Various Artists: Nuggets (1972)

Subtitled “Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968”, this compilation by writer Lenny Kaye (later guitarist in Patti Smith’s group) was one of those rare game-changers because it introduced songs and artists who might have been forgotten (Electric Prunes, Standells, Vagrants, Seeds, 13th Floor Elevators, Count Five and The Chocolate Watchband among them) in the rush to embrace prog-rock and megastars in the 1970s. Fuel for the punk revolution, a great collection of devil-may-care artists and songs... and it opened the door for more such collections under the Nuggets name. Essential and proof, as Bob Seger said, “rock’n’roll never forgets”.

Next: The Turtles, Golden Hits; The Ramones, The Ramones; Mott The Hoople, All the Young Dudes; Blues Magoos, Psychedelic Lollipop

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