LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE

An art installation revives one of the most glamorous clubs to rock the Sunset Strip

September 2015

Alison Martino

During the early 1970s, Mercury Records promoter Rodney Bingenheimer owned a glitter-glam dance club on the Sunset Strip. It was called Rodney’s English Disco, and music icons such as T. Rex, the Kinks, the New York Dolls, Elton John, Keith Moon, Led Zeppelin, and even the King, Elvis Presley, stopped by.

The English Disco closed in 1975 but today it’s back in the form of an art installation inside ltd los angeles, the gallery now located at the club’s former address, 7561 Sunset Boulevard. The exhibition is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and admission is free; the club-inspired pop-up will remain on display through July 2016.

Selections from a conversation with Rodney Bingenheimer:

Now the English Disco is being recreated. How did the installation come about? 

I used to drive by the old location and saw they turned it into the art gallery ltd los angeles. I walked in and looked around and thought, I'd love to do something here again. That's when I met the owner, Shirley Morales. She didn't know who I was until someone explained to her what the space used to be. Shirley got excited and thought she should do a tribute to the club. It took a few years and it finally happened thanks to Dennis Hoekstra. His other installations include a recreation of CBGB’s bathroom. Dennis built the disco’s VIP booth and DJ booth exactly how they used to look. He even recreated the bricks! 

Tell me more about Dennis Hoekstra. He must have used a lot of your photos for research. 

Yes, he used a lot of my photos, which will all be featured in the new book project Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco: A Glitter Revolution by Harvey Kubernik, Mark London, and me. A lot of the posters and pictures in the installation are the same ones that were used in the actual English Disco and they all came from my collection. Dennis Hoekstra was very committed to this project and went out of his way to get every detail perfect. He was great to work with.