Q&A With Rodney Bingenheimer

The LA DJ spills the beans on living with Cher, introducing Bowie to America and sharing a beer with Elvi

Feb 10 2005

Chris Tilly catches up with Rodney Bingenheimer - Radio DJ, nightclub owner, pop impresario and star of the new documentary 'Mayor of the Sunset Strip'.

When did you first hear that someone was interested in making a movie of your life?

Chris Carter (of the band Dramarama) had the idea to do a book about me and went to all the publishers but they turned it down because they wanted sex, drugs and gossip and I didn’t do drugs and a lot of that stuff. Then Ronnie Wood suggested we do a movie, Chris got hold of filmmaker George Hickenlooper and that's how it came about.

What makes your life so interesting then?

Well, I came to Hollywood in the mid-'60s and witnessed all of pop culture coming together. I've witnessed everything from Herman's Hermits to Green Day. And I've also broken so many new bands on my radio show – back in the punk rock days The Ramones, The Clash and The Jam and now new stuff like Thirteen Senses and Kasabian.

So were the '60s really as good as everyone says they were?

Better. A lot better.

How would you describe those early days when you were hanging about with Sonny and Cher and The Monkees?

Sonny and Cher kind of raised me – they took care of me and then I ended up working with them – doing a sort of gopher job, and through that I met The Monkees. I tried out for the band but I was really young at the time, so I ended up being a stand-in for Davy Jones, which was pretty amazing. It was real fun and I got a lot of women.

What did you do after that?

Well I wrote rock columns for magazines like Go, and then in the '70s I wrote for Phonograph Record magazine. After that I worked for various record companies and that's where I got to know Rod Stewart and David Bowie. I ended up taking David Bowie around all the radio stations.

What was Bowie like?

He was quite different at the time because he had super-long hair and he was wearing a dress.

Looking back is there any period you remember with the most fondness?

Definitely glam rock – Bowie, T-Rex, Slade – those were all bands I loved and played in my club, Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco. I started the club after I went to London and stayed in Ealing Broadway. There was this little place called The Cellar near the tube where they played this amazing music. Bowie suggested that next time I went to LA I start a club like that and I ended up doing it!

Was that how you got so heavily into the English bands then?

I'd always been into English music growing up – watching the Beatles and great TV shows like Ed Sullivan and Shindig – hearing all that music that was so happy and positive.

What do you think of the British music scene these days?

I love it – I think it’s even better now. Some of the new music coming out like 22-20s, Kasabian and Thirteen Senses are just fantastic.

Taking you back a little, how did you get to know Elvis?

Well, he came to my club. He was recording nearby and he came for a beer – we had English beer in the club. We had some sent up to his recording studio and he liked it – it kind of reminded him of when he was in Germany. He enjoyed it and he came to my club with his step-brother Rick Stanley to thank me and so I'd go to his shows in Las Vegas and that's how I got to know him.

So much so that as we see in the movie, he once gave you his driver's licence. Do you still have that?

Yes, I still have it – it's in my rock room in my house.

So when you were making the film did the camera crew follow you around all day everyday?

Yes, but then there would be long breaks when George would go and work on other movies. He had other projects so there would be long pauses of about six months. So it took about five years – maybe close to six years to complete.

What was it like seeing the film for the first time?

It was weird. Nancy Sinatra went with me because she wanted to make sure I was treated well in the film. But it was great to see all the old clips and home movie footage.

So it wasn't a painful experience?

No, I had the best life ever.

'Mayor of the Sunset Strip' is released tomorrow (Friday) and reviewed in Time Out London February 9-16 2005. Issue No. 1799.

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