Nuggets was originally a compilation double-album released in 1972, assembled by Lenny Kaye who went on to play in Patti Smith’s band. It was a collection of American garage pop singles, and it sparked a series of follow-up Nuggets records, not to mention the Pebbles series, the Rubble series, and countless other garage rock comps, all of which collected rockers and other ’60s oddities, the best of which were prized for their obscurity.

Rhino Records, who rarely—if ever—fuck anything up, released a 4-disc Nuggets box set in 1998, taking the original Nuggets album and pairing it with three other discs of American fuzz-toned gems, many of which were originally overlooked when they were released, but had probably since been rediscovered on Pebbles, or Rubble, or Green Plastic Ties, or any number of similar-minded comps. Anyway it was a terrific box set, one of the best ever.

Taking it one step further, Rhino released a SECOND box set, Nuggets II, which collected similar singles from the UK and the rest of the world. It contains mod classics, freakbeat jams, nascent psychedelia, tropicalia gold, and plenty of good ol’ shitkickin’ pop ‘n’ roll. It IS the best box set ever.

Saturday night, over a dozen bands are hitting the stage at Slabtown to pay tribute to the Nuggets compilations. They did one last year, which was a benefit for ? (yeah, that’s his name. He was in a band called ? & the Mysterians and sang the song “96 Tears”). This year, the benefit’s for School of Rock. To get you warmed up, here are a couple YouTube clips I found that are soundtracked by some very choice Nuggets. You can ignore the unrelated video, although some of it is kind of amusing. Enjoy:

The Eyes - I’m Rowed Out, with period fashion footage from London.

The Wailers - Out of Our Tree, accompanied by plenty of Nugget-y album covers. Incidentally, the Wailers hailed from Tacoma, WA.

Nuggets Tribute Night, Sat May 10, Slabtown, 1033 NW 16th, 9 pm, $7
Bands include: School of Rock, Mike Coykendall, Blue Skies for Black Hearts, The Family Gun, The Sugarlumps, The Pink Snowflakes, Giant Bug Village, Benjamin Starshine, The Strange Effects, The Brilliant Channel, Paper Cameras, The Dregs, The Wolfman Fairies