Nik Cohn | |
|---|---|
 Cohn in 2014 | |
| Born | 1946 (age 77–78) London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, music critic |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
Nik Cohn (born 1946), also written Nick Cohn, is a British writer.
Nik Cohn | |
|---|---|
| Cohn in 2014 | |
| Born | 1946 (age 77–78) London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, music critic |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
Nik Cohn (born 1946), also written Nick Cohn, is a British writer.
Cohn was born in London, England and brought up in Derry [1] in Northern Ireland. He is the son of historian Norman Cohn and Russian writer Vera Broido. An incomer to the tight-knit town, he spent most of his time at the local record shop and the walk there, from his home on campus at Magee University College, inspired one of his earliest stories, "Delinquent in Derry". He left the city to attend the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne in England, then moved to London. [1]
Cohn is considered by some critics to have helped originate rock criticism while writing columns for Queen. His first major book, Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom, was first published in 1969. Cohn has since published articles, novels and music books regularly.
When reviewing a rough mix of the Who's rock opera Tommy , he told the group members that the album lacked a hit single. Hearing this, Pete Townshend decided to take the song "Pinball Wizard", which he had already written knowing that Cohn was a fan of pinball, and incorporate it into the rock opera. [2] Cohn also panned The Beatles and Abbey Road upon their release in reviews for The New York Times . [3]
It has long been rumoured that Cohn's novel I Am Still the Greatest Says Johnny Angelo was an inspiration for David Bowie's album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars . [4]
He wrote the 1976 New York article "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night", which was the source material for the movie Saturday Night Fever . [1] In 1996, Cohn revealed the article to have been a complete fabrication, based only on clubgoers he knew from his native England.
In the early 1980s, he was indicted on drug trafficking charges for importing $4 million worth of Indian heroin. He refused to give a testimony [5] and the trafficking charges were subsequently dropped. Instead, he was given five years' probation and fined $5,000 for possession. [6]
Cohn was a columnist for The Guardian in the mid- to late 1990s as he researched his book on the underbelly of England, Yes We Have No: Adventures in the Other England. He is also a regular contributor to Granta . In 2016, Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom was listed by The Guardian's Robert McCrum as one of the "100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time." [7] It and The Heart of the World were subsequently reissued by Penguin UK's Vintage Classics imprint.
Fiction
Non-Fiction
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century. Their contributions to rock music include the development of the Marshall stack, large public address systems, the use of synthesizers, Entwistle's and Moon's influential playing styles, Townshend's feedback and power chord guitar technique, and the development of the rock opera. They are cited as an influence by many hard rock, punk, power pop and mod bands. The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend is an English musician. He is the co-founder, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. His aggressive playing style and poetic songwriting techniques, with the Who and in other projects, have earned him critical acclaim.
Tommy is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released on 19 May 1969. Written primarily by guitarist Pete Townshend, Tommy is a double album and an early rock opera that tells the story of the fictional Tommy Walker and his path to becoming a spiritual leader and messianic figure.
"Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night" is the title of a 1976 New York article by British rock journalist Nik Cohn, which formed the basis for the plot and inspired the characters for the 1977 movie Saturday Night Fever.
Geoffrey Giuliano is an American author, radio personality, and film actor, best known for his biographies of rock musicians.
Tommy is a 1975 British psychedelic musical fantasy drama film written and directed by Ken Russell and based on the Who's 1969 rock opera album of the same name about a "psychosomatically deaf, mute, and blind" boy who becomes a pinball champion and religious leader. The film featured a star-studded ensemble cast, including the band members themselves, Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Elton John, Robert Powell and Jack Nicholson.
Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy is a compilation album of singles by English rock band the Who, released in 1971 as Track 2406 006 in the UK and as Decca DL 79184 in the US. It entered the US Billboard 200 chart on 20 November 1971, peaking at number 11, and the UK chart on 3 December 1971, peaking at number 9.
