Back to ’70s: Vinyl Premieres on HBO Sunday

Vinyl, an HBO original TV series that delves into the underbelly of New York City’s music business in the 1970, premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Created by Martin Scorsese with the help of Mick Jagger, the 2-hour premiere is a ride through the sex and drug-addled music business at the dawn of punk, disco, and hip-hop as seen through the eyes of record-label president, Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale).

Also starring in the 10-part drama is Olivia Wilde, Ray Romano, Ato Essandoh, Max Casella, P.J. Byrne, J.C. MacKenzie, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Juno Temple, Jack Quaid, James Jagger, and Paul Ben-Victor.

Here's an excerpt from USA Today's 3.5-star (out of 4) review:

It’s obvious Richie Finestra needs saving—so much so that you may initially wonder why Mick Jagger, Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter, the high-powered team behind Vinyl , would build this big-swing HBO drama around him. The head of struggling American Century Records, Richie is a selfish, cheating, coke-addicted liar and schemer who carelessly ruins lives and careers, when he doesn’t just end them.

So why watch this show, set in New York's exploding music world in the early ‘70s? For one, because for all his faults, Richie has an artist's love of and feel for music. While that may not redeem him, it does make him more interesting than your standard corporate goon…

Read the full review here.

Also see Newsday's less flattering reading of the show.

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