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Mayor of the Sunset Strip film review
MAYOR OF THE SUNSET STRIP
Running time: 94 mins
Starring: Rodney Bingenheimer, Kim Fowley, David Bowie, Nancy Sinatra, Cher, Andy Warhol
Mayor Of The Sunset Strip is the unofficial title lauded on Rodney Bingenheimer, a central and enduring figure on Los Angeles' musical landscape for nearly forty years. It's also one of the more dignified. Producer and songwriter Kim Fowley refers to Bingenheimer as a "male groupie". George Hickenlooper's documentary provides a fascinating look at Bingenheimer, a real life Zelig character who has befriended almost every musician of note to pass through Los Angeles.
In his capacity as a pioneering deejay on the LA radio station KROQ, 'Rodney on the Roq' has been credited for being the first in America to play David Bowie, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Blondie, Duran Duran, Nirvana, Oasis and Coldplay. He could be considered the LA version of John Peel, except that while Peel kept a distance between himself and the artists he played, Bingenheimer makes a point of meeting them. It's why the film is packed with clips of musicians offering their thoughts on the diminutive DJ. The list includes Courtney Love, the Doors' Ray Manzarek, Johnny Marr and Nancy Sinatra who said, "I think of him as the Peter Pan in the school of hard knocks."
Little known outside of LA, Bingenheimer proves an enigmatic figure. Quiet, unassuming and almost painfully shy, he is somehow able to get close to the biggest stars. He became friends with Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Andy Warhol and Bowie, with who he remains touchingly close. As a youngster he was even taken under the wing of Sonny and Cher, who he came to consider surrogate parents.
While Mayor Of Sunset Strip chronicles Bingenheimer's high points - running his English Disco in the 70s, being Davy Jones' stand in on The Monkees, his deejaying job at KROQ and his celebrity friends - it also offers an insight into his private side. Despite trying to maintain a façade of light optimism, the fifty something Bingenheimer (he likes to keep his true age a secret), presents a sad, lonely figure. Although he has made plenty of people stars and is considered one himself, he has never parlayed his success into riches. He still lives in a modest Hollywood apartment, drives an old car and, despite his youthful womanizing, remains single. In the film's most poignant moment he sits on a bed with Camile, a woman he considers a "special friend", when she reveals her feelings towards him are purely plutonic and that she's actually seeing someone else. The glazed look in his forlorn eyes says a lot about a man who has seen so much, but remains so innocent.
Shot over a period of six years, Hickenlooper's intimate film captures Bingenheimer as he copes with the recent death of his mother who had obviously been a huge presence in his life. A boyish face and a haircut that hasn't changed since the 60s reflect a person who has spent much of his life living off past glories and is having a hard time facing up to the present. Asked at one point, "Do you wish your life had been different?" Bingenheimer says, "yes". It's a life that on the surface would appear enviable. The effectiveness of Mayor Of The Sunset Strip is that by the end, it's easier to understand Bingenheimer's answer.
Kevin Murphy
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