disc jockey, quickly becomes a sad story of a man who has given a lot more to an industry and to people than he has gotten back. this is a great film. the movie makers did a great job in getting the feelings of the people across and shows rodney' s very sad, almost upsetting existence. the movie does have a lot of funny moments. great movie  go see it! ! !
how many rock personalities can say they hung out with all four beatles, was the double for davey jones, was present at david bowie' s first l. a. gig, got elvis to come to his club, gave robert plant competition with women, and introduced such acts as blondie, the sex pistols and even coldplay to fm radio? the answer, only one... . rodney bingenheimer! this documentary traces the life of the famous los angeles dj from his childhood years to the early days in the music scene to the glam rock days when he once owned one of l. a.' s most hottest club in the 1970' s to his present days as one of kroq (los angeles) radio' s most loved discjockeys. with footage, music, and interviews of artists from the 1960' s to the present, this dvd is recommended to all rock n roll lovers and historians. rock on! !! !! !
grunge hit seattle like an atom bomb, and this 1996 doc talks to locals who were the most effected, from zine publishers, the bands, to the folks at sub pop records who sat on top of it all. it gets sanctimonious at times, but it' s a great grunge primer. hell, we discovered pierced arrows because of it .
i have seen this movie once and had to buy it for myself. what an excellent tribute to an amazing individual. this documentary takes you on the journey of rodney' s illustrious career as well as his personal history. i have met rodney many times while gorwing up in los angeles. this movie is a perfect portrayal of the incredible individual rodney is. his passion for music is inspiring. but most impressive about rodney is how humble he is. for the lenghth of time he has been in the business and the amount of famous folks he has encountered, one would be jaded. this film shows rodney for who he is. he is legend in my book. thanks for the outstanding tribute to such a fine individual !
bingenheimer' s main problem with the movie, over which he had no right of veto, is that it portrays his home as an overcrowded hoarder' s haven .
i live in a big, six - room apartment ,
he claims, the slightest hint of annoyance in his pixie - like voice .
behind him is the band x, older but wider, preparing to break into the l. a. national anthem ,
los angeles ,
at a reunion concert. here' s john doe, soon to be a niagara of his own sweat. next to him is his ex, exene, her snaky hair pinned down with a madwoman' s costume - jewelry tiara. billy zoom, sleek and plump - faced, is blandly smiling, a demonstration of the preservative power of orange county sunshine and christianity. it worked for pat boone, and it' s working for him. as they get ready to shred, bingenheimer introduces x to the crowd of the year 2003 or something as
the band who invented you .
show on kroq .
oh, i saw cherry vanilla at the sugar shack .
yeah ?
rodney would answer, the glow of reflected starletdom warming his voice .
and sinnamon and destiny and chauncey were there also ,
continued the caller, dropping names to beat the band .
play a record, damn you ,
we snarled, all us born - on - the - wrong - side - of - the - velvet - ropers, as we valet - parked cars, flipped burgers or filed files .
fetching up in la in the early 1960s, bingenheimer has been everything from davy jones' stand - in on the monkees television show, to record company publicist - he introduced bowie to america - teen mag columnist and nightclub promoter (in the mid' 70s rodney bingenheimer' s english disco was where the likes of led zeppelin sampled the west coast' s finest groupies) .
tv show. eventually, he was jones' double on the set. from there began his career as a go - between: as he says ,
the bridge between the famous and the not so famous .
roger ebert' s speech on empathy for the
11th hour
series on april 9th, 1994, being republished here in honor of his birthday june 18 .
bingenheimer broke countless bands, including blondie, the ramones, van halen and the go - go' s, and his show ,
rodney on the roq ,
on kroq in los angeles, became a lifeline for anyone hungry for new music. bingenheimer used his remarkable radar to search out great songs, done by people you hadn' t heard of (yet), and sent them out on the airwaves before other radio stations would even touch them. you could argue that he played as big a role in shaping the rock' n' roll culture of the era as the artists themselves did .
watched it following bowie' s death as he is featured. surprised and delighted by the film itself. a great look at a rock and roll kingmaker and his reign over the rock scene from the 70s through the 90s. rather than just a rose - tinted celebration of fame, there is a plaintive quality to the movie, which documents his odd relationships and is pervaded by the theme of mortality that hovers over everything. he seems to be the
most famous nobody
in la, and there' s something really sad about that even though he' s chosen that life. one to watch .
i was the first person here to play the vines. i love neon. i love the spazzys, especially i wanna cut my hair like marky ramone .
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what separates bingenheimer from the usual obsequious hangers - on is that many of those he shadows have become friends. they value his non - threatening, virtually asexual presence .
