HBO’s ‘Vinyl’ Recap: Sex, Drugs And Richie Finestra

HBO premiered its new show, Vinyl from executive producers Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger and Terence Winter with a two hour premiere that left viewers riveting in nostalgia. Vinyl is the staple mix of sex, drugs and rock and roll.

HBO’s ‘Vinyl’ Recap

The story follows record executive Richie Finestra played by Bobby Cannavale, as he struggles to find the next big thing before he loses himself in a “personality crisis.” His life’s work, American Century Records, is in desperate need of a miracle. As the line of cocaine dissolves into his bloodstream, Richie sees a mob of people swarming the Village to see The New York Dolls play. He follows the crowd and stumbles into the club.

Viewers are introduced to Richie with his flashy suits, the money, the not-so-legal business strategies and his smooth one-liners: “The story will be clouded by dead brain cells, self aggrandizement and some bullshit,” he tells us, “but how could it not be, this fucking life?”

Richie started off as the typical music dreamer playing air guitar with a broom but money and drugs have hardened the music lover. The pilot focuses on Richie trying to sign Led Zeppelin and how he worms his way to the band behind the manager’s back. But as Zeppelin takes the stage, Richie is brought back to reason he started his music journey.

Viewers are also introduced to Richie’s first project: Lester Grimes. Grimes, an eager and willing singer who just wants to sing the blues but with a baseball bat to the throat, his dreams are over. Richie drops Grimes and moves onto building his empire. The two come face to face down the road through Richie’s limo window without a word to the other.

The first causality is a coked out, belligerent Buck that caught the bad end of Richie’s defensive tactics. After dumping the body, he turns to a bottle of whiskey to wash away the memory while his wife, Devon (Olivia Munn), turns her nose up.

The story comes full circle as The New York Dolls music cascades the air and Richie is pulled back into his one truest drug: music.

Catch the next episode of Vinyl on HBO at 9 PM.