Behind the music scene - 2015 style
With the debut of Denis Leary's Sex and Drugs and Rock 'n Roll and the Mick Jagger-Martin Scorsese-Terence Winter HBO vehicle titled Vinyl, folks like me are fascinated with the characters in modern-day popular/rock music.
I viewed the first three episodes of the Leary show. For the most part, it's hilarious, but has its corny moments in my opinion. I don't mind mixing Leary's fictional characters and band with real-life music figures, but to me, too much of that takes things to the campy side. However, I love seeing Joan Jett play herself and put Leary's character in his place - trust me, you gotta see that episode. I agree with many people in saying that Joan is one of history's biggest female bad-asses. I must add that it seems like Joan keeps things real and has a great demeanor.
I'm excited about Vinyl. From this YouTube/HBO teaser, I can already tell that Scorsese's fingerprints are all over this show along with Jagger's 'Stones stylings.' Could we see Goodfellas meets a vintage Empire? I'm thinking that this will be yet another must-see/must-DVR type of program. One must be patient because the show will premiere in 2016.
Speaking of music, it was heart-warming to see Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band give Comedy Central's Jon Stewart a rocking send-off on Stewart's last 'Daily Show' appearance as host. As most of the universe knows by now, Springsteen took a swan dive straight into his finally-officially-studio-recorded "Land of Hope and Dreams," then segued into the back half of the now-40-year-old class track, "Born to Run."
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