BOWL CUTS, FUZZ AND POINTY BOOTS

Man, I gotta say. Lenny Kaye did us a solid so many years ago. He put together the first Nuggets compilation, at the time a two record set. It was the first compilation of garage bands when compilations were a rarity and "garage band" a term only used by total music fiends. Released way back in '72 before he was playing in Patti Smith's band, when he was a writer that worked in a record store. It was followed by single LPs compilations of more nuggets and by the time the late seventies punk rock thing happened, a lot of the bands had added covers taken from the compilations. The cool thing was that the original 45s, recorded from 1963-68, were still to be found in thrift stores and dusty record racks.

All the Nuggets compilations would soon be followed by Crypt Records' Back From the Grave series. While drawing from the same idea, Back From the Grave compilations leaned towards the more obscure bands, most regional releases, like Nuggets mid-sixties garage bands every bit as wild, in most cases wilder, and as a result none drawn from hits. There was also a series of Pebbles compilations and Sundazed Records' Garage Beat '66 series which narrowed it down to a single year, 1966 being about the peak of garage snottiness.

Here's a handful I was buggin' out too back in the day, from the earliest Nuggets compilations. I think four of these charted, so, yeah, it's really like a beginners course. Most of you know these well but if they're new to you, this is really basic shit you should know. If you dig them, a heads up. It is a very deep rabbit hole. I'd start with the first Nuggets and then the first Back From the Grave and go from there. It's slippery. Beware the jingle jangle.

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Listen:
Music Machine - Talk Talk mp3 at Internet Archive
The Sonics - Strychnine mp3 at Internet Archive
The Barbarians - Are You A Boy or Are You A Girl mp3 at Internet Archive
Love - Seven and Seven Is mp3 at Internet Archive
The Seeds - Pushin' Too Hard mp3 at Internet Archive
The Count Five - Psychotic Reaction mp3 at Internet Archive
Chocolate Watch Band - Let's Talk About Girls mp3 at Internet Archive