Friday 1 April 2016



Vinyl Review by Daniel Jaramillo



The new HBO TV series “Vinyl” is bringing back the 70s and giving the audience an insight into the music industry of 1973 with some flashbacks of the 60s in New York that are part fiction and part reality.  This new period drama was created by “Martin Scorsese” and “Mick Jagger” and is already 6 episodes in with 4 more to run. As it is a long form television series the show is always finding new ways to show us what it must have been like to be the head of a record company and competing to sign artists who are either in their prime or who are just getting started. The main character is Richie Finestra played by Bobby Cannavale who is a record executive and runs American Century records. The label is struggling to keep afloat and their approach to resurrect the label is to sign new artists or sell the label to new owners. However, everything doesn’t go according to plan and he finds that he is no longer as powerful as he thought he was to begin with. He is also having trouble at home with his wife Devon Finestra played by Olivia Wilde a former actress/model who was part of Andy Warhol’s Factory. Richie is also being investigated by the F.B.I as Richie was involved in a murder of a Disc Jokey who had an argument with him over not playing any music from bands that were signed to American Century Records.

The other characters are Zak Yankovich played by Ray Romano who is head of promotions at American Century records, Juno Temple played by Jamie Vine an assistant and A&R at American Century Records and Kip Stevens played by James Jagger the son of Mick Jagger who is an English lead vocalist in a band called the “Nasty Bits” a fictional punk rock group from New York. Juno and Kip also start a relationship since Juno discovered the Nasty Bits and lets Richie know about them. Punk in the 70’s was still an unknown genre of music: The Sex Pistols did not even exist back then. However when they play an audition to Julian Silver played by “Max Casella” the head of A&R he realizes that they have no talent playing their instruments and gets them to cover the Kinks songs “You Really Got Me”.

There are a few reenactments of real artists from the 70s that make a one of episode appearance such as Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground and David Bowie. Richie is also trying to sign a funk artist but is outcompeted with the other major record labels. Another character is Lester Grimes played by “Ato Essandoh” who is a soul singer that Richie signs in the 60’s “which we see as a flashback” but Lester refuses to sign a contract with American Century and the mob comes to visit him and they break his wind pipe  and loses his singing voice forever. He then quits music but becomes the manager of the Nasty Bits as he wants them to get the best deal that works for them when American Century tries to sign them.

The series portrays the sleaziness of the music industry and how money plays a major role in all of it underpinnings. Richie is also a cocaine addict sniffing it up in every opportunity that he can. The 70’s in New York were a thriving time for the arts, the whole Andy Warhol movement to the rise of Punk and Hip Hop music. Vinyl however wants to show the audience more of the business side of the music industry rather than of the creative side. The series overall is very impressive in it’s aesthetics, showing what the 70’s looked like from the fashion to the lifestyle and it also does a good job in how people’s attitude’s were back then. The one flaw it has is referencing dates with regards to classic albums, the series takes a creative license in placing albums in certain time periods that are not accurate and it is very apparent to die-hard music fans of 70’s rock music. The characters are very unlikeable and this what we have come to except in Scorsese films and now on his television series. Vinyl will be airing a 2nd series but in my opinion if it is going to be a success it will need to focus even more on the music than on the antics and drug habits of record executives.