Mayor of the Sunset Strip

[DudeAsInCool]

Salon takes a look at the move about L.A. DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, who helped launch the careers of Blondie, the Ramones, Van Halen, the Go-Go's and countless others...

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By Stephanie Zacharek

April 13, 2004  |  Because rock 'n' roll is a relatively new art form, we're only just now seeing what happens to people who have, from a very young age, devoted their lives to spreading its gospel.

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.

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.

http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/200...p/index_np.html

[slum_goddess]

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.

ahhhhh...i remember that time well, in the age before the clearchannel mon$ter homogeni$ed the land o' free enterpri$e. bastards. :evil: