Box Sets Suck 5: Nuggets I (Rhino 1998)

Right, I'm missing some good, even great, ones. Right, the box is pretty damn essential overall. But wrong, crap tracks do exist. Come on - you know "The Little Black Egg" lives and dies with its lyric (as a for instance). As for those missing great cuts, I went by the "sounds better/more at home elsewhere" principle (e.g. Love, Sir Doug, Raiders, etc.). And though at first I was betraying one of my own principles by opting for historical relevance over pleasure, I soon realized both crashed into each other in such sacred texts as "Lies," "Hey Joe," "I Ain't No Miracle Worker," etc.

The Nuggets from Nuggets (Bozelkablog 1999)

1. The Electric Prunes: "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" - Dig those parentheses, Sixties, dig 'em!
2. The Standells: "Dirty Water" - Fug you!
3. The Knickerbockers: "Lies" - What else would you call a Beatles ripoff?
4. The Seeds: "Pushin' Too Hard" - Check out Sky Saxon & Co. here on The Mothers-In-Law with Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard. I find it gassy myself.
5. The Remains: "Don't Look Back" - Best song on the box because it adheres to the number one rule for masterful singles in a capitalist country: it must include several great songs in one.
6. The 13th Floor Elevators: "You're Gonna Miss Me" - They were indeed all heads. P.S. Turned out Tommy Hall wasn't Jandek after all.
7. Count Five: "Psychotic Reaction" - A freakout usually counts as a song within a song.
8. The Leaves: "Hey Joe" - Well, for one, Hendrix couldn't sing like his own guitar.
9. The Third Rail: "Run, Run, Run" - Bubblegum used to come in a little bag called Gold Nuggets, ya know.
10. Sagittarius: "My World Fell Down" - Pretty proto-prog psych.
11. The Nazz: "Open My Eyes" - Goddamn, this dances like a motherfucker!
12. The Music Machine: "Talk Talk" - Hello, Mud.
13. The Litter: "Action Woman" - I guess dirtbags never got laid either.
14. The Elastik Band: "Spazz" - Probably the second best song on the box. For why, see #5.
15. The Chocolate Watchband: "Sweet Young Thing" - In the dictionary next to "droogy."
16. The Brogues: "I Ain't No Miracle Worker" - They got the "wish I was a virgin" blues.
17. Kim Fowley: "The Trip" - Pebbles 3 representing (sorta).
18. Swingin' Medallions: "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)" - This gave me the idea for a movie about two closeted gay frat guys in the 1960s.
19. The Merry-Go-Round: "Live" - Belongs in the Nuggets II diaspora.
20. The Sonics: "Strychnine" - The drinking age meant nothing to these thugs.
21. The Daily Flash: "Jack of Diamonds" - Listen as a song rises from the grave and returns in less than three minutes.
22. The Groupies: "Primitive" - The exact same length as the least primitive cut here (Sagittarius).
23. The Lollipop Shoppe: "You Must Be a Witch" - If you ever wanted to know why this music is called punk, listen to how he sings "An easy life in heaven with a thousand other guys." Pure Roxy London 1977.
24. The Balloon Farm: "A Question of Temperature" - The first new wave song.
25. The Third Bardo: "I'm Five Years Ahead of My Time" - Pebbles 3 representing.
26. Clefs of Lavender Hill: "Stop - Get a Ticket" - ...for a train to Popsville.
27. The Monks: "Complication" - Live, they invented Krautrock. On record, this was their only nugget.
28. The Other Half: "Mr. Pharmacist" - Here comes the nice.
29. We the People: "You Burn Me Up and Down" - No, you do!
30. The Bees: "Voices Green and Purple" - More Pebbles 3 representing.

Total Time: 1:18:45