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over the course of two hours, wilco is seen recording yankee hotel foxtrot and then getting shafted by reprise. we love the part where a harried jeff tweedy and family are at a fast food place trying to stay sane .
jimmy page, the edge and jack white join forces to show us how they each make their signature sounds. white builds a guitar on a back porch, and page is generally a badass. the edge shows us his array of pedals and how he makes the
u2
sound .
that bingenheimer is alive and has not succumbed to some baroque l. a. death is a triumph. that he survived the bullies of mountain view is perhaps a bigger one. suzanne jenkins, his neighbor from the old days, says rodney was
the kid everyone beat up on the way to high school .
he was small, timid, a duck - carrying member of the 4 - h club. let' s face it, he had a funny name. single - parented by his mom, a cocktail waitress at the los altos hills country club, bingenheimer spent his youth picking up the faint signal from 93 khj boss radio from l. a. we see photos of his home, with his mother' s pinned - up
well they might. he introduced some of them - - bowie in particular - - to american radio. he was known for finding new music and playing it first: the ramones, the sex pistols, the clash, nirvana. stations all over the country stole their playlists from rodney .
sonny and cher were kinda like my mom and my dad ,
he says wistfully at one point. he ran a little club for a while, featuring british glam rock, and the stars remember with a grin that it was so small the
vip area
consisted simply of a velvet rope separating a few chairs from the dance floor .
the best film about the clash, so far, takes you from the band' s fitful beginnings to pop semi - stardom and finally their slow - motion collapse. which the late joe strummer is seen choking up even speaking about .
the road downhill was gradual, apparently. we get glimpses of rodney today, repairing his mom' s old nova with a pair of pliers, shuffling forlornly through souvenirs of his glory days. he seems very even, calm, sad but resigned, except for one moment the documentary camera is not supposed to witness, when he finds that another deejay, a person he sponsored and gave breaks to, is starting a show of new music - - stealing rodney' s gig. he explodes in anger. we' re glad he does. he has a lot to feel angry about .
rodney bingenheimer was a sort of andy warhol for the l. a. music scene, touching most every genre from the mid -' 60s until today. he gets exalted by every who comes in his path, but finds that big business isn' t as receptive to him along the way. bonus points for appearances by the greasy yet influential kim fowley .
i had already seen this documentary several times before ordering it. rodney is one of the most interesting characters you will ever come across. i love him to death and i hope to meet him someday. plus, there' s a lot of david bowie content and that' s never a bad thing !
this ondi timoner film made brian jonestown massacre frontman anton newcombe an instant batshit rock and roll legend and painted the dandy warhols as a pollyanna - ish pack of kids in over their heads .
there' s a picture of me in this film, which documents my misspent youth. what' s not to like ?
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. rodney bingenheimer, billed as
the king of los angeles radio ,
emerges from the shadows. here is one classic face for radio - - undersized, slightly wizened and crowned with a shapeless shag, a 1975 haircut he stayed with and liked .
now 58 and living in a virtual museum to himself, george hickenlooper' s patchy documentary nails the dj' s zelig - like attachment to every music phenomenon, from the the beatles and the stones, via bowie and new wave, to coldplay and oasis .
the rodney bingenheimer of today seems always to be smiling through a deep sadness. he is a small man who still has the youthful cuteness that must have won him friends in his early days. his hair is still combed in the same tousled mid - 1970s rock star style, and his t - shirts are the real thing, not retro. he lives now in an inexpensive apartment jammed with records, tapes, discs, and countless autographed photos of his friends the stars. and, yes, they are still his friends; they have not forgotten him, and david bowie, cher, debbie harry, courtney love, nancy sinatra and mick jagger all appear in this film and seem genuinely fond of rodney .
but few people outside los angeles even know who bingenheimer is. and his show, once a must for anyone within listening range who wanted to stay on top of new music, is now relegated to one minuscule nighttime slot. as one of his younger kroq colleagues says, not unsympathetically, in the film, bingenheimer is now considered by the station to be the
king of the obscure... the gateway to things people care about
- - and here, he adds a pause that speaks volumes - -
less .
now that radio is all about programmed playlists, it' s no longer valuable, or even advisable, for a dj to have killer instincts. or even just ears .
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just last week i played a band from brisbane called the grates - i played trampoline and sukkafish ,
announces the los angeles dj, running through the australian acts to recently grace his radio show .
trippy indie madeline' s madeline is the movie that lakeith stanfield and boots riley from sorry to bother you want to see the most .
radio has changed a lot ,
bingenheimer says .
in the old days we used to be right on the street in pasadena. a band would come in and say,' hi, we' re the offspring, here' s our demo'. by the time they were back in their car it would be on the air .
i was lucky enough to see the press screening of this documentary. you could tell rodney had a lot to do with the music and this plays out like the greatest hits (good and bad) of his life. you get to see all these famous people letting their guard down (and lots of saucy talk) with rodney and doing so because he' s such a cool guy, completely dedicated to the music and being a fan even if he missed out on other things. this perfectly said when he gives his stepsister he hasn' t seen in years an autograph. i forget who it was now though because there were a million names and faces all worth dropping. long live the english disco, hiiiyaaah ninja! you gotta see it to get that one .
apparently both persistent and likable, bingenheimer became a fixture on the hollywood scene of the mid - to late' 60s. his glamour quotient increased further when he tried out for the monkees. (he didn' t make the cut, but he resembled davy jones closely enough that he did serve as a monkee stand - in now and then .) somehow, everybody who was anybody knew rodney. in the early' 70s he opened a club known as rodney' s english disco, which featured a tiny roped - off vip area that was barely separate from the space where the club' s garden - variety beautiful people shimmied and shook .
