Thanks for your opinion on Vinyl. My husband and I are "49ers" and after watching 15 minutes of this anticipated show we looked at each other and said, "Who wrote this crap!?"
For a few minutes we reflected back on some great memories and decided that some "80's youngsters" without a clue had to have done it. "You can't fool us Martin & Mick, we were there, and we were cool."
With great disappointment we changed the channel. Thanks for backing us up Bob!
Karen Watters
Dreck
Howard Glynn
I'm hoping it is just the pilot and it gets better. Funny how you and I both caught the Lyme disease fuck up.
Jim Lewi
I'm watching for Olivia Wilde. But that's just me :) x
Lonn Friend
It's funny, I'm not old enough to have been at Mercer Arts Centre, but I know my music history, especially as concerns NYC - and that whole scene was ridiculous in the bad way. The faux New York Dolls was probably the best casting choice tho'...
pschase
Amen. Two hours I'll never get back.
Kevin T. Browning
I don't know what show you were watching. I didn't find vinyl bad at all. Give it a few episodes and then report back. I usually give a show three episodes after the premiere.
Sean Mormelo
Jagger has flopped repeatedly in the filmed visual mediums. His is a live stage talent. Drama, he isn't steeled for it, unless he is in total control.
Take away that control and he is left crying when he was jailed after Redlands. And look at how lost he is in Gimme Shelter footage - when he realizes he is in over his head. Of all the people on stage at Altamont, Mick is the most reduced by the circumstances.
So it doesn't surprise that in his producer roles, the scene setting is way over the top and reeking of inauthenticity. That's who he likely is all around
Denisara
Disagree, Bob. Loved Vinyl. Can't wait for Ep. 2. I'm not sure it's meant to be a documentary. More like historical fiction. Not watching to learn about the music business in the 70's.
David Rubin
Call me a sucker, but I watched it by going in essentially blind ... I didn't read a ton of hype, I just wanted to see the show. And the pilot lured me in, even though there's always the risk they'll lose me if the remainder of the show doesn't hit. I take pilots as a tough, but different, beast from your typical episode. They have to set the scene while building a premise for the entire run of a show. So I refuse to judge a show by mistakes made in the first episode. And I applaud HBO for committing to a second season, which at least leaves room for them to improve on mistakes in the first. And as someone who is tired of seeing shows killed by poor ratings in one or two episodes, I always appreciate a network like HBO being willing to let viewers vote with their eyes and their money. I'll subscribe to watch Vinyl. At least it's not Arli$$.
Jonathan Sanders
Wow, Thanks Bob. And I thought I was the only one who thought the show was lame. They lost me in the first few minutes with the car phone and the reference to an 8 ball. In 1973?? I did not hear that term in relation to cocaine until the late 90's. (We bought grams) and not until the late 70's. Casting was bad and the hype was way over the top. And if you are doing a show about the music industry in the early 70's why bring in the whole sub plot about the murder? It shifts the dramatic focus completely away from the times and the music. I just didn't get it. (But it was kind of nice to see Dice buy it!)
Rob Penland, Producer
One of the most realistic reincarnations of the 1970s music scene I've ever seen is a brief moment in "Almost Famous" that shows Kate Hudson's character blithely dancing by herself on the floor of an auditorium after the show. It so perfectly captures the feel of those ballrooms as to be palpable. I was hoping this show would reach that height.
hyperbolium
I hated it. Lead character not believable or likeable or interesting. Still, when you are one of us and you lived for and loved the music the references are fun. I will watch once more.
Michael A. Becker
Agree. Agree. Agree. Agree. With everything.
Such drek! No more 'Vinyl" for me.
Trace Ordiway
OMG! Horrifyingly bad. Yikes.
They got it so wrong on so many levels it's simply astonishing.
And the worst part is that it was stultifyingly boring!
Upside is one less TV show I have to follow.
Yikes again.
Greg Prestopino
I love it when you articulate the thoughts going through the back of my head but just don’t surface as a fully formed opinion.
Thanks Bob.
-Mike McCready
As for Bob Lefsetz...
Stick to music commentary!
Julian Muia
wow
long time reader, first time writer
this is finally the newsletter to get a reply
You sound old and out of touch, not Scorsese, Jagger and Winter.
This is a pilot! a PILOT! Not a real first episode. A 2 hour test. It was created in a silo to achieve a couple particular things.
If you agree by Episode 4 it is bad still, I will abide - but we need to see what the REAL showrunners have set for this, as they were not involved in the pilot and the already picked up season 2. Scorsese now bows out - and Terence Winter who was behind ‘Boardwalk Empire’ takes over.
I am also a bit shocked- that you - a loyal Stern fan, didn’t call out the best performance of the show, Andrew Dice Clay as the Radio man, Buck Rogers
It has nowhere to go but up.
pferioli
You nailed it again. I tried really hard to like the show, I desperately wanted it to be amazing. What the hell was with those cut-scenes? The scene with the black woman singing and playing the tambourine, what the fuck!? Just trying to get as much music in as possible I guess. We also don't need a full song from the fake New York Dolls truly we do not. I could go on but you already summed it up.
Thanks as always for your thoughts.
Bob Daniel
Bob ; You're missing the point. It's just a good story with some great music and interesting characters. Joe Whiting
Forget Bernie, you're the truth sayer! Thanks, Bob.
Mike Parish
OK, so at least now I don't need to feel beholden to watch yet another TV show I'll have no time for.
John Hughes
And the funniest thing. The OST will only be released on CD, not vinyl ;)
Kind regards Runar @Universal Norway