I freakin’ love the Martin Scorsese formula, and by extension, his flicks. Never heard of the Scorsese theorem? It’s pretty simple actually. You basically take a slice of the iconic American attitude during a turbulent decade, find a recurring theme, and wrap it all up in an excess orgy of drugs and violence as told through the eyes of your lead character.
It’s made for some great flicks from the ganster-master, and it’s the kind of formula which could easily work on televison. Which is exactly how we’ve reached the point of Vinyl, a Scorsese produced HBO series set during the record label boom of the 1970s. Here’s a proper trailer for it, which may be slightly NSFW:
From Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger and Terence Winter, this new 10-episode drama series is set in 1970s New York. A ride through the sex- and drug-addled music business at the dawn of punk, disco, and hip-hop, the show is seen through the eyes of a record label president, Richie Finestra, played by Bobby Cannavale, who is trying to save his company and his soul without destroying everyone in his path.
That’s ten episodes of the soul-crushing music industry that I can get behind, especially when it has a rocking soundtrack. Vinyl also stars Mick Jagger’s son James Jagger as a punk band frontman, Ray Romano as Cannavale’s friend and partner; Olivia Wilde as his wife; Andrew “Dice” Clay as the owner of a radio franchise; and P.J. Byrne, Joe Caniano, Max Casella, J.C. MacKenzie, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Juno Temple, Jack Quaid, and Paul Ben-Victor.
Phew, that’s a lot of names. Vinyl is out next year on your TV.
Last Updated: August 7, 2015
