June 24, 2003

Mayor of the Sunset Strip

BMI composer Anthony Marinelli scored the music for the documentary "Mayor of the Sunset Strip," based on Los Angeles DJ/rock persona Rodney Bingenheimer, a.k.a. "Rodney on the ROQ." Bingenheimer has reigned over the Los Angeles music scene for over two decades. A constantly evolving fixture as a rock fan, journalist, promoter, club owner and radio DJ on KROQ, Bingenheimer has helped advance every adventurous rock mutation -- California pop, glam, punk, goth, new wave, alternative -- since he first hit the Sunset Strip during its psychedelic 1960s heyday.

Shown at the premier of "Mayor of the Sunset Strip" during the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 17 are BMI's Ivanne Deneroff, director/writer George Hickenlooper, composer Anthony Marinelli and BMI's Linda Livingston

The sheer number of artists featured in director George Hickenlooper's documentary about Bingenheimer attests to his astounding influence: David Bowie, Cher, Courtney Love, Brian Wilson, Blondie, Gwen Stefani, Johnny Marr and Oasis, to name a few. Hickenlooper, however, goes beyond celebrity interviews to explore celebrity itself and its powerful allure for Bingenheimer, a lonely kid from suburban California who reinvented himself as the "Mayor of the Sunset Strip."