The lowdown on HBO’s new drama Vinyl

Rock ’n’ roll, punk, disco and hip-hop collide in Vinyl, HBO’s new drama – co-created by Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese – about a record-label boss struggling to survive in the rapidly shifting music scene of 1970s New York.

Bobby Cannavale as Richie Finestra in Vinyl. Courtesy HBO / OSN

As long ago as the late 1950s, Danny & The Juniors were singing "rock and roll is here to stay" – after watching HBO's new ­music-industry drama Vinyl, you'll be amazed that it managed to survive the 1970s.

When this 10-part series begins tomorrow on OSN, you'll witness the dramatic fireworks that happen when Oscar and Emmy-­winning director Martin Scorsese and writer Terence Winter, who previously collaborated on Boardwalk Empire, team up with Rolling Stones' rock royalty Mick Jagger for a true passion project.

“The genesis of this really was an idea I had years ago that I took to Marty [Scorsese],” says Jagger, 72. “We tried to develop it as a movie, and we developed and developed and wrote scripts. When TV series started coming online and becoming interesting, respectable and moneymaking, we decided to make it a series.”

Scorsese, 73 – a Palme d'Or-­winning visual auteur who has pursued his passion for celluloid over five decades, from Mean Streets to The Wolf of Wall Street – directed the pilot and serves as executive producer alongside Jagger and Winter.

“I’ve already in the first season been even more involved in these episodes and all stages of production,” says Scorsese.

“I’ll continue working with the music. This is something that’s very natural to me – and very close to my heart. I hope I can work out the time to direct a few more.”

Buckle up for a bumpy ride through the music business at the dawn of punk, disco and hip-hop, as seen through the eyes of New York City record- label boss Richie Finestra – a blistering performance by ­Bobby Cannavale – as he struggles to save his company and his soul without destroying everyone in his path.

You might recall, with a shiver, Cannavale's scene-stealing turn as easily-offended gangster Giuseppe "Gyp" Rosetti, a murderous psycho for the ages, during the third season of Boardwalk Empire – a performance that earned him an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 2013.

A former altar boy, Cannavale's big TV breakthrough could hardly have been more different – as the kind-hearted paramedic Bobby Caffey in Third Watch. He later flexed his comic chops as New York cop Vince D'Angelo in Will & Grace.

As the founder and president of American Century Records, Richie has a great ear for discovering fresh talent, even as he is haunted by a dark past and darker present. Although finally sober after years of drink and drug abuse, his golden touch seems to have deserted him and he is having trouble finding new acts to sign.

Worse, his dream of selling his label to a German buyer turns sour after he becomes entangled in the death of a seedy Long Island radio-company owner, played by comedian-actor ­Andrew Dice Clay (The Adventures of Ford Fairlane).

To make matters worse, Richie soon finds himself facing jail time, on top of the heartbreak of losing his embittered wife Devon (Olivia Wilde) and their two kids. He reverts to old vices – but has an epiphany during a concert at a Greenwich Village theatre when the roof caves in on him … ­literally.

Wilde – best known for her roles as Dr Remy "Thirteen" Hadley in hit medical TV drama House, and the Formula 1 racing biopic Rush – plays a former actress and model who was once part of Andy Warhol's Factory scene in 1960s New York City. Now a suburban mother of two, she yearns for a return to her Bohemian roots.

Also a hoot to watch is James Jagger, 30 – unmistakably the son of Mick and his model ex-wife Jerry Hall – who has obviously inherited his dad’s insane swagger and sneer. He puts both assets to good use in his role as Kip Stevens, the lead singer of Nasty Bits, a primordial punk-rock band

The early reviews are already in and critics are waxing lyrical about Vinyl.

"The bottom line: It rocks," writes Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter. "You can absolutely see the money on the screen and in the scope of Vinyl, which suggests HBO is hoping this ends up as some kind of rock 'n' roll Game of Thrones – big enough to embrace great swathes of history, story and movement."

• Vinyl begins at 11pm tomorrow on OSN First.