I'm making a rock n roll movie. It's called, "Ghostroads - A Rock N Roll Ghost Story" Here's the trailer: https://vimeo.com/210533272
Rodney Bingenheimer
In Japan, it isn't too cool to "toot one's horn" so to speak, so I tell few people about my past....
One day, during the shooting of the movie, I was at the Neatbeats' studio. There I saw they had a book about Phil Spector (a very famous music producer who did the Beatles, etc.)
I saw the book and then I opened the book to a random page and, I'll be damned if there wasn't a photo of Rodney and Phil Spector right there. "What a coincidence!" I thought to myself.
I walked back into the studio where we were shooting and said to the Neatbeats members, "Hey! You guys like Phil Spector?"
They all said, "YES! HE IS GOD!"
Phil Spector
I answered, "Oh? I've met him two or three times. I even "had lunch" (or was it dinner?) with him and Rodney when he showed up to that restaurant that Rodney 'lives' at in Hollywood named 'Canters.'"
Oh. That was a mistake. I opened my big mouth. Should have shut up and said nothing.
Why?
I could tell by the expressions on their face that they didn't believe me at all. Their jaws dropped open in disappointed disbelief... They looked stupefied....
Here, all this time, I was their friend. They thought they could believe me and trust me.... But here I was telling them something that, to them, couldn't possibly be true in a million years...
I said, "No! Really! I have! I have met Phil Spector a few times.....I'm serious." They still looked like they thought I was full of shit....
Flustered and insistent to prove I wasn't lying, I figured I'd offer proof... I added, "Do you guys know who Rodney Bingenheimer is?"
They all lit up again and said, "Of course! Rodney on the Roq is legendary! He is a DJ god!"
I paused... hesitated a bit, and then I said, "I was Rodney's assistant from 1980 ~81. He introduced me to many famous people...."
It seemed then like the roof caved in. I was ready for the insane asylum by the expressions on their faces.
I could tell by the way they looked at me that they had lost all respect for me at that very moment. They thought that I was a total useless bullshitter.
They didn't believe me at all.
...Not anymore....
.....Not about....
..........Anything....
I protested, "No! Really! I was! Rodney introduced me to lots of famous people. The Ramones, Phil Spector, etc. etc."
They still didn't believe me... So, in frustration, I threw my hands in the air, gave up and said, "OK. Fuck it! Whatever!...."
That was Jan. of 2016.
A few short months later...
In May 2016, by sheer coincidence, Rodney came to Japan and I was able to be a tour guide for several days for my old friend, Rodney on the Roq! I hadn't seen him in over 25 years....
We went to many good restaurants and fun places in Tokyo while he was here with his girlfriend (and fab movie director), Kansas Bowling who made the horror film, "B.C. Butcher." (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxsSH4NhXMc)
And, Rodney and Kansas both appeared in my movie too! What timing!!!!
So, don't tell me, "There's no God!"
There is.
I have met him.
His name is Phil Spector....
...and another legend, a god named Rodney Bingenheimer.
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(I took lots of photos and wrote about sightseeing with Rodney here: http://modernmarketingjapan.blogspot.jp/2016/06/rodney-bingenheimer-in-japan.html)
With my old friend and legendary radio DJ, Rodney Bingenheimer
at the Poor Cow in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, Japan May 27, 2016.
