Editing Nik Cohn (section)

==Life and career==
Cohn was born in [[London]], [[England]] and brought up in [[Derry]]<ref name=nytimes1>{{cite web|author=Rozzo, Mark |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/magazine/nik-cohn-fever-dream.html |title=Nik Cohn's Fever Dream |work=The New York Times |date=2 December 2011 |access-date=21 September 2018}}</ref> 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, Newcastle|Royal Grammar School]] in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] in England, then moved to London.<ref name=nytimes1/>

Cohn is considered by some critics to have helped originate rock criticism while writing columns for ''[[Queen (magazine)|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 (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.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/pete-townshend-tommy-pinball-wizard/ | work=Ultimate Classic Rock | title=Why Pete Townshend Made Tommy into a 'Pinball Wizard'. | first=Martin | last=Kelly | date=12 April 2019 | access-date=3 May 2020}}</ref> Cohn also panned ''[[The Beatles (album)|The Beatles]]'' and ''[[Abbey Road]]'' upon their release in reviews for ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref>
{{cite news| url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/music/100569lennon-beat.html |
work=New York Times |
title=The Beatles: For 15 Minutes, Tremendous | 
first=Nik |
last=Cohn |
date=5 October 1969 |
access-date=21 January 2024}}
</ref>

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]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/nik-cohn-i-was-right-the-stones-after-the-age-of-30-didn-t-create-anything-good-1.2505387|title=Nik Cohn: 'I was right: the Stones, after the age of 30, didn't create anything good'|date=21 January 2016|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref>
 
He wrote the 1976 ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' article "[[Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night]]", which was the source material for the movie ''[[Saturday Night Fever]]''.<ref name=nytimes1/> 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<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/09/nyregion/2-figures-in-drug-ring-case-arrange-to-enter-guilty-pleas.html | work=The New York Times | title=2 Figures In Drug Ring Case Arrange To Enter Guilty Pleas. | first=Joseph P. | last=Fried | date=9 October 1983 | access-date=7 August 2019}}</ref> and the trafficking charges were subsequently dropped. Instead, he was given five years' probation and fined $5,000 for possession.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/18/nyregion/the-city-writer-is-given-5-years-probation.html | work=The New York Times | title=Writer Is Given 5 Years' Probation. | date=18 November 1983 | access-date=7 August 2019}}</ref>

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."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/may/02/100-best-nonfiction-books-14-nik-cohn-awopbopaloobop-alopbamboom | work=The Guardian | title=The 100 Best Nonfiction Books: No. 14--''Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom'' by Nik Cohn | first=Robert| last=McCrum | date=2 May 2016 | access-date=8 August 2019}}</ref> It and ''The Heart of the World'' were subsequently reissued by Penguin UK's Vintage Classics imprint.