All kidding aside, NOT an attempt to irritate anyone (I've beaten that dead horse enough, and IF the offended party will just drop it, I will as well), "Nuggets" the original two disc set compile by Lenny Kaye in the early 1970's, was probably THE most important, infuential, and significant compilation ever.....it brought into focus the wonderful amatuerish sounds of my childhood, sounds that I loved even as a small child, and continued to influence my tastes now that I am in my 50's. When Rhino re-released the original two disc set on CD, along with three OTHER CD's of more of the same greatness, it was a wonderful service that they did the world....now, I am assuming that most of you who are fans of this genre already have this. I am guessing VERY little interest in this set, actually, for that reason.....but I AM feeling a bit of a "Nuggets" trend coming on with me for the next week or so, and this is the logical starting point......if you are NEW to "Nuggets" please share youthoughts, positive or negative.
Disc one, which consists of the tracks from the original two disc vinyl (I am tempted to use my vinyl copy, but not going to.....would be even more appropriate if I did, though)....wow. Great stuff. The Electric Prunes "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night"....I remember the first time I heard it at about the age of 7, being freaked out by it and thinking the lyric was "too much to DRINK"......anyway....."Dirty Water" by the Standells is an all-timer (did ya know the "frustrated women" lyric allegedly refers to the curfew instituted by Boston College?....and how about that reference to "the Strangler"?)......"Lies" by the Knickerbockers is perhaps the most perfect Beatles cop EVER, and we could say the same about Mouse's "A Public Execution" and Bob Dylan. "Liar Liar" by the Castaways is a classic, as are "Don't Look Back" by the Remains, "Psychotic Reaction" by Count Five, " "Tobacco Road" by Blues Magoos....and, really, that's about a fourth of it.
The subsequent discs are not QUITE as great as the original (how could they be?), but disc two leads
off with the classic "Talk Talk" by Music Machine (unbeleivable that Kaye missed that on the original), includes great tracks like Kenny & the Kasuals "Journey To Tyme", "Action Woman" by the Litter, Chocolate Watchband's snarling "Sweet Young THing", "Steppin' Out" by Paul Revere & the Raiders, and another should-have-made the original set "Little Girl" by Syndicate of Sound. Again, I have barely scratched the surface.
More excellent stuff turns up on disc two, "Let it Out" by the Hombres, "Psycho" by the Sonics, Unrelated Segments "The Story of My Life", The Amboy Dukes "Journey to th Center of the Mind".....lots more, but after a while I'm just listing tracks, and the COMPLETE track list will appear below, so I'll keep it to a minimum. The final disc includes the tremendous "Are You Gonna Be There" by Chocolate Watchband, "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen, "Complication" by the Monks, Other Half's essential "Mr. Pharmacist", and tons more.
If this stuff is not for you, it's not for you. It IS, however, for ME, and I'm going to put up a good bit of it over the next week or so.......as I said, I don't expect a HUGE response to THIS one, as I'd expect most people who are interested would already own it, but you never know. But, it seemed like a logical starting point (actually my "starting point", I suppose, was "Children of Nuggets", but like most everything else I did it ass backwards.)
Feedback, please and see YESTERDAY'S post for a partial list of the HUNDREDS of "Nuggets"-
DISC 1-01 THE ELECTRIC PRUNES-I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)/02 THE STANDELLS-Dirty Water/03 THE STRANGELOVES-Night Time/04 THE KNICKERBOCKERS-Lies/05 THE VAGRANTS-espect/06 MOUSE-A Public Execution/07 THE BLUES PROJECT-No Time Like the Right Time/08 THE SHADOWS OF KNIGHT-Oh Yeah/09 THE SEEDS-Pushin' Too Hard/10 THE BARBARIANS-Moulty/11 THE REMAINS-Don't Look Back/12 THE MAGICIANS-An Invitation To Cry/13 THE CASTAWAYS-Liar Liar/14 THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS-You're Gonna Miss Me/15 COUNT FIVE-Psychotic Reaction/16 THE LEAVES-Hey Joe/17 MICHAEL & THE MESSENGERS-Romeo & Juliet/18 THE CRYAN SHAMES-Sugar and Spice/19 THE AMBOY DUKES-Baby Please Don't Go/20 THE BLUES MAGOOS-Tobacco Road/21 CHOCOLATE WATCHBAND-Let's Talk About Girls/22 THE MOJO MEN-Sit Down, I Think I Love You/23 THE THIRD RAIL-Run Run Run/24 SAGITTARIUS-My World Fell Down/25 THE PREMIERS-Farmer John/27 THE MAGIC MUSHROOMS-It's a Happening
DISC 3-01 THE HOMBRES-Let it Out (Let It All Hang Out)/02 THE GOLLIWOGS-Fight Fire/03 NEW COLONY SIX-At the River's Edge/04 THE DAILY FLASH-Jack of Diamonds/05 LYME & CYBELLE-Follow Me/06 THE CHOIR-It's Cold Outside/07 THE RARE BREED-Beg, Borrow, And Steal/08 SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET-She's About a Mover/09 THE MUSIC EXPLOSION-Little Bit O' Soul/10 THE "E" TYPES-Put the Clock back on the Wall/11 THE PALACE GUARD-Falling Sugar/12 THE GESTURES-Run Run Run/13 THE RATIONALS-I Need You/14 THE HUMANE SOCIETY-Knock Knock/15 THE GROUPIES-Primitive/16 THE SONICS-Psycho/17 THE LYRICS-So What!/18 THE LOLLIPOP SHOP-You Must Be a Witch/19 THE BALLOON FARM-A Question of Temperature/20 MOUSE & THE TRAPS-Maid of Sugar Maid Of Spice/21 THE UNIQUES-You Ain't Tuff/22 THE STANDELLS-Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White/23 THE MOJO MEN-She's My Baby/24 UNRELATED SEGMENTS-The Story of My Life/25 THE THIRD BARDO-I'm Five Years Ahead of My Time/26 WE THE PEOPLE-Mirror of Your Mind/27 SHADOWS OF KNIGHT-Bad Little Woman/28 THE MUSIC MACHINE-Double Yellow Line/29 THE HUMAN EXPRESSION-Optical Sound/30 THE AMBOY DUKES-Journey to the Center of the Mind
