HBO's new series "Vinyl," a collaboration between Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger, is a fictional
look at the record business in New York City during the mid-1970s. My initial impression after
watching last night's two-hour pilot is that it might be good to very good, although much will
depend on how it spools out.
My reservation stems from the adage "truth is stranger than fiction." I suspect if they tried to
tell stories that accurately depicted the excesses of the period, it wouldn't seem believeable.
Still, there's plenty of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, although that order is reversed for this
episode. Also we have all the expected tropes: the hard-working, hard-partying, stressed-out
executive. His path to the top and who he stepped on to get there. The troubled marriage and
the neglected wife at home with the children. The pending big deal. The pending big contract
signing. The ambitious employee who wants to get ahead. The payola and corruption of
back-room business deals. With Scosese at the helm the craft is excellent, but the material
is well-trod.
Part of the hype surrounding the show is its historical accuracy, so a couple of references didn't
fit for me. One was a throw-away mention to a non-musical item that wouldn't have received
wide-spread publicity until the late '80s, the other was a musical performance that seemed
unlikely even for New York City in 1973. I suspect the latter will be continue to be an issue, as
the series compresses a few years in the mid-'70s into its ten-episode opening season. We
do get plenty of big ties, big lapels, and big hair -- on both men and women. Absent was any
sight of eight-track tapes, which were still widespread in 1973.
There are many good tunes on the soundtrack. Of course there's lots of early '70s rock and
roll. But retrospective vignettes for the backstory provide the opportunity to feature blues, pop,
R&B, and rock from the '50s and '60s. And the previews indicate we'll hear more glam, funk, punk,
disco, and even hip-hop in the coming episodes.
In sum, while Vinyl is not (yet) a must-see show, I'd say do check it out if you can.
