Today There Are No Gentlemen 'haven't read the book- buy the T-shirt'
The first time I came across Today There Are No Gentlemen was by way of Paolo Hewitts The Sharper World book back in 1999, Paolo used a couple of chapters from TTANG in his compendium of mod style to gold seal his point of view. CCCS Birmingham educated Dick Hebdige (now teaching in California), and last but by no means least Paul Gorman in his fantastic book The Look, also references Nik Cohn's works. If Nik's work is praised by these hepcats Paul, Paolo and Dick its the most, realising he was the writers writer I put Nik's book on my shopping list. I flicked through the Yellow Pages a là J.R. Hartley, and found a copy around the corner from Soho on Charing Cross Rd, an ex-library used condition for the princely some of £2.50 and I've cherished it ever since.
London born writer extraordinaire Nik Cohn wrote the highly sort after book: Today There Are No Gentlemen in 1970, so the story goes the title of the book was quipped by a dejected cobbler. The book covers the subject of menswear in Britain after the second world war up until the hippies.
Nik started writing live music reviews aged just 19 in 1965 for The Observer. Which I'm chuffed about as I've always said the great and the good seem to cut their teeth on the broadsheet weekly pictorial supplements of yore. Some say he went on to form the blueprint of THE British rock music critic, Paolo & Dick would attest to this I'm sure. Years later Cohn went on to become the regular music columnist for Queen magazine, with his titled ‘Pop Scene’ which he held from 1966-68 working alongside and partying with the cool set of every band worth knowing, which at the time was of course - pretty bloody good.
By 1967 Nik was so well respected courtesy of his writing prowess and forming genuine friendships with musicians that he was included in Johnathan Aitkins The Young Meteors (not the Martin Harrison book Young Meteors). The Young Meteors series of Londons hippest: photographers, musicians, clothing industry types and artists. Nik Cohn was sandwiched between the likes of: David Hockney, John Kasumi and The Beatles, so its fair to say Nik was now firmly established in his own right.
In 1970 his book Arfur about a runaway teenage pinball queen was also published, 1970 was a good year in the Cohn household. While writing and researching the book, Nik was hanging out with Pete Townsend of The Who, they'd chat about Nik's book and Pete's rock opera idea and play pinball in Soho, before boozy lunches. Pete rightly mentions Cohn as an influence on the film Tommy and especially the title track. Townsend and Cohn have remained friends since this time, I'm guessing the Shepherds Bush connection ran deep.
The critic-cum-storyteller of music legends got him controversially involved in another famous 1970's film. 7th June 1976 Nik wrote the cover story article in The New York magazine ‘Tribal Rites of The New Saturday Night’, Cohn melded the Brooklyn disco scene language and a tight knit group of local dedicated dancers at the Odyssey discotheque.
This article started the ball rolling for the film Saturday Night Fever after publication of the New York magazine article, Nik had a few Hollywood studios reach out to him hoping to jump onto the burgeoning disco craze. Nik obliged and was further absorbed into the Hollywood set. However in 1997, he admitted that the article was a complete fabrication and that he never interviewed any Italian Brooklyn disco fiends and it was all completely based on the energy of Goldhawk Road 1960's mods - one named Chris in particular (boating blazer below). So a film released in 1977 that has up until now grossed $300M is based on pesky mods speeding around London W12
The book Today There Are No Gentlemen has been recently reprinted in Japan- in fact this book is the only one of Nik Cohn’s numerous works not to be reprinted. I'm not too devastated, it helps with the price of the Anglozine archive copy and most importantly upholds the mystique.
The apparent reason the book was re-printed in Japan, was a Norther Irish woman reached out to Nik in the hope of making a film about his life. Curious Nik asked why she wanted to make the film. The explanation was that on her recent trip to Japan making a film about mods there, she asked the mods why there were no great mod films. The Tokyo mods corrected her, stating that there was one great mod film - Saturday Night Fever. Now we all know there is a huge difference between flares, disco balls and mohair suits and amphetamine but even the Tokyo mods knew of the celebrated link.
Nik Cohns writing style was very much of the street, and when you consider the publications he was writing for at the time, it was unique. No one was really getting down and close up to the action, certainly not in the U.K. back then. Sure photographers were getting up close and personal, but Nik Cohn was the writing equivalent of 'shooting from the hip'
In T.T.A.N.G he delved into: mods, skinheads, suede heads, rockers, teds and hippies, subcultures that are today celebrated and to some extent placed on a pedestal. But back in real time when they were out and out youth cultures, subcultures were mostly disliked, feared by anyone outside of those counter culture circles.
Nik managed to get the best out of these crowds, and his writing style remains relevant to this day. He also managed to expertly highlight in 1970 that the working class were creating fashion, this truism was wholly ignored by writers and publishers at the time, only crediting it seemed the elite.
The book also delves into the subject of men choosing a form of expression by way of dress. This topic was not openly discussed at this time, and certainly not documented in a 180 page book exclusively dedicated to such folly. Today There Are No Gentlemen was not a rag trade industry or CCCS type educational tome this was for blokes. Its tricky to imagine the mindset and the readership in todays age of selfies. Perhaps part of its rarity could be said to be down to its lack of circulation ?
Nik has a new book coming out in October 2026, you cant keep a top mod down. The book is called 'Corner Boy Loiterings New and Old', which I have on good authority includes excerpts from TTANG - so there's something in the air.
I've wanted to honour this book for sometime now and this season seemed dead right. I'm sure with Nik's new book and renewed interest in his work and bien sur our T-shirts the book will be back out soon. Special thanks to Nik Cohn and Ben Ratliff for their words of encouragement.
In the meantime as the saying goes 'haven't read the book buy the T-shirt'
