Decades before I even heard of the Nuggets collection, John Peel went through a phase of playing selections from the Garage Punk Unknowns series. It covers similar territory, though some of the Nuggets bands have since become reasonably widely celebrated: those on Garage Punk Unknowns live up to their billing.
This would have been 1987 or early '88, I think. For a short while around that time there was a record shop on Rockingham Street in Sheffield — via Simon Robinson, I understand it was called Windmill Records. Anyway, I think this is the only record I bought there before it disappeared again. I bought Volume 7 because I wanted the tangible proof that there were so many (eight in the original series on Stone Age Records), even though some of the others had weirder covers.
As you might anticipate, some of these bands were Unknowns with good reason. Yet there are few if any complete turkeys, and some of the tracks have a charm that inheres partly in the music itself and partly in the lustre they've retained through being virtually untouched by human attention. No, it's all right: I'm not being serious. Still, Like What, Me Worry by 006 and I Ain't Got You by Jades are the shit, managing to mix misanthropy with misogyny.
One little coda to this story concerns the boxed set entitled Garage Punk Unknowns Vol.1-7 that remains on sale via Amazon Marketplace (see below). Beware! When I bought this package eight years ago, I had to return it, with the following feedback:
I have today returned the item Garage Punk Unknowns to you, via recorded delivery.
The reason for return is that your description of the item misrepresents what it actually is. Your title on the web site (see attached screenshot) and in all correspondence is "Garage Punk Unknowns Vol.1-7". However, the item as sent does NOT include volumes 1-7 of the Garage Punk Unknowns series. It only includes a small selection from this series (I have Volume 7 and only one third of this is included, for example). The box in which the item is packaged is titled Garage Punk Unknowns but makes no mention at all of Volumes 1-7. Your description thus appears to be passing off the item as something that it is not.
I suggest you change your description as a matter of urgency, since it currently appears to be in breach of applicable laws on trading standards.
Oh, I how I love playing the part of the pompous, indignant and wronged customer! As you see, it comes quite naturally. You can see how seriously Amazon took this slap on the wrists, and how quickly they acted on my feedback.
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