Biography

Rodney "on-the-'Roq" Bingenheimer, is one of the best known disc jockeys in the world, and has been called "The Prince of Pop." His show on Los Angeles' KROQ-FM has been a hit with youth of all ages since it's inception in late 1976, becoming famous for, among other things, the newest and the best rock music for all of L.A.'s "in-crowd" and forward thinking listeners.

Rodney appeared on the Monkees' TV series as a regular guest, and was Davy Jones' stand-in when he was a kid. As a teenager, Rodney grew up with hundreds of rock stars, including: The Monkees, Sonny & Cher, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Byrds, Elvis Presley, and David Bowie (while landing Bowie a record contract with RCA .) Rodney Does a Bowie salute every year on that star's birthday as well as doing a Phil Spector salute on that producer's birthday.

In the 70's Rodney made his name as a national columnist for "Go" and "Phonograph Record" magazines; and he also operated and co-owned his club, "Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco", an L.A. club where Bowie, Iggy Pop, T.Rex, Suzi Quatro, Led Zeppelin, and the Sweet where all regulars. In fact, the list of Rodney's friends in music, TV and movies is a "Who's Who" of rock. Rodney even recorded a single with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and Eric England of Hole called "I Hate the 90's" produced by Cameron Jamie.

He was the first to play records by - and interviews with such artists on his KROQ show as: Blondie, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Van Halen, The Go-Go's, Nina Hagen, The Cramps, Nena, The Clash, The Cure, The Smiths, The B-52's, Billy Idol, Adam Ant, Echobelly, Ride, X, Siouxie and the Banshees, Bad Religion, Duran Duran, The Jam, The Bangles, The Runaways Redd Kross, Bananrama, Joan Jett, Tom Petty, Dramarama, Teenage Fan Club, Suede, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Echo and the Bunnymen, No Doubt, Blur, Elastica, Belly, L7, Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Rialto, Placebo, Oasis, The Verve, Kent, Ash, Gene, Travis, Coldplay, Doves, JJ72, The Strokes, Starsailor, The Hives, The Vines, Black Rebel, Motorcycle Club, and The Electric Soft Parade plus over 300 celebrity interviews!

Rodney's movie credits include Up in Smoke, Rock 'n' Roll High School, Repo Man, Get Crazy, Back to the Beach (with Pee-Wee Herman), The Runnin' Kind, Rockula, Inevitable Grace, and Frank Zappa's newly-released Uncle Meat and Mondo Hollywood "TSOL Live From O.C." (on home video), as well as videos by The Ramones ("Something to Believe In"), Lifestyles of the Ramones and the Monkees ("Heart and Sole"). Rodney also hosted KDOC-TV's "Request Video" program in L.A. and Orange County, and UHF's "Notes From The Underground. Rodney also played a character in Nickelodeon's "Sponge Bob Square Pants."

Then there were the books; Rodney has been mentioned in: I'm With the Band by Pamela Des Barres; the Bowie biographies: Stardust, Alias David Bowie, and The Bowie Chronology; as well as Ultra Violet's Famous for Fifteen Minutes; John Tobler's Elvis: The Legend and the Music; The Monkees' Tale by Eric Lefkowitz; Wonderland Avenue, by Danny Sugerman; Led Zeppelin: Hammer of the Gods, by Steven Davis; Ramones: An American Band, by Jim Bessman; Route 666: On The Road to Nirvana, by Gina Arnold; Networking In The Music Industry, by Eric Olsen, George Harrision's Dark Horse, by Geoffrey Giuliano; Life as Such, by Lord Such; Hollywood Rock, by Marshall Crenshaw; and Making Tracks: The Rise and Fall of Blondie, by Debbie Harry and Chris Stein (with whom Rodney recorded "Little GTO".) Other Books included: Waiting for the Sun, by Barney Hoskyns; The Look, by Paul Gorman; The L.A. Musical History Tour, by Art Fein; and The Punk Rock Diary, by George Gimarc.

Today, as always, Rodney represents the young. He plays music you can't hear anywhere else in America on the radio - local L.A. artists, punk, imports, and psychedelic 60's music; and he supports it with his continuous involvement in the L.A. and world-music scenes. In short, the key to Rodney Bingenheimer's success is his Janus-like ability to recognize the past - while always looking toward the future in music.

Alone in L.A. Rodney seemed like myself, an island of anglo 'nowness'. He even knew British singles and bands that I wasn't aware of. There was nothing about him that wasn't 'on'. Rodney single-handedly cut a path through the treacle of the 60's, allowing all we 'avants' to parade our sounds of tomorrow, dressing in our clothes of derision" -- David Bowie, "Details" July 1992, "Q" January 1993.