As longtime collectors know, great "nuggets" show up in the most unlikely places...and so do Nuggets, naturally.  Warner Music Japan has just issued four volumes of Soft Rock Nuggets, but most of the tracks on these collections are firmly in the harmony-drenched, lushly melodic, sunshine pop genre.  Any fans of Rhino Handmade's Come to the Sunshine: Soft Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults (reissued on vinyl this year for Record Store Day) will find much to savor on these latest additions to the Nuggets library - and sweetening the deal, Warner has broadened its scope by licensing tracks from various labels outside of the WEA family.  This new, four-volume series follows Warner Japan's past collections of Pop Rock Nuggets, Surfin' and Hot Rod Nuggets, and Girl Group Nuggets.

Volume One, Silver and Sunshine, sets forth its mission statement via Harpers Bizarre's "Come to the Sunshine" and also includes big hits from The Association ("Along Comes Mary"), The Buckinghams ("Susan"), The Rascals ("A Beautiful Morning"), and Tommy James and the Shondells ("Crystal Blue Persuasion").  The title track, "Silver and Sunshine (How Wonderful is Our Love)" is a lesser-known treat from songwriters The Addrisi Brothers as released on the Valiant label in 1966.  The Addrisis are also represented by The Anita Kerr Singers' lighter-than-air "Happiness."  RCA's The Sidekicks revive The Hollies' "Fifi the Flea" in a Jimmy Wisner-produced version, and "Wiz" Wisner himself is also arranger of The Tradewinds' pop-psych "Mind Excursion" and The Coronados' "Don't Start Something You Can't Finish."  Roger Nichols and Paul Williams' sweet yet acidic "To Put Up with You" is heard not once, but twice (in versions by Williams' early band The Holy Mackerel as well as by The Sandpipers) and their buoyant "Let's Ride" is performed by Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends; Nichols and Smokey Roberds' infectious "Just What I've Been Looking For" is sung by The Vogues.  Glen Campbell's masterwork by Brian Wilson and Russ Titelman, "Guess I'm Dumb," adds further flavor.

Volume Two takes its title of It's a Happening World from the Mann and Weil song recorded by The Tokens (both Mann and Weil and The Tokens are also featured on Volume One).  Other artists reappearing from the first volume include The Association ("Windy"), Dino, Desi and Billy (the shimmering "Tell Someone You Love Them"), The Vogues ("I've Got You on My Mind"), Tommy James and the Shondells ("(Baby) Baby I Can't Take It No More"), Harpers Bizarre (Paul Simon's "59th Street Bridge Song" and Bacharach and David's sweet if politically incorrect "Me Japanese Boy, I Love You"), The Addrisi Brothers (their own recording of "Time to Love," and The Tradewinds ("I Believe in Her").  Joining the Nuggets roster are Don and the Goodtimes with Jack Nitzsche's ebullient soft-pop triumph "I Could Be So Good to You," The Cyrkle with "Turn Down Day," and Sagittarius (the psychedelic epic "My World Fell Down") via Gary Usher, Curt Boettcher, Bruce Johnston, and Glen Campbell.  Many luminaries pop up in the credits: Boettcher produced Lee Mallory's "Many are the Times," and Leon Russell arranged onetime teen idol James Darren's 1966 "All."  Jimmy Seals wrote and Richard Perry produced Uncle Sound's funky "Beverly Hills" (1968).  Claus Ogerman and Scott English wrote, and Ogerman produced, The Gates of Eden's haunting "No One Was There" (1967).

