Radio Days: KROQ
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 continues to the present. 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 had autonomy over music selection. For example, he was described as having been the first deejay to have played many then-up-and-coming bands, including The Runaways, Blondie, The Ramones, Social Distortion, Van Halen, Duran Duran, Oasis, The Donnas, No Doubt, Dramarama, The Offspring, The Go-Gos, The Germs, The B-52s, X, The Vandals, Buck Brothers, the Sex Pistols, Teenage Fanclub, The Smiths, Siouxsie And The Banshees, 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. It went on to become a world-wide hit—an event that arguably would not have happened if not for Bingenheimer. Many bands knocked on the parking lot door of KROQ’s studio in Pasadena and handed Rodney a copy of their music.
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." 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. 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.
His show has been relegated to the midnight to 3:00 a.m. slot on Monday mornings. In 1998, he interviewed the Toronto band Chicklet when they dropped by the station while on tour. This was his first live air interview in years, with an interview of Bad Religion said to be his last prior to this occasion. Film critic Roger Ebert quoted another employee of the station as having said that the station management was "afraid to fire him ... because he's the soul of KROQ." Bingenheimer was also responsible for three Rodney on the ROQ compilation albums as well as the compact disc and later digital download compendium, "The Best of Rodney On The Roq" on Posh Boy Records.
He was present at "nearly every major interval in the evolution of rock 'n' roll" but was described as being relatively unknown outside of Los Angeles, according to the Boston Globe. But he never exploited his connections to become a "mogul", according to this report, which suggested that Bingenheimer might find such success "vulgar". Rather, he's been content to be a "hanger-on".
| “ | He is perpetually, exclusively, and proudly with the band. But at what cost? His associations with the famous have not made him rich. His friendships with the rich have not made him famous. And arriving at the end of middle age, with his mother – and, from what I can gather, his best friend – recently deceased, he's a figure of incredible loneliness. – Boston Globe film critic Wesley Morris in 2004. | ” |
Another report painted the same picture:
| “ | Rodney has facilitated the multimillion-dollar careers of the biggest names in music. He got Bowie an American record deal – and yet he lives in a modest six-room apartment in Hollywood, plays his records on a $69 phonograph bought at a chain drug store and, most recently, his fabled radio show was rudely shunted into the midnight to 3am slot. On Sundays. – The Guardian reporter Alison Powell. | ” |
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