Mayor of the Sunset Strip (2003)

Director:

George Hickenlooper

Writer:

George Hickenlooper (writer)

Release Date:

26 March 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography | Music

Tagline:

You Should Have Been There ...

Plot:

A look at the history of fame in the world through the eyes of pop star impresario, Rodney Bingenheimer

Plot Keywords:

D.J. | Eccentric | Celebrity | Retrospective | Music Promoter

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Rodney Bingenheimer	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tori Amos	...	Herself
Billie Joe Armstrong	...	Himself (as Green Day)
Beck	...	Himself
Jello Biafra	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bing Bingenheimer	...	Himself
Zelda Bingenheimer	...	Herself
D.J. Bonebrake	...	Himself
Sonny Bono	...	Himself (archive footage)
David Bowie	...	Himself
Leo Braudy	...	Himself
Clem Burke	...	Himself
Neve Campbell	...	Herself
Belinda Carlisle	...	Herself
Chris P. Carter	...	Himself
Exene Cervenka	...	Herself
Camille Chancery	...	Herself
Cher	...	Herself
Tre Cool	...	Himself (as Green Day)
Alice Cooper	...	Himself
Elvis Costello	...	Himself
Bing Crosby	...	Himself (archive footage)
Cherie Currie	...	Herself
Tony Curtis	...	Himself (archive footage)
Michael Des Barres	...	Himself
Pamela Des Barres	...	Herself
Henry Diltz	...	Himself
Dion DiMucci	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mike Dirnt	...	Himself (as Green Day)
John Doe	...	Himself
Denny Doherty	...	Himself (archive footage)
Micky Dolenz	...	Himself (archive footage)
India Dupré	...	Herself
John Easdale	...	Himself
'Mama' Cass Elliot	...	Herself (archive footage)
Corey Feldman	...	Himself
Kim Fowley	...	Himself
Liam Gallagher	...	Himself
Noel Gallagher	...	Himself
Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Herself
Leigh Gorman	...	Himself
Jed 'The Fish' Gould	...	Himself (as Jed the Fish)
Green Day	...	Themselves
Deborah Harry	...	Herself
George Hickenlooper	...	Himself
William Holden	...	Himself (archive footage)
Rock Hudson	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mick Jagger	...	Himself
Joan Jett	...	Herself
David Johansen	...	Himself (archive footage)
Davy Jones	...	Himself
Kato Kaelin	...	Himself
Liza Kumjian-Smith	...	Herself
Janet Leigh	...	Herself (archive footage)
John Lennon	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jerry Lee Lewis	...	Himself (archive footage)
Lance Loud	...	Himself
Courtney Love	...	Herself
Annabella Lwin	...	Herself
John Lydon	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ray Manzarek	...	Himself
Johnny Marr	...	Himself
Chris Martin	...	Himself
Dean Martin	...	Himself (archive footage)
Paul McCartney	...	Himself
Miss Mercy	...	Herself
Kramer Morgenthau	...	Himself
Jim Morrison	...	Himself (archive footage)
Michael Nesmith	...	Himself (archive footage)
Yoko Ono	...	Herself (archive footage)
John Phillips	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mackenzie Phillips	...	Herself
Michelle Phillips	...	Herself (archive footage)
Poe	...	Herself
Iggy Pop	...	Himself (archive footage)
Monique Powell	...	Herself
Elvis Presley	...	Himself (archive footage)
Domenic Priore	...	Himself
Joey Ramone	...	Himself (archive footage)
Keanu Reeves	...	Himself
Paul Reubens	...	Himself
Linda Ronstadt	...	Herself (archive footage)
Gavin Rossdale	...	Himself (credit only)
David Lee Roth	...	Himself (archive footage)
Brooke Shields	...	Herself
Frank Sinatra	...	Himself (archive footage)
Nancy Sinatra	...	Herself
Phil Spector	...	Himself
Gwen Stefani	...	Herself
Chris Stein	...	Himself (archive footage)
Danny Sugerman	...	Himself (as Danny Sugarman)
Peter Tork	...	Himself (archive footage)
Pete Townshend	...	Himself
Frankie Valli	...	Himself (archive footage)
Edward Van Halen	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ronald Vaughan	...	Himself / Isadore Ivy:Spaceman-at-Large
Sid Vicious	...	Himself (archive footage)
George Wendt	...	Himself
Louise Wener	...	Herself
Jane Wiedlin	...	Herself (archive footage)
Brian Wilson	...	Himself
Carnie Wilson	...	Herself
Lisa Worden	...	Herself
X.	...	Themselves (as X)
Neil Young	...	Himself
Rob Zombie	...	Himself
Billy Zoom	...	Himself

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content/nudity, language and some drug references.

