the book to read if you want to get some idea of the original primal energy of pop music
Nik Cohn is a rock legend — a Derry boy who became the omnipresent man in music's developing story from the 50s to the present; a self-styled rat, addicted to adventure, forever at the heart of the real action.
This short memoir provides a strong flavour of the person whose writing inspired Saturday Night Fever and several other pop-culture landmarks. Cohn leads us, in reverse order, through the decades of his musical life and times. Along the way, we meet familiar heroes and rogues — let readers decide the categories to which Hendrix, Moon, Proby, Vicious et al belong.
The Noise From The Streets is elegiac, charming and thoughtful — wallow in it.
Nik Cohn recently headed Jarvis Cocker's top 10 music books in The Guardian (13 June 2014) for his title Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom.
'The original title for this book was 'Pop from the Beginning' and that pretty much sums it up. Nik Cohn was only just out of his teens when he wrote it and it's the book to read if you want to get some idea of the original primal energy of pop music. Loads of unfounded, biased assertions that almost always turn out to be right. He went on to provide the inspiration for Saturday Night Fever (Hurrah!) and Tommy (Boo!), but this is still his best book. Absolutely essential.'
