About this episode
For the second edition of the Rock & Roll High School Book Club, we're joined by legendary writer Nik Cohn, whose new book, Corner Boy: Loiterings New and Old, edited by Ben Ratliff and published by ZE Books, brings together more than six decades of extraordinary writing about music, culture, and the fascinating characters who inhabit those worlds.
Nik Cohn is one of the true pioneers of rock journalism. At a time when rock criticism barely existed, he helped invent the form, bringing a distinctive voice and perspective to the music and cultural movements that would define generations.
In this wide-ranging conversation, Nik and Pete travel back to Nik’s youth in England and the tribal worlds of Teddy Boys, Mods and Rockers; his early days chronicling the emerging rock & roll scene; and his friendship with Pete Townshend, including the remarkable story of how their relationship helped inspire one of the central ideas behind The Who's groundbreaking rock opera Tommy.
They also explore Nik's landmark New York magazine story, "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night," which became the inspiration for Saturday Night Fever, and his 2005 book Triksta, chronicling his immersion in the world of New Orleans hip-hop.
Along the way, Nik shares stories and insights from a remarkable career spent documenting popular culture from a vantage point uniquely his own — often discovering the people, places and movements the rest of the world has yet to notice.
From the birth of rock criticism to the cultural revolutions of the past six decades, this is a fascinating conversation with one of popular music's most original and influential chroniclers.
