The latest look at HBO series Vinyl shows a record exec on the edge

By Parker Hall Published November 17, 2015

HBO has released the second official trailer for upcoming rock and roll drama Vinyl, offering a sneak peek into its visceral new show about the drug-addled life of a 1970s record producer in one of the most influential moments in rock history.

In the second trailer, we see record company owner Richie Finestra, played by Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire), searching for the next big sound to keep his company from being forced to declare bankruptcy. Looking to take rock music back to its “real and pure” roots, Finestra searches high and low for an exciting new band to back.

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With Cannavale’s Finestra going to 11 (with the help of a lot of cocaine), the new footage shows some interesting relationships at the inner circle of the company, including a glam-ified Ray Romano as the cool head trying to bring Finestra to his senses.

Created by Terence Winter (The Wolf of Wall Street, Boardwalk Empire) and produced by Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger, Vinyl has one heck of a Hollywood pedigree. Along with some serious production royalty, the cast for the show includes established actors Olivia Wilde, Juno Temple, Max Casella, Romano, and even Mick Jagger’s own son James.

Oddly enough, the last time Winter and Scorsese worked together was on another cocaine-heavy project, this time set in the 1980s: The Wolf of Wall Street. And despite the fact that Vinyl is a TV series, the trailer alludes to a show chock full of bold, big-screen style Scorsese characters, with all manner of dysfunctional relationships, power dynamics, and deep emotional conflicts to explore.

The first trailer for the new series, which featured music by The Stooges, alluded to the show’s variety of rock and roll, which leans towards something more heavy, more grimy, and less polished than the poppy and psychedelic early-70s music that made Jagger famous. It’s a post-Beatles transition that Jagger and Scorsese experienced first hand in the mid to late ’70s, one as a musician, the other as an music buff and influential filmmaker.

The song from the second trailer, No Good, is a distorted vintage rocker recorded by up-and-coming Icelandic rock band Kaleo. The song, along with many others on the show’s soundtrack, will be released separately by HBO alongside the first episode.

Vinyl is set to premiere on February 14 of next year.

Former Senior Writer, Home Theater/Music

Parker Hall is a writer and musician from Portland, OR. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin…

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