Beech Tree News Network

Rodney Bingenheimer (born December 15, 1946) is an American deejay best known as host of Rodneyon the ROQ, a radio program that ran on the Los Angeles rock station KROQ-FM from 1976-2017.  In the early 1970’s, he also managed a Los Angeles nightclub called Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco.  

Bingenheimer helped numerous bands become successful in the American market. He developed a reputation for being the first American DJ to identify new artists and play edgy new bands such as Blondie, Sex Pistols, Van Halen, Guns N Roses, Duran Duran, The Cure, Joan Jett, The Hollywood Squares, Hole, No Doubt, Blur, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, The Bangles among others.

In 2003, Bingenheimer was the subject of the documentary called Mayor of the Sunset Strip.  He was described as a “famous groupie”, now respectable” by Mick Jagger.  The film documented Rodney’s status as a person with many high-profile friends.  In 2007, he was honored with the 2,330th star on Hollywood Boulevard. In 2017, Bingenheimer joined Sirius XM’s Little Steven’s Underground Garage.  

Born to a starstruck mother in Mountainview, California who separated from Rodney’s father when he was only three years old, his father wanted to be a celebrity but settled for attending celebrity golf events.  His mother was described as a “difficult woman” and “relentless autograph hound”.  

When Rodney was 16, his mother drove him to southern California and dropped him off at the house of Connie Stevens, instructing him to get the stars autograph, and then left.  This began a six-year separation from his mother, and he was on his own in Los Angeles around 1963.  

When Bingenheimer arrived in Los Angeles, actor Sal Mineo dubbed him “the Mayor of the Sunset Strip”.  He formed friendships with pop stars of the day such as the Byrds and Sonny and Cher, for whom he was a live-in publicist.  In his own words, Bingenheimer “became the talk of the town because I had the perfect Brian Jones ‘do” (hairstyle).

He worked as an intern at Mercury Records.  He escorted British pop star David Bowie to L.A. hotspots. He auditioned for the Davy Jones part in The Monkees.  While he did not get chosen, he dressed like Davy and worked as a stand-in for Jones in the Monkees episode “Prince and the Pauper”.  The stand-in role was a break for Bingenheimer.

He opened a nightclub called the E Club on Sunset Strip with his record producer partner Tony Ayres and another partner.  Outside was the British flag, the Union Jack.  The place served British bangers and beer.  It had a small “VIP area”, a roped-off section near the dancefloor.

The club opened in 1972 and held occasional live performances, such as New York Dolls and the Stooges in 1973 and Iggy Pop in 1974.  When the club closed in 1975, Rodney was reportedly disenchanted with the stylized dance-genre disco to the extent that he abruptly abandoned his club.  

Due to his connections with the burgeoning Hollywood music scene, Rodney was given a show on the then-relatively unknown Pasadena radio stations KROQ-AM and FM, called Rodney on the ROQ, which began in August 1976 and had its last broadcast June 5, 2017.  “I was always anti-Eagles, anti-beards.  Within a few months, I was playing four solid hours of punk”-Rodney says.

Bingenheimer developed a reputation in Los Angeles for being a kingmaker for new artists.  His show became an influential part of KROQ, and helped the station become a strong influence nationally.  In the final years of his weekly show (in the ‘90’s), he was relegated to the 12 am-3 am slot.  Film critic Roger Ebert quoted another station employee that said KROQ was “afraid to fire him” because he was the soul of the station.  The show was cancelled on June 5, 2017.  When asked why, Rodney had no idea but noted that the station had new owners.   So, the time difference between his KROQ show ending and Little Steven’s Underground Garage tenure beginning was small.  (en.wikipedia.org) 

Following is my most recent vlog recorded last week: https://youtu.be/sD8v2d0G0Ko?feature=shared