Debashine Thangevelo
VINYL wasn’t designed to be a biopic of any sort – rather, it is an exploration of a time when a lot was happening on the music scene. As such, the period drama shields itself from scrutiny, or lawsuits, for that matter.
And that was a judicious move by creators Mick Jagger, Martin Scorsese, Rich Cohen and Terence Winter.
This eight-part series has attracted mixed reactions from TV critics. While some loved it, like me, others slated it for being reduced to a corporate drama.
That said, music, as much as it is our protagonist Richie Finestra’s (Bobby Cannavale) passion, is also his business. So the two elements are germane to the narrative.
The pilot episode opens with Richie spiralling out of control. He is driving around, looking to score cocaine, while reflecting on his life. More so, with a detective looking to chat to him about Frank “Buck” Rogers, the owner of a chain of radio stations who threatened to boycott all the artists from Richie’s label.
It is New York, circa 1973. Richie’s record label, American Century, is on the verge of bankruptcy with a German company looking to buy them out. However, the signing of English rock band, Led Zeppelin, is crucial to the deal.
The first scene shows a somewhat distressed Richie with, the next frame, offering a paradoxical shot of him: Richie is the epitome of composed in the boardroom. Everything about him, his perfectly coiffed hair, his mannerisms and dialogue is indicative of a man who is in control and wields influence. And he doesn’t allow his circumstances to betray this confidence.
Meanwhile, Zak Yankovich (Ray Romano), the head of promotions at the label, is also trying his hardest to help reduce the tension around the deal. He is a fascinating combination of dubious yet efficient.
But it is the compelling narration of Richie that contextualises and sets the tone of the series. He makes a poignant reflection on how he started out, and how rock ’n’ roll has “changed so much it’s not recognisable as the thing people used to be so afraid of”.
He owns the fact that his “silver tongue and brass balls” helped him in his meteoric rise in music, and he started out at the bottom of every club.
He refers to Zak as “the wolf in sheep’s clothing”.
So his story, clouded by lost brain cells and maybe a little bullsh*t, unfolds as his drops the needle and cranks up the volume.
Tonally, Vinyl echoes the Midas touch of both Scorsese and Winter: it has that magnum opus big-screen feel underpinned by the same transfixing direction style of Boardwalk Empire. Each frame, whether set in the frenzied, pressure-cooker environment of American Century – or as the outsiders call it “American Cemetery, where artists go to die” – or seedy music clubs, is artistically captured.
The costumes and backdrop play a huge role in authentically capturing the era, with those colourful bell-bottomed suits, big lapels, sideburns, big hair, and afros. Of course, there’s plenty of cocaine and pills, too.
There is an intoxicating amalgamation of everything from rock ’n’ roll to blues and soul.
James Jagger, cast as Kip Stevens, lead singer in the punk rock band, The Nasty Bitz, Ato Esaandoh, as Lester Grimes, a former blues singer managed by Richie, and Juno Temple, as Jamie Vine, an assistant at the label who also has an ear for music and ambitiously pursues it by trying to land the next great act, are unparalleled with their performances.
And they, in a way, mirror the passion that seems to have become dormant in the cocaine-snorting Richie.
Romano is magnificent in his role. And it is refreshing to see him play a shady character.
Of course, Cannavale is the star in so many ways. He anchors the story with his gravitas as a performer in the same way Steve Buscemi did in Boardwalk Empire. He really taps into his Italian genes with this character and delivers a sublime and natural performance of someone who is on the verge of losing an empire he put 20 years of blood, sweat and tears into. He is a man who is lost. A man who can’t be there for his wife and kids in the way they need. A man who needs to take a few steps back to be able to go forward.
A man who has an epiphany on what needs to be done – but it comes at a price!
Vinyl airs on M-Net Edge (DStv channel 102) on Thursdays at 9pm.