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MAYOR OF THE SUNSET STRIP begins with legendary punk rockers X blasting through “Los Angeles,” and director George Hickenlooper couldn't have picked a better tune to kick off his documentary profile of KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer.  On their early albums, X was all about exposing the dark underbelly of Los Angeles, and the way in which Hickenlooper presents Rodney's story falls in line with that tradition. 

All of this is quite disconcerting. As a teenybopper, I always found great comfort in listening to Rodney's Sunday night broadcasts, which made going to school on Monday mornings much easier. It seemed that all my friends were listening, too. And without Rodney, I may never have discovered all the bands that, even now, help me get through the day. He was the first to play Blondie, the Ramones, Joan Jett, the Sex Pistols, The Smiths, X, the Go Go's, Oasis, and No Doubt on the radio. Without Rodney there may have never have been a New Wave, an Indie Rock, or Alternative Radio.  

From the beginning, Rodney was set up to become someone whose identity would be dependent on his proximity to celebrity. A lonely boy from Northern California, his mother, an avid autograph seeker, drove a teenaged Rodney to Los Angeles, dropped him off at Connie Stevens' doorstep (where he was turned away – she was away on location), and left him there to fend for himself. 

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