Mayor of the Sunset Strip

Mayor of the Sunset Strip

(Starosta Sunset Stripu / Mayor of the Sunset Strip), George Hickenlooper / USA, 2003
original version / Czech sub-subtitles, 94 min

Meet Rodney Bingenheimer, the legendary Los Angeles disc jockey and pop impresario, who helped launch the careers of such diverse bands as Nirvana, X, Coldplay, No Doubt, Oasis and Green Day while barely touching stardom himself on the way. As a teenage runaway on Hollywood's Sunset Strip in the 1960's he followed and befriended stars such as John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Cher, David Bowie and Elvis Presley. After operating a swinging nightclub, "Rodney's English Disco" in the 70's, he moved to radio and introduced punk and new wave to the American mainstream. Hickenlooper's touching portrait shows a fragile and sensitive man who has little to show for his years in the limelight but odd memories and a treasure trove of priceless memorabilia.