The Association's Birthday Morning gives the third volume its title; the group also contributes "Come On In."  Hits are here - Jay and the Techniques' "Apple, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie," The Young Rascals' "Lonely Too Long," Spiral Starecase's "More Today Than Yesterday" - as well as cult favorites (Paul Williams' timeless "Someday Man," The Mojo Men's recording of Stephen Stills' "Sit Down, I Think I Love You," The Holy Mackerel's "Bitter Honey" from Williams and Nichols, and Dino, Desi, and Billy's Brian Wilson co-write "Lady Love" - and more near-lost classics from Lee Mallory (the Addrisis' inviting "Take My Hand"), Robert John, The Congregation, The Sunshine Company, The Anita Kerr Singers, and Salt Water Taffy.  Jimmy Webb makes an appearance via The Vogues' "I Keep It Hid," and Gary Geld and Peter Udell with Ruby and the Romantics' "Hurting Each Other," later a smash for the Carpenters.  (Geld and Udell penned The Congregation's bubbly "It's a Natural Thing" on Disc Two.)

Soft Rock Nuggets goes international on Volume Four, Listen to Me (named for The Hollies' song).  It looks to the U.K. (with detours to Sweden and Australia) for its 24 groovy selections.  Tony Hatch ("the British Bacharach") and Jackie Trent were certainly among the U.K.'s greatest proponents of pure pop in the 1960s, and they're here with The Sands of Time's "Love Found a Way to My Heart" plus The Montanas' catchy "You've Got to Be Loved," Jackie's own, urgent "7:10 to Suburbia," and The Two of Each's swingin' ode to "Trinity Street."  Tony Macaulay's C.V. is equally impressive, as evidenced by Jefferson's perennial "Baby, Take Me in Your Arms," The Marmalade's "Baby, Make It Soon," The Flying Machine's wistful hit "Smile a Little Smile for Me," and The Foundations' immortal "Build Me Up, Buttercup."  The collection also detours to Sweden for vocal group The Gals and Pals' urgent version of Bacharach and David's "My Little Red Book," and to Australia via the U.S. for The Allen Brothers' - a.k.a. future superstar Peter Allen and his "brother" Chris Allen - "A Baby's Coming," from their still-inexplicably-not-on-CD Mercury debut album.  Other rarities on this disc include The Gibsons' "She's Not Like Any Girl" (and The Rockin' Berries' take on the same song!), Margo and the Marvettes' "When Love Slips Away," Danny Street's "Every Day" (produced by Dusty's brother Tom Springfield), Gulliver's People's "On a Day Like This" (produced by Norman "Hurricane" Smith), and The Harmony Grass' bright "Move in a Little Closer, Baby."

These four volumes of Soft Rock Nuggets add up to a box set of classic sunshine pop, with plentiful hits and a smattering of lost treasures.  Each disc comes with a thick booklet containing credits and lyrics in English; alas, the track-by-track liner notes are in Japanese only.  You can order all four titles below!

Various Artists, Silver and Sunshine: Soft Rock Nuggets Vol. 1 (Warner Music Japan WPCR-17621, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. I'm Gonna Marry You - The Goldebriars (*)
2. Guess I'm Dumb - Glen Campbell (*)
3. Along Comes Mary - The Association (*)
4. Mind Excursion - The Tradewinds
5. Silver and Sunshine (How Wonderful is Our Love) - The Looking Glass (*)
6. Fifi the Flea - The Sidekicks
7. Once Again - The Poor (*)
8. Black and White Rainbow - The Visions (*)
9. Portrait of My Love - The Tokens
10. Come to the Sunshine - Harpers Bizarre
11. Kitty Doyle - Dino, Desi and Billy
12. Susan - The Buckinghams
13. Just What I've Been Looking For - The Vogues
14. A Beautiful Morning - The Rascals
15. Randy - The Happenings
16. Let's Ride - Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends
17. Happiness - Anita Kerr and the Anita Kerr Singers
18. Candy Apple, Cotton Candy - Pat Shannon (*)
19. To Put Up with You - The Sandpipers
20. Good Morning, New Day - The Coronados
21. She Is Today - The Vogues
22. To Put Up with You - The Holy Mackerel
23. Crystal Blue Persuasion - Tommy James and the Shondells
24. Don't Start Something You Can't Finish - The Coronados (*)

