Premium cable network HBO is perhaps best known is recent years for ventures Game of Thrones, True Detective, and True Blood. If the trailer for Terence Winter's new drama Vinyl is any indication, the upcoming series looks to be a whole new breed of drama. The first look is an emotional thrill ride packed into ninety seconds that will get your heart pumping, your feet jumping, and your fingers itching to rock out on the air-guitar. Check it out!
Vinyl will follow the efforts of record label president Richie Finestra as he tries to save his company in a 1970s music scene consumed by sex and drugs. As genres ranging from disco to punk and hip-hop begin to simultaneously take off, Finestra will have to play dirty if he wants to survive the game.
With “I Wanna Be Your Dog” from Iggy Pop playing background, the trailer is filled with flashes of crowds dancing so closely and without abandon that the almost claustrophobic intensity of any good concert can be felt through the screen. Images of sex, drugs, cash, and violence combined with the distinctly 70s hair and fashion set the tone immediately, and the sense of immersion in this world of rock and roll is complete.
Richie Finestra himself sums up the trailer best in the opening lines:
Think back to the first time you heard a song that made the hairs on the back of your neck stick up. Made you want to dance. Or go out and kick somebody’s ass! That’s what I’m talking about.
If the sights and sounds of the trailer aren’t enough to entice you to want to watch, the big names certainly should be. Martin Scorsese of Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and The Departed fame will be directing, and Rolling Stones founding member/lead singer Mick Jagger will be an executive producer. Perhaps most promising of all is that Terence Winter is the man behind the entire project. With a hand in The Sopranos and as the creator/executive producer of Boardwalk Empire, Winter’s successes at HBO and past collaboration with Scorsese promise that he is a good man to helm the new series. The group has been working toward getting this project off the ground for some time now, and January 2016 will see them finally get their shot.
Terence Winters has brought in Boardwalk Empire alum Bobby Cannavale to play Richie Finestra, but Cannavale is hardly the only familiar face seen in the trailer. Known for her roles in House and The O.C. on the small screen and mostly recently on the big screen in The Lazarus Effect, Olivia Wilde will take on the role of Finestra’s wife Devon. Ray Romano is almost unrecognizable underneath a mop of hair as Zak Yankovich in a part that is a far cry from his family friendly role in Everybody Loves Raymond, as well.
The first trailer for HBO's Vinyl promises a look back at a world of sex, drugs, and rock and roll with a great cast and a stellar crew behind the scenes when the series premieres in 2016.
