There aren’t too many compilations that can be said that have been a major influence on what was to come afterwards as by definition, these types of records are all about harking back to the past. However, the Nuggets double disc set from 1972 is one of, if not the most important and influential. It was compiled by Lenny Kaye, who would become the lead guitarist in the Patti Smith band. At the time , he was a writer and working at Village Oldies record shop in New York. Not only did he compile the record, he wrote the sleeve notes as well. These contained one of the first uses of the term Punk Rock. Many other compilation series would follow including Rubble, Pebbles and Back From The Grave all of which followed the Nuggets template. That is unearthing rare records, mostly from smaller record labels that specialised in garage rock and psychedelic eras.
I never managed to get hold of the original vinyl version of this compilation. However, in 1998 Rhino decided that they would re-release the album on CD, but instead of just putting out the original version, they decided to expand it with an additional 91 songs in a rather fetching box set. Not all of the records were obscure, with some making to top ten in the US and some didn’t fit into the time frame which said all the records were released between 1965-69. For example, Louie Louie by the Kingsmen was released in 1963. That’s just nitpicking though as even with the the addition of 91 songs there are few that could be considered filler. What I wanted to see was if I could reduce this brilliantly curated box set down to one CD, which was also mean that it would fit onto a double LP like the original album.
- Let It Our (Let It All Hang Out) – Los Hombres
- Fight Fire – The Golliwogs
- Wooly Bully – Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs
- I Want Candy – The Strangeloves
- You Ain’t Tuff – The Uniques
- Stop – Get A Ticket – Clefs Of Lavender Hill
- I Live In The Springtime – The Lemon Drops
- Dirty Water – The Standells
- Lies – the Knickerbockers
- A Public Execution – Mouse
- Open Up Your Door – Richard & The Young Lions
- Oh Yeah – Shadows Of Night
- Pushin’ Too Hard – The Seeds
- Don’t Look Back – The Remains
- Liar, Liar – The Casterways
- Sugar & Spice – The Cryan Shames
- My World Fell Down – Sagittarius
- Open Your Eyes – The Nazz
- Nobody But Me – The Human Beinz
- Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White – The Standells
- Action Woman – The Litter
- I Ain’t No Miracle Worker – The Brogues
- Laugh, Laugh – The Beau Brummels
- I Wonder – The Gants
- Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love) – The Swingin’ Medallions
- Run, Run, Run – The Gestures
- Psycho – The Sonics
- So What! – The Lyrics
- The Little Black Egg – The Nightcrawlers
- Falling Sugar – The Palace Guard
I could not attached a Spotify playlist as one or more songs were not available on that format.