Runtime:

Canada:94 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Australia:M | Ireland:15A | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Caldera Productions

Trivia:

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 Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine (2002).

Quotes:

Rodney Bingenheimer: [pointing to a frame on his wall] Elvis Presley's driver's license.

Movie Connections:

References Loving You (1957)

Soundtrack:

Heroes and Villains

a stranger-than-fiction true life story

If "Mayor of the Sunset Strip" were not a documentary, no one would ever believe the story it tells. The film chronicles the life of Rodney Bingenheimer, the L.A. DJ who helped to launch the careers of many of the most influential bands in rock music history. However, if you're expecting Rodney to be a dashing, high-powered music exec with loads of cash and garages full of fancy sport cars, think again. He is, in fact, a painfully shy and unassuming man who seems totally out of place in the celebrity swirl of which he became so integral a part beginning in the 1960's. This is what makes his story and the film so fascinating, for who could have imagined that this gnomish young lad from Mountain View, California - essentially abandoned by both his mother and father and rejected by his peers - would somehow manage to make himself the center of attention for some of the greatest rock celebrities of the 1960's and '70's. Everybody who was anybody knew and adored Rodney, and, after he landed a gig as DJ at L.A.'s KROQ in the 1970's, he gave many struggling alternative artists their first real toehold on the radio, playing their records at a time when no other disc jockeys would touch them. The bands who practically owe their careers to Rodney Bingenheimer include Blondie, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, the Runaways, the Go-Go's, No Doubt, Coldplay, and many many others.

As a documentary, the film, written and directed by George Hickenlooper, takes a fairly conventional approach, combining images from Rodney's life with interviews by celebrities, relatives and friends commenting on him both as a person and as a phenomenon. The film provides a virtual who's who of some of the biggest names in the music business stepping up to the camera to have their say, most of it highly complimentary to the subject. Indeed, almost to a person, the interviewees talk about what a sweet, lovable guy Rodney is and how hobnobbing with so many celebrities has not diminished his innate humility and decency as a person. There is one moment in the film when Rodney allows his anger to get the better of him, but, most of the time, he comes across as a goodhearted, almost passive person who is surprisingly inarticulate and - one senses - not all that comfortable being the subject of a documentary. The film achieves a poignancy and sadness in its latter scenes when we discover that, despite all this notoriety among the glitterati in Hollywood, Rodney lives a rather isolated existence, never having found that one true love with whom he could settle down and make a life. In fact, the movie makes us question whether fame - or even proximity to the famous - can ever really lead to a happy, successful life. It's a lament we've heard many times before and will hear many times again.

"Mayor of the Sunset Strip" provides us with a kaleidoscopic view of the L.A. music scene from the mid 1960's to the present. Rodney's life becomes the forum for reliving all those exciting moments in which this parade of beautiful and talented people came to define the culture and eras of which they were a part. The film has an almost "Zelig" quality to it, as Rodney is photographed standing next to virtually every important rock artist to come down the pike in the last four decades.

I must admit that, even after watching "Mayor of the Sunset Strip," I still don't claim to understand how Rodney achieved everything that he did, and maybe no film could ever really capture that magic alignment of elements that made it possible for a shy, insecure young boy from a broken family - yet a boy with dreams and an abiding love of rock 'n roll - to play such a crucial part in music history. I guess you had to actually be there to really understand it.

My own experience with Rodney Bingenheimer is an extremely modest one. I once stood behind him while waiting to board a flight from San Jose to Burbank. Few people in the crowd seemed to know who he was, but an attractive young girl, obviously interested in pursuing a career in music, approached him and politely engaged him in conversation. Rodney, despite the fact that he could have simply ignored her advances and begged for privacy, instead turned his full attention to what it was she was saying, smiled demurely at her compliments, and offered her an opportunity to perform for him when they got back to L.A. It's that Rodney Bingenheimer who comes through in the film.