06/15/06 Mayor Of The Sunset Strip

Mayor Of The Sunset Strip (2003), directed by George Hickenlooper

watched w/ Leslie; theater (Bonnaroo Cinema, Manchester, TN)

We have arrived to the great music, arts & all-things-hippie festival Bonnaroo on a humongous farm in Tennessee...and as luck would have it, they have a movie theater on site. Yes, on top of all the music, art, recycling, circus performers, fire eaters, masquerade balls, organic food, hammocks, laser shows, silent disco, pot smoking, frisbee playing, stand-up comedy, and sunburn getting...I managed to squeeze in a film in their cult-classic movie tent. Heck, it was one of the few places on the site that had air conditioning in the sweltering summer heat. Anyway, having caught only a portion of our intended film ("Real Genius," which will have to be finished on a later date), we picked up this documentary afterwards. I had heard about this film, but never had any concept of the man who is the subject of it. It is the one and only Rodney Bingenheimer, who plays the world's biggest music dork and has somehow managed to become a completely successful and lucky bastard in showbiz. Yes, this awkward and neurotic little guy stuck his foot in the Hollywood door by being abandoned on a doorstep by his celebrity-obsessed mother, thus fueling his lifelong desire to be a part of the glitzy glamour of that world. He somehow figured a way into being in the background of almost every famous person of the 1960's, 70's, 80's and 90's. He early on got a gig (in losing the starring role) as Davy Jones' stand-in on the Monkees...which lead to chance encounters with tons of celebrities. He became soaked with all the musical world had to offer, and took every opportunity to be a part of what was fresh & new. Being a talent compass, he landed a DJ job on now-legendary L.A. radio station KROQ...stirring up the success of such bands as the Sex Pistols, Ramones, and Blondie. He was part of the "in-crowd" as he had always wanted as a nerdy child, and clung onto memorabilia of his brushes with fame in order to remember how he got there. Bingenheimer was reportedly said by none other than Robert Plant to have been laid more times than even his boastful track record. This is a topic not only alluded to sheepishly by Bingenheimer himself, but backed up rather crudely by his record producing partner-in-crime & all-around-sleazoid Kim Fowley. The interviews here are priceless, especially with Bingenheimer himself...as you are brought into a world that is surreal and strange (similar to another great doc, "Crumb" with famed sub-culture artist R. Crumb). In the end it's a sad tale of introverted awkwardness thrust into the bright spotlight of fame, and how one nerdy guy deals with it. Very interesting, and tons of great cameos galore...and the dude hasn't changed his hair style in 30 years. I'm sure we'll run into him somewhere here in the Bonnaroo crowd of close to 100,000.

4 out of 5 stars