When it comes to rock music compilations, there's nothing quite like "Nuggets" for staying power.
Lenny Kaye (future member of the Patti Smith Group) came up with the idea in 1972 to feature songs from some of his favorite bands of the garage/psychedelic era, music that had unceremoniously faded into obscurity within merely half a dozen years or so. Through his efforts, groups like the Electric Prunes, the Standells, the Barbarians and the Blues Magoos gained new listeners.
The original pressings of the two-LP "Nuggets" didn't stay in print for too long, and finding a copy was both difficult and expensive just a few years after its release. For those of us who read about the set and were aching to hear it, we had to wait until Rhino Records (still in its fledgling stages) issued an expanded series of "Nuggets" LPs in the early '80s.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to most of the listening audience of that era, plenty of brand-new "Nuggets"-type music was making its way onto the scene, primarily in limited-release fashion. Bands like the Dukes of Stratosphear, the Stems, the Spongetones, the Inmates and the Cynics were drawing their sound, look and stage act from the garage/psychedelic heyday of a couple of decades before.
Plenty of that music resurfaced for a mass audience just this fall in another Rhino compilation, the four-disc "Children of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era 1976-1996." This release comes on the heels of two other four-disc "Nuggets" sets of '60s materials, both of which are extremely highly recommended, and continues the tradition 33 years after Lenny's groundbreaking set.
Personally, I knew next to nothing about the artists represented on "Children of Nuggets," besides a few of the ones that gained a modicum of popularity: the Smithereens, the Flamin' Groovies (which actually started in the '60s), the Soft Boys and the Chesterfield Kings, for example. And, of course, I knew about the Cynics, the Pittsburgh-area band that made quite a name for itself in the late '80s and early '90s.
In my quest for knowledge about local bands, I ran across Tom Hohn, who drums these days for Boss Diablo but previously did the same job for the Cynics. And his drumwork is featured on the Cynics' representation on "Children of Nuggets," a song called "Baby, What's Wrong," the leadoff track on the band's 1990 album, "Rock 'n' Roll."
The tune features a heavy fuzztone riff by guitarist Gregg Kostelich and anguished vocal by Michael Kastelic (the co-authors) that point to definite '60s influences, but advances in recording technology give the song a sonic depth that their forerunners weren't able to match.
About playing on a track that has made it onto a "Nuggets" compilation, Tom says, "It's an honor. It's almost like you're part of history, to make it onto one of the boxed sets.
As for the Cynics, they went on hiatus in the mid-'90s, then came back for a stand at the garage-rock festival Las Vegas Grind in early 2000, sharing the stage with such legends as the Standells, Barry and the Remains, and the Lyres.
"It ended up being a whole lot of fun," Tom recalls. "I don't remember who said it first, but it was, 'Why don't we keep it happening?'"
The Cynics proceeded to tour various parts of the world - they're huge in Spain - and recorded another album, "Living Is the Best Revenge." Along with new originals, it includes three really cool cover songs: the Electric Prunes' "You Never Had It Better," the 13th Floor Elevators' "She Lives (In a Time of Her Own)," and "Making Deals" by the Satans, a '60s aggregation so obscure that the All Music Guide doesn't even have anything listed about it, but which Tom calls "a true garage band."
Speaking of Tom and bands, Boss Diablo is working up material for a new CD that should be recorded and shopped to labels early next year. In the meantime, you can catch a highly recommended peformance this Friday, Nov. 11, at Michael's in McDonald (no, that's not Michael McDonald). The band also has just added a gig at Pickles in Washington on Wednesday, Nov. 23, the day before Thanksgiving.
Listen closely, and some "Nuggets" nuggets might turn up in Boss Diablo's set, as well.
Lenny Kaye (future member of the Patti Smith Group) came up with the idea in 1972 to feature songs from some of his favorite bands of the garage/psychedelic era, music that had unceremoniously faded into obscurity within merely half a dozen years or so. Through his efforts, groups like the Electric Prunes, the Standells, the Barbarians and the Blues Magoos gained new listeners.
The original pressings of the two-LP "Nuggets" didn't stay in print for too long, and finding a copy was both difficult and expensive just a few years after its release. For those of us who read about the set and were aching to hear it, we had to wait until Rhino Records (still in its fledgling stages) issued an expanded series of "Nuggets" LPs in the early '80s.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to most of the listening audience of that era, plenty of brand-new "Nuggets"-type music was making its way onto the scene, primarily in limited-release fashion. Bands like the Dukes of Stratosphear, the Stems, the Spongetones, the Inmates and the Cynics were drawing their sound, look and stage act from the garage/psychedelic heyday of a couple of decades before.
Plenty of that music resurfaced for a mass audience just this fall in another Rhino compilation, the four-disc "Children of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era 1976-1996." This release comes on the heels of two other four-disc "Nuggets" sets of '60s materials, both of which are extremely highly recommended, and continues the tradition 33 years after Lenny's groundbreaking set.
Personally, I knew next to nothing about the artists represented on "Children of Nuggets," besides a few of the ones that gained a modicum of popularity: the Smithereens, the Flamin' Groovies (which actually started in the '60s), the Soft Boys and the Chesterfield Kings, for example. And, of course, I knew about the Cynics, the Pittsburgh-area band that made quite a name for itself in the late '80s and early '90s.
In my quest for knowledge about local bands, I ran across Tom Hohn, who drums these days for Boss Diablo but previously did the same job for the Cynics. And his drumwork is featured on the Cynics' representation on "Children of Nuggets," a song called "Baby, What's Wrong," the leadoff track on the band's 1990 album, "Rock 'n' Roll."
The tune features a heavy fuzztone riff by guitarist Gregg Kostelich and anguished vocal by Michael Kastelic (the co-authors) that point to definite '60s influences, but advances in recording technology give the song a sonic depth that their forerunners weren't able to match.
About playing on a track that has made it onto a "Nuggets" compilation, Tom says, "It's an honor. It's almost like you're part of history, to make it onto one of the boxed sets.
As for the Cynics, they went on hiatus in the mid-'90s, then came back for a stand at the garage-rock festival Las Vegas Grind in early 2000, sharing the stage with such legends as the Standells, Barry and the Remains, and the Lyres.
"It ended up being a whole lot of fun," Tom recalls. "I don't remember who said it first, but it was, 'Why don't we keep it happening?'"
The Cynics proceeded to tour various parts of the world - they're huge in Spain - and recorded another album, "Living Is the Best Revenge." Along with new originals, it includes three really cool cover songs: the Electric Prunes' "You Never Had It Better," the 13th Floor Elevators' "She Lives (In a Time of Her Own)," and "Making Deals" by the Satans, a '60s aggregation so obscure that the All Music Guide doesn't even have anything listed about it, but which Tom calls "a true garage band."
Speaking of Tom and bands, Boss Diablo is working up material for a new CD that should be recorded and shopped to labels early next year. In the meantime, you can catch a highly recommended peformance this Friday, Nov. 11, at Michael's in McDonald (no, that's not Michael McDonald). The band also has just added a gig at Pickles in Washington on Wednesday, Nov. 23, the day before Thanksgiving.
Listen closely, and some "Nuggets" nuggets might turn up in Boss Diablo's set, as well.
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