Various Artists - Nuggets 7: European Continent (1965-1972)

Every now and then, I've been posting various artists compilation albums that extend the concept of the two great "Nuggets" Rhino Records box sets. (If you don't know, a "nugget" is song from the mid- to late-1960s era that's influenced by garage rock and is generally done by lesser known bands.)

I've come up with my own songs that I think the "Nuggets" box sets should have included, and I've organized them geographically. Volume 3 covered the Netherlands, and volume 5 covered Scandinavia. Britain is a very big can of worms that makes up my Volume 2, which I haven't posted here yet. (Volume 1 is the US, in case you're curious.)

This volume is a kind of grab bag for all the other countries in Europe. (The following volume deals with all the other countries in the world outside of Europe, the US, and Canada.) Unfortunately, I have to admit that I'm not a "nuggets expert." I haven't listened to zillions of obscure compilations of obscure European bands. So I'm sure there are plenty of excellent songs that I've missed. If you know of any, please let me know and I'll consider adding them in. However, I have come across some songs here and there that I really like that fit the "nuggets" description, so here they are.

I have to admit that, as someone who speaks English but no other European languages, I have a bias in favor of English language songs. But there are a few here in other languages that I think can be appreciated even if you don't know the words.

Speaking of knowing the words, one song you definitely should listen to here is the last one, "Prisencolinensinaiciusol." As you may guess from the title, it's very strange. It's done by a famous Italian musician, Adriano Celentano, but it's not in Italian. As you listen to it, you'll think at first it's in English, but nothing is intelligible. Apparently, the song is some kind of commentary about how many young people in mainland Europe at the time were listening mostly to English songs on the radio without speaking English. So the vocals are made of English sounding noises without it actually being English!

Oh, and by the way, you should check out the video of the song on YouTube. It has over 2 million views, which is a heck of a lot for a song from Italy in 1972. There's something strangely entertaining about it, especially the way the singer dances and moves.

You'll probably recognize "Black Is Black," the one song here that was plucked from obscurity to be a big international hit. But in my opinion, in a better world, a bunch of these songs should have been big international hits. The fact that these bands were based on other countries meant they were almost certainly doomed not to make it in the US or Britain, because the world was much less connected in those days.

You may also recognize the instrumental "Psyche Rock," since the theme to the TV show "Futurama" is very heavily based on it.

This album is an hour and 11 minutes long.

01 But You'll Never Do It Babe (Boots)
02 Baluba Shake (Brunetta)
03 Black Is Black (Los Bravos)
04 El Muerto Vivo (Peret)
05 Gaby (Boots)
06 Going Nowhere (Los Bravos)
07 It's My Fault (Rattles)
08 Piangi con Me (Rokes)
09 Slaves Time (Slaves)
10 An Unknown Quantity (Bill Ramsey & the Jay Five)
11 Get on Your Knees (Los Canarios)
12 Peppermint Frappe (Los Canarios)
13 Psyche Rock (Les Yper Sound [Pierre Henry])
14 Animal on Est Mal (Gérard Manset)
15 Bring a Little Lovin' (Los Bravos)
16 Get Down from the Tree (Matadors)
17 Rain and Tears (Aphrodite's Child)
18 A Song of Joy (Miguel Rios)
19 Daydream (Wallace Collection)
20 Sad Soul (Ronnie Bird)
21 The Witch (Rattles)
22 Mamy Blue (Los Pop Tops)
23 Woman (Barrabas)
24 Prisencolinensinaiciusol (Adriano Celentano)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16701220/VA-Nggts7_EurpeanCntnent_atse.zip.html