Stereo except (*) mono

Various Artists, It's a Happening World: Soft Rock Nuggets Vol. 2 (Warner Music Japan WPCR-17622, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Don't Run Away - Bruce and Terry (*)
2. Turn Down Day - The Cyrkle
3. Many are the Times - Lee Mallory
4. All - James Darren
5. I Believe in Her - The Tradewinds
6. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) - Harpers Bizarre
7. I Could Be So Good to You - Don and the Goodtimes
8. Windy - The Association
9. My World Fell Down - Sagittarius (*)
10. Love-In - The Morning Glories (*)
11. Happy - The Blades of Grass
12. (Baby) Baby I Can't Take It No More - Tommy James and the Shondells
13. If You Know What I Mean - The Gas Company (*)
14. Don't Let the Rain Fall Down on Me - The Critters (*)
15. It's a Happening World - The Tokens
16. No One Was There - The Gates of Eden (*)
17. Hung Up on Love - The Other Voices (*)
18. I've Got You on My Mind - The Vogues (*)
19. Beverly Hills - Uncle Sound (*)
20. Tell Someone You Love Them - Dino, Desi and Billy
21. It's a Natural Thing - The Congregation
22. Me, Japanese Boy (I Love You) - Harpers Bizarre
23. Will You Be Staying After Sunday - The Peppermint Rainbow
24. Time to Love - The Addrisi Brothers (*)

Stereo except (*) mono

Various Artists, Birthday Morning: Soft Rock Nuggets Vol. 3 (Warner Music Japan WPCR-17623, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Ain't Gonna Lie - Keith
2. Sit Down I Think I Love You - The Mojo Men (*)
3. Lonely Too Long - The Young Rascals
4. Take My Hand - Lee Mallory (*)
5. Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie - Jay and the Techniques
6. I Like the Way - Tommy James and the Shondells
7. When the Summer is Through - The Happenings (*)
8. If You Don't Want My Love - Robert John
9. It's Sunday - The Sunshine Company
10. All This (He Does to Me) - The Anita Kerr Singers (*)
11. Birthday Morning - The Association
12. Come On In - The Association
13. Finders Keepers - Salt Water Taffy
14. Small Talk - Harpers Bizarre (*)
15. I Keep It Hid - The Vogues
16. Bitter Honey - The Holy Mackerel
17. There is Nothing More to Say - The Millennium
18. More Today Than Yesterday - Spiral Starecase
19. Morning Girl - The Neon Philharmonic
20. Hurting Each Other - Ruby and the Romantics (*)
21. Sun Shines on My Street - The Congregation (*)
22. Mad - Harpers Bizarre
23. Someday Man - Paul Williams
24. Lady Love - Dino, Desi and Billy

Stereo except (*) mono

Various Artists, Listen to Me: Soft Rock Nuggets Vol. 4 (Warner Music Japan WPCR-17264, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. That's Why I'm Crying - The Ivy League
2. Sandy - The Swinging Blue Jeans
3. My Little Red Book - The Gals and Pals
4. No Milk Today - Herman's Hermits
5. Silence is Golden - The Tremeloes
6. Love Found a Way to My Heart - The Sands of Time
7. Sunshine Boy - Vicky (*)
8. You've Got to Be Loved - The Montanas
9. She's Not Like Any Girl - The Rockin' Berries
10. She's Not Like Any Girl - The Gibsons
11. When Love Slips Away - Margo and the Marvettes
12. Everlasting Love - The Love Affair (*)
13. Every Day - Danny Street
14. On a Day Like This - Gulliver's People (*)
15. A Baby's Coming - Chris and Peter Allen (*)
16. Listen to Me - The Hollies (*)
17. Build Me Up, Buttercup - The Foundations
18. 7:10 From Suburbia - Jackie Trent
19. The Other Side of Love - The Caravelles
20. Move In a Little Closer Baby - Harmony Grass (*)
21. Smile a Little Smile for Me - The Flying Machine
22. Baby Make It Soon - The Marmalade (*)
23. Trinity Street - Two of Each
24. Baby, Take Me in Your Arms - Jefferson (*)

Mono except (*) stereo