Ex-Dramarama Member Is Taking Rodney To The Big Screen

03/03/1999 4:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(3/3/99, 1 a.m. PST) - Rodney Bingenheimer, a fixture of Los Angeles radio on modern rock station KROQ, is being immortalized on celluloid with a film currently in production, tentatively titled The Mayor Of The Sunset Strip.

The film is being directed by George Hickenlooper, whose credits include the critically acclaimed documentary Hearts Of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse as well as the current The Big Brass Ring.

Bingenheimer, whose "Rodney On The Roq" program is heard Sunday nights on KROQ Los Angeles, has been described by some as the Forrest Gump of rock 'n' roll. He has been a friend and advisor to countless bands, ranging from the Byrds and David Lee Roth-era Van Halen to the Germs, Blondie, and the Go-Go's. He also owned Rodney's English Disco, a matrix for the glam scene in the early '70s that was frequented by the likes of David Bowie and Iggy Pop.

The film will include archival material as well as dozens of interviews with such stars as Bowie, Brooke Shields, Cher, Elvis Costello, Ray Manzarek, Brian Wilson, Alice Cooper, even O.J. Simpson's onetime houseboy Kato Kalen.

Assembled in a style similar to Crumb, The Mayor Of The Sunset Strip documents the L.A. music scene from the Sunset Strip riots of the mid-'60s to the state of affairs today.

"Rodney broke my band, Dramarama, about 12 years ago," states the film's producer, Chris Carter, who also manages such current bands as the Wondermints and Baby Lemonade. "From about that point until now I've been a constant companion of his, and as a result of hanging around with him, I saw everything in his personal archives, and I sort of became a historian on life. As the years progressed, I realized that this was an amazing sort of 'rock' tale. It's sort of a rock 'n' roll hurricane with Rodney at the eye of the storm. I just realized that on a Zelig level, there are pictures of Rodney with everyone from the Beatles to Hole, with everyone in between, and I just thought it was a great story."

Rodney initially had mixed feelings about the project, but his relationships with Carter and Hickenlooper (who are co-writing the movie) have helped make the film a reality. "At first I was against it," says Bingenheimer from his Hollywood home. "I lead a pretty private life, aside from going out to shows and things. But then when Chris got involved with George, one of the greatest directors in the world, it didn't seem so bad after all. I felt that people would see the real me. There have been a lot of rumors floating around over the years that are just not true, and with this movie you can see the real Rodney Bingenheimer."

Carter plans to have the independent film completed by the end of the year and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2000.

Features on Iggy Pop, David Lee Roth, and Elvis Costello are available now on LAUNCH.com. Look for an upcoming Blondie feature soon.

-- Matthew Greenwald, Los Angeles

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