Stereo Giraffe

Vinyl is a recently launched HBO TV series that recreates the music scene in the 1970’s produced by Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger, Rich Cohen and Terence Winter. The pilot episode got my attention as Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter (scriptwriter for the Wall Street Wolf) were behind a Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll plot.

A series where we can learn about music history, where we will identify classic bands and where every song that sounds is linked to the script. We can learn many astounding anecdotes inside the music industry that sometimes go far beyond the song.

Richie Finestra, a label director about to undergo a personal crisis, is about to sell his record company based in New York to the German company Polygram. Richie Finestra is natural gifted for his job and he has a strong personality that makes him attractive and convincing in business. Richie’s excesses and excessive devotion to work may lead him to his descend into hell.

All the characters in the series make it more likeable. We find Juno Temple in the label that  brings coffees to the meetings and provides all classes of drugs. Juno also is the one that spots a band: The Nasty Bits. This band will anticipate the Punk movement and seems to have a key role in the series plot. The Nasty Bit Singer is a very interesting character played by James Jagger -yes, Mick Jagger’s son, that will surely add a lot to Vinyl.

The aesthetics of the series reminded me of Mad Men in many ways, so make sure you are into this kind of series. Richie Finestra is a kind of Don Draper in the music industry in the ’70s and June Temple reminds me of Peggy Olson. Interestingly, because Vinyl takes place after the sexual revolution and civil-right movement, it shows how actually the rights in workplaces evolved and it mainly shows the false pretense of openness and equality that were done by then. In fact, Richie states in an episode that he hired his secretary just for her color skin.

Richie Finestra

Don Draper

New York in the 70’s was the place where you had to be if you liked music and therefore Vinyl has enough stories to stretch like chewing gum history without losing freshness material. It’s a time when Rock almost touches the roof rock and other genres begin to be considered. For instance, punk and hip hop are emerging in this period and a huge margin growth still awaits. Behind the plot, the best part of the series is the setting and the soundtrack. We find ourselves immersed into the 1970’s music scene and we are able to recognize renowned characters of New York’s culture scene (The Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol,  New York Dolls, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Sly Stone, etc). We also attend epical music gigs in the 1970’s. Also, the soundtrack is spectacular. I must say that I watch the series with my Shazam mobile App next to me so that I can get the playlist of all the songs in the episodes.

For a music industry outsider and music lover like me, I find Vinyl really attractive. I highly recommend the series, it really exceeded my expectations.