‘Vinyl’: The short-lived TV series Martin Scorsese backed on Mick Jagger’s recommendation
HBO’s 2016 period drama Vinyl had all the hallmarks of a roaring success: it was based on the glamour and corruption of the 1970s music industry and was created by the power pairing of Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese. So why was it cancelled and left to fall into obscurity?
Speaking to FilmTalk in 2015, Scorsese explained, “[Vinyl] is a project that Mick Jagger suggested to me in 1996 or 1997 to make a film about the music business, very different from the music world or the rock ‘n roll performers.”
Surely, such a project should have been destined for greatness, but as Scorsese continues, it becomes clear where the eventual, short-lived show’s problems might have lay, “It took many years, we tried many different forms for a long feature film, but I didn’t really know where to stop: there are so many stories, so many transitions, and changes, and so it became a series. I did the pilot and it’s like a film, it’s about an hour and 55 minutes.”
Having previously produced and directed the first episode of the critically acclaimed Boardwalk Empire, Scorsese clearly thought he had another successful, booming TV series. At first, Vinyl seemed like it might follow the same trajectory. It was renewed for a second season after just one episode – the only episode that Scorsese directed.
This pilot sees Bobby Cannavale play Richie Finestra, a New York music executive trying to keep his fictional music label, American Century Records, afloat in the changing musical landscape of 1973. Despite its incredibly long run time of 113 minutes, which could have had audiences struggling to keep attention, the behemoth of a TV episode was incredibly well received due to its directing, acting and period accuracy.
However, despite it and the success of the following four episodes, critics and audiences alike felt the show lost momentum in the second half. And so, HBO rescinded their announcement of its renewal, stopping the show dead in its tracks. And apparently, Marty didn’t take it too well. Speaking at the Rome Film Festival a few years after the show was cancelled, the director called its fate tragic.
However, Scorsese is nothing if not self-aware. He claimed that the show might have done better if he’d invested the right time into it and directed every episode. Given the pilot’s success, it’s hard to argue with the filmmaker. However, Boardwalk Empire managed to go five seasons with Scorsese only directing one episode and then taking a back seat as a producer.
However, perhaps Scorsese’s initial inability to nail the project down to just one story was still the issue, even with the series. Many critics claimed the story was bloated and bumpy, bringing too many elements in to fill out the story. If Scorsese had really pulled focus and directed a solid, single storyline, we might be watching season four or five of Vinyl right now.
Or perhaps the real issue lies in trying to capture the pure excess and hedonism of the 1970s music industry. One of the most excessive decades of the past century, it may always feel too chaotic and glamorous to create real substance.