"Happiness Is a Warm Gun" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 album The Beatles. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. He derived the title from an article in American Rifleman magazine and explained that the lyrics were a double entendre for guns and his sexual desire for Yoko Ono.
"Pinball Wizard" is a song by the English rock band the Who, written by guitarist and primary songwriter Pete Townshend and featured on their 1969 rock opera album Tommy. The original recording was released as a single in 1969 and reached No. 4 in the UK charts and No. 19 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
"Don't Pass Me By" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album The Beatles. A country rock song, it was the first solo composition written by drummer Ringo Starr.
"Christmas" is a song written by Pete Townshend and is the seventh song on The Who's rock opera Tommy. On the original LP, it opens the second side of the album.
"Bye Bye Love" is a popular song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and published in 1957. It is best known in a debut recording by the Everly Brothers, issued by Cadence Records as catalog number 1315. The song reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Pop charts and No. 1 on the Cash Box Best Selling Record charts. The Everly Brothers' version also enjoyed major success as a country song, reaching No. 1 in the spring of 1957. The Everlys' "Bye Bye Love" is ranked 210th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
The Who's Tommy is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Pete Townshend and a book by Townshend and Des McAnuff. It is based on the 1969 rock opera Tommy by The Who.
Guy Peellaert was a Belgian artist, painter, illustrator, comic artist and photographer, most famous for the book Rock Dreams, and his album covers for rock artists like David Bowie and the Rolling Stones. He also designed film posters for films like Taxi Driver (1976), Paris, Texas (1984), and Short Cuts (1993). The band Frankie Goes to Hollywood took their name from Peellaert's painting, titled Frank Sinatra, which featured the headline "Frankie Goes Hollywood".
Chris Charlesworth is a British-based music journalist and author; and, between 1983 and 2016, managing editor of Omnibus Press. He is particularly noted for his work about, and with, The Who, for whom he has worked as an executive producer. Charlesworth also worked as David Bowie's publicist at RCA Records from 1979 to 1981.
The British Rock Symphony was a tour that featured classic rock hits presented by a gospel choir, a full orchestra and vocalists including: Roger Daltrey, Darlene Love, Nikki Lamborn, Alice Cooper, Paul Young, Simon Townshend and Gary Brooker. Geoff Whitehorn played guitar and Zak Starkey performed on drums with Jaz Lochrie on Bass guitar. Studio recordings were issued on CD and cassette tape in 1999, and a video of live recordings from the tour in both VHS and DVD formats was issued in 2000. Eric Clapton and Ann Wilson appeared on the CD, but were not present on the tour DVD.
Tim Riley is a music journalist who reviews pop and classical music for NPR, and has written for The New York Times, truthdig, the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, Slate and Salon.
Progressive pop is pop music that attempts to break with the genre's standard formula, or an offshoot of the progressive rock genre that was commonly heard on AM radio in the 1970s and 1980s. It was originally termed for the early progressive rock of the 1960s. Some stylistic features of progressive pop include hooks and earworms, unorthodox or colorful instrumentation, changes in key and rhythm, experiments with larger forms, and unexpected, disruptive, or ironic treatments of past conventions.
Peter Doggett is an English music journalist, author and magazine editor. He began his career in music journalism in 1980, when he joined the London-based magazine Record Collector. He subsequently served as the editor there from 1982 to 1999, after which he continued in the role of managing editor. He has also contributed regularly to magazines such as Mojo, Q and GQ.
Can't Buy Me Love, subtitled The Beatles, Britain, and America, is a book by the American author Jonathan Gould that was published in October 2007. A biography of the English rock band the Beatles, it provides a musicological assessment of their work and a study of the cultural impact they had during the 1960s. It was first published in the United States by Harmony Books and took Gould seventeen years to complete, after he had begun working on the project with editor William Shawn for the Farrar, Straus and Giroux publishing company. It was the first book by Gould, who was formerly a professional musician.
