Pilot

The pilot episode of Vinyl is an overlong affair. It is directed by Martin Scorsese who now has got to the habit of giving his movies superfluous running times.

Vinyl is also produced by Mick Jagger which explains how his son has a major role in the series, he certainly did not get the part through talent.

We are at a grungy, grainy 1970s. Part gangster, part Spinal Tap and part the fallen ruins from the hedonism of the 1960s but with a great soundtrack and some stylish scenes, especially if they involve music.

Record executive Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale) sits downhearted in his car, drunk, on drugs when the he sees some excited teens going to a club and he follows. He see the proto punk band The New York Dolls who certainly bring the roof down.

We have flashbacks to Finestra in the 1960s making his way to the top, trying to find acts that could make it big, he likes blues artists but they do not sell records unless they conform to pop sounding hits.

In the present he is trying to sell his record company to a big German corporation but they are only interested if Finestra signs Led Zeppelin but manager Peter Grant is having none of Finestra's crap.

Also his personal life is collapsing and there is a dead body to get lid off when an altercation gets too hot headed.

Scorsese in the pilot episode wants to unveil an epic saga, but outside of the music it was just not interesting enough. The episode mixes fact with fiction as you see Finestra talking to Zeppelin and then fake acts.

Violence, drug use, sex, corporate shenanigans (and modern vocabulary). We have the wild hedonism of the early 1970s, an interesting performance from Cannavale but it did not drag me in.