page_title: Rodney Bingenheimer
section_title: Radio days: KROQ
hierarchical_section_title: Rodney Bingenheimer / Radio days: KROQ
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Nena bei einem Auftritt während des Wiener Stadtfestes. Français&#160;: Nena sur scène lors d'un concert à Vienne English: Nena on stage during a concert in Vienna
context_page_description: Rodney Bingenheimer is an American radio disc jockey who was on the Los Angeles rock station KROQ. He joined SiriusXM's Little Steven's Underground Garage on July 16, 2017. He is notable for helping numerous bands become successful in the American market. His contribution to the music business has been described as important. He developed a reputation for being the first American D.J. to identify new artists and play "edgy new bands" such as Blondie, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Van Halen, Guns N' Roses, Duran Duran, The Cure, Joan Jett, The Hollywood Squares, Hole, Symbol Six, No Doubt, Blur, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, The Bangles, X, Germs and many others.
  He managed a Los Angeles nightclub called Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco in the early seventies.
  He was the subject of a documentary by late filmmaker George Hickenlooper entitled Mayor of the Sunset Strip. He was described as a "famous groupie, now respectable" by Mick Jagger, and the film documented Bingenheimer's status as a person with numerous high-profile friends. In 2007, he was honored with the 2,330th star on Hollywood Boulevard.
context_section_description: Due to his far-reaching connections within the burgeoning Hollywood music scene, Bingenheimer was given a show on the then relatively unknown Pasadena FM and AM radio station KROQ, called Rodney on the ROQ, which began in August 1976 and ended June 5, 2017. His tentative voice conveyed a "painful sincerity" suggesting that he "loves the music he plays", introducing it like a matchmaker introducing two lovers – a person to a song.
  His radio show strongly influenced the emergence of the Los Angeles punk scene in the late 1970s and was at odds with the prevailing country-rock style that dominated the West Coast music scene at the time. The show featured the latest punk and new wave and glam releases from London and New York, and labored to help celebrities build their careers alongside "anybody brave or stupid enough to put out a record in Los Angeles," he said. Bingenheimer later summed up his programming philosophy:
  I was always anti-Eagles, anti-beards. Within a few months I was playing four solid hours of punk. – Rodney Bingenheimer
  Bingenheimer was one of the very few DJs on commercial radio in Los Angeles who was described as having autonomy over music selection. For example, he was described as the first DJ to play many then-up-and-coming bands, including The Runaways, Blondie, the Ramones, The Hollywood Squares, Social Distortion, Van Halen, Duran Duran, Oasis, The Donnas, No Doubt, Dramarama, The Offspring, The Go-Go's, the Germs, The B-52's, X, The Vandals, Buck Brothers, the Sex Pistols, Teenage Fanclub, The Smiths, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Suicidal Tendencies and others.
  Nena's song "99 Luftballons", a hit in German-speaking countries in early 1983, became a hit in the USA in 1984 after Bingenheimer promoted it. Nina Hagen and Christiane Felscherinow, who promoted the film Christiane F. – We Children from Bahnhof Zoo, joined his show. Christiane was asked by a listener, what kind of music she liked. So "99 Luftballons" was put on air. It went on to become a worldwide hit—an event that arguably would not have happened if not for Bingenheimer. Also in 1983, KROQ became the first radio station to play the Venice crossover band Suicidal Tendencies, when Bingenheimer added their song "Institutionalized" to its playlist.
  Bingenheimer developed a reputation in Los Angeles for being a kingmaker for new artists. His show became an influential part of KROQ, which was a strong influence nationally. One reporter wrote "if you make it onto KROQ in America, you've made it in America. This is the house that Rodney built and which corporate radio has spread like spores across the nation."
  Many bands knocked on the parking lot door of KROQ’s studio in Pasadena and handed Rodney a copy of their music. If he liked a track, such as Agent Orange’s 1979 hit "Bloodstains," he would play that song within the hour. In 1978, guitarist Eddie Vincent and drummer Tad of The Hollywood Squares gave Rodney a copy of their just released 45 single at his studio door. Within minutes Bingenheimer introduced the mysterious group to his wide listening audience and played "Hillside Strangler." The song promptly charted in Record World’s New Wave Hit Parade. Power pop band Candy singer Kyle Vincent, who at the time was Kim Fowley's personal assistant, tells a similar story: "We had just finished recording a few tracks with Kim producing. He told me to take one of the songs over to Rodney's studio, knock on the door, and tell him that Kim says we're the illegitimate sons of Rick Springfield and the Go-Gos. On the way back to my apartment Rodney talked about it and then played it. That was pretty historic for us." Bingenheimer was credited for giving the group Broken Bottles a big break by playing their single Gothic Chicks.
  In 1995, Bingenheimer introduced a segment to his show titled "American in London," co-hosted by Liza Kumjian-Smith, focusing on news and releases from upcoming British bands, which brought Brit Pop to the US and broke many UK bands such as Coldplay, Doves, Muse, Pulp, and more recently the Arctic Monkeys, among others.
  In the fin
caption: Bingenheimer helped popularize European vocalist Nena (pictured in 2008) whose hit song 99 Luftballons became a hit in the U.S. in 1983.
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