roger ebert was born on this day in 1942, and died a little over five years ago. i owe a good part of my success…
nancy sinatra is interviewed and says she knows kim gordon of s. y infamy. she calls her a baby. kim would go grrrl .
spoilers this film had a really annoyingly fatuous quality as it smugly attempted to portray rb as a tragic figure because he ain' t rich, and has no offspring or real estate. a particularly disgusting moment comes towards the conclusion when the filmmaker asks rodney
well will this film have a happy or sad ending? it' s up to you !
as if anything let' s face it not terribly articulate rb could say could possibly compensate for this reductive, extremely condescending hatchet job borne of the choices made by the director. a nauseating example of
documentary
!
wherever bingenheimer went in the music and club scene, his face was his passport. robert plant says ,
rodney got more girls than i do .
we hear a little of his radio show from the old days, and what comes across is not a vibrating personality or a great radio voice - - it' s kind of tentative, really - - but an almost painful sincerity. he loves the music he plays, and he introduces it to you like a lover he thinks is right for you .
the story of how bingenheimer entered into this world is apparently true, unlikely as it sounds. as a kid he was obsessed with stars, devoured the fan magazines, collected autographs. one day when he was a teenager, his mother dropped him off in front of connie stevens' house and told him he was on his own. he didn' t see his mother for another five or six years. connie wasn' t home .
this 1988 film and 2006' s the u. s. vs. john lennon are looks into what made j - yo tick. the scenes dealing with lennon' s
lost weekend
in the former are excellent .
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the metal years is just a big, stupid chronicle of hair metal in los angeles in the late' 80s. the interviews are gold, especially the paint - huffing fans and chris holmes from w. a. s. p. , who comes off as more animal than man. plus, it has aerosmith and ozzy osbourne talking straight about their drug use. we bought it as a bootleg dvd and it hardly leaves our player for weeks on end .
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books go deep digging into warren zevon, the clash, and ...
i' m with the band: rodney bingenheimer and kiss. photo: supplied
this look into texas garage legend roky erickson' s life isn' t so much different than the daniel johnston flick, with both dealing in the family drama behind mental illness. now we just have to wait for the big budget biopic .
here is a list of the best rock documentaries out there for you to see. be sure to check the last craig' s hlist we did on rock concert films before you complain we left anything out. more than likely it is on that hlist, or we forgot it altogether because we aren' t wikipedia .
a tribute to the late tab hunter, a gay matinee idol and hollywood trailblazer .
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the camera catches him backstage, fortified by his aaa laminate pass, in conversation with keanu reeves, neil young and liam gallagher. archival footage has him miming the bass on a television appearance with blondie in the late 1970s and escorting elvis presley through a nightclub .
i don' t know why they made it look small in the movie .
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with his stewed - apple complexion, terrified smile and suspiciously dark bouffant hairdo, pocket - sized radio dj rodney bingenheimer has been a fixture on the la music scene since the' 60s .
yet even if bingenheimer' s celebrity and influence have declined in recent years, hickenlooper doesn' t make him an object of pity. that may be because bingenheimer doesn' t see himself as an object of pity, even though it often seems that he' s thrown much of his energy into building the careers of others while not being particularly devoted to bulking up his own. bingenheimer is charming, understated and waiflike. his hairstyle has undergone some minor changes over the past 40 years, having settled into something that' s half ron wood rooster cut, half dutch - boy bob, but also weirdly timeless. his eyes are serious, inky and honest. when hickenlooper, off - camera, asks him a question, he answers with so much unrehearsed forthrightness that you realize it would never occur to him to lie or embellish. in fact, his longtime friend, the nefarious producer and heel - about - town kim fowley, builds up bingenheimer' s legend more than bingenheimer does, informing us that, in the' 60s, robert plant noted that
rodney gets more girls than i do.
mayor of the sunset strip is a 2003 documentary film on the life of rodney bingenheimer directed by george hickenlooper , and produced by chris carter . in 2011 , craig hlavaty of the houston press named mayor of the sunset strip at number eight on the paper 's list of " the 31 best music documentaries of all time " . the film won the best documentary feature at the 2004 santa barbara international film festival . 
mayor of the sunset strip is a 2003 documentary film on the life of rodney bingenheimer directed by george hickenlooper, and produced by chris carter. in 2011, craig hlavaty of the houston press named mayor of the sunset strip at number eight on the paper's list of " the 31 best music documentaries of all time ". the film won the best documentary feature at the 2004 santa barbara international film festival.
mayor of the sunset strip is a 2003 documentary film on the life of rodney bingenheimer directed by george hickenlooper, and produced by chris carter. in 2011, craig hlavaty of the houston press named mayor of the sunset strip at number eight on the paper's list of " the 31 best music documentaries of all time ". the film won the best documentary feature at the 2004 santa barbara international film festival.