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With the arrival of Def Leppard, that leaves Peter Gabriel as the only major 80s pop artist to still hold out on putting his back catalog on Spotify (and since he has acted like a tremendous douche on the subject, I doubt we'll see him cave anytime soon). Anyway, I decided to take the occasion to post all 1980s Hot 100 Top 10 songs that remain unavailable on Spotify. This is for reference and perhaps to put pressure on artists and labels for release. Because my interest lies in the 1980s decade, the list is restricted to that decade. An asterisk (*) indicates that the song spent a significant amount of time on Spotify since late 2015 or so, but has been removed for an unexplained reason. Artist-authorized re-recordings will be noted. If the only thing available is a dubious re-recording with a suspicious label indication, the song is listed as not available. The list is sorted by peak position. I may follow up this list by continuing through the rest of the Top 20 or Top 40. Anyway, here you go:
#1 songs:"I Love Rock n' Roll"--Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
"Mickey"--Toni Basil* (again unavailable as of summer 2020. Basil has put up a rerecording with a slightly different title, which bodes ill for the original coming back again anytime soon)."Flashdance...What a Feeling"--Irene Cara* (recently sourced from a compilation; the parent album is still unavailable and fakes abound--don't count on its stability)"Sledgehammer"--Peter Gabriel
"Rock On"--Michael Damian (a very good 2009 rerecording by Damian himself is available)
#2 songs:
"Electric Avenue"--Eddy Grant*"All I Need"--Jack Wagner
"I Want Your $ex"--George Michael (available, but the charting song is not available in a separate track from its "Part 2" B-side, "Brass in Love")
#3 songs:
All are available, but take Anita Baker's "Giving You the Best That I Got" with a grain of salt. Most of her hits appear to be available again, but as parts of compilations that may or may not be dubious or authorized by her. They never play as part of her own albums, and the album art itself does not really show up. "Take Your Time (Do It Right)" by The S.O.S. Band is sourcing from a compilation (including the compilation album art) with a cut-off fade out as of March 2020. The parent album has been greyed out with the exception of the hit.
#4 songs:"For Your Eyes Only"--Sheena Easton
All apparently available
#5 songs:
All apparently available
"Lookin' for Love"--Johnny Lee* (tends to periodically reappear via compliation, then disappear again after a short time--UPDATE March 2020: as of Summer 2019, seems to FINALLY be stable and sourcing from the original album
"Make a Move on Me"--Olivia Newton-John*
"She Blinded Me with Science"--Thomas Dolby*--UPDATE March 2020: now appears to be available and sourcing properly from the original parent album, hopefully stable.
#6 songs:
All apparently available
#7 songs:"Crimson and Clover"--Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
"Spies Like Us"--Paul McCartney
"Sweet Freedom"--Michael McDonald
#8 songs:"They Don't Know"--Tracey Ullman
"Breakdance"--Irene Cara*"Big Time"--Peter Gabriel"I Remember Holding You"--Boys Club--UPDATE March 2020: the song in its original recording has been made available as a single with a b/w image of the two band members as cover art. The full album is not available nor is it in the database. Stability questionable.
#9 songs:"Don't Shed a Tear"--Paul Carrack* (available again as of March 2020)"The Doctor"--Doobie Brothers* (has reappeared via compilation, then been removed again. UPDATE March 2020: now sourcing from the original parent album and available)
Note that "Pac-Man Fever" by Buckner and Garcia has been available in the same version from several different sources, apparently an authorized re-recording. Recently, a source showed up with an entire B&G album and good album art (unlike the typical "fake compilation" album art that is so ubiquitous on Spotify), but it is still unclear if the recording is the original. It sounds authentic.
#10 songs:
"Hold on to My Love"--Jimmy Ruffin (it looks like all the available versions of this are re-recordings, even though they are not all indicated as such and they sound very good)
"Nothin' At All"--Heart* (1985 album removed as of 8/20/20--the other three Top 10 singles are playing from other sources).
"Baby Love"--Regina* (was available, but removed again as of March 2020)
"Where Are You Now"--Jimmy Harnen and Synch"Cry"--Waterfront--UPDATE March 2020: available and sourcing from the original album
So...all things considered, that's a pretty short list. Good job, Spotify! Hopefully someone looks at this to know where work is needed. All top 10 songs should be available. In fairness, the entire "What a Feelin'" album from Irene Cara was recently removed without explanation. Would be nice if someone from Spotify could find out why or work on it. Gabriel...sigh. Who knows if he will cave? Nobody thought Prince's heirs, Seger or Def Leppard would [UPDATE: It happened!]. Some of the albums that have long been unavailable with no explanation, such as Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n Roll," deserve some effort [UPDATE: Finally, Joan Jett's catalog is fully available!]. And so do the really obscure tracks like Boys Club "I Remember Holding You" (half of that act was a member of the Jets, so the song, as a Top 10 hit, should have been included on one of those Jets compilations). Jack Wagner's "All I Need" is the highest charting song of the decade to not be available in any digital format, including download. Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue" is also unavailable for download at iTunes or Amazon, but it was there at one point and then removed.
Pay attention to this list, Spotify, and get the job done! The labels and artists (where applicable) need to be "persuaded."
As I said, I may follow up with Top 20 and Top 40 songs.
Who's up for writing a list of 90's top 10 hits that aren't on Spotify?
#5
"Lost in You" by Chris Gaines (aka Garth Brooks) - 1999. As you should know, Brooks does not like digital distribution.
The recent CD reissue of the All I Need album was from Friday Music. It is readily available on Amazon. I tried to inquire why there was no digital availability and kept getting kicked to other people, who continued to redirect me. It really is frustrating that all his later unknown material is available but his only hit is not.
As far as Garth Brooks goes, he is increasingly isolated as more and more holdouts cave. He did give in a little, granting Amazon an exclusive. He also has his own digital distribution store. Spotify, as everyone knows, is firmly opposed to exclusives...and for the most part, Spotify seems to be winning this battle. Brooks will have to give in eventually. Most Prince-connected stuff seems to have become available again, including his material recorded by other artists like Chaka Khan and Sheila E. (would love to see the shorter versions of Sheila E's big singles, which are nowhere to be found).
I noticed Lookin' For Love was no longer on Spotify the other day and searched high and low for it.....bring it back please !!!!
Joan Jett is back on Spotify.
Hello again!
I'm sorry I haven't updated this thread and list in a while. The recent appearance of Joan Jett's catalog has been a major piece of news that is relevant to this thread especially. This affects songs at #1, #7, #20, #33, #35, and #37 that were not previously available, but now are fully playable on Spotify. Note that the two Top 40 hits from Joan's Up Your Alley album have always been available.
With the availability of Joan Jett and Peter Gabriel, this really is the last of all the major 80s music holdouts. Most of the remaining unavailable Top 40 tracks are singular cases with no logical explanation (at least not one that anyone has been willing to provide). The most important unavailable item now for 80s music fans is surely Irene Cara's What a Feelin' album, which disappeared inexplicably about a year ago. It was licensed through Canadian label Unidisc, from which other albums have also been removed.
In fact, now that "I Love Rock 'n Roll" is available, the only #1 hits that are unavailable are songs that were there as recently as one or two years ago. That would be "Flashdance..What a Feeling" by Irene Cara (which vanished with the album) and "Mickey" by Toni Basil. Hopefully this gets fixed. It would be wonderful to have the full 232 #1 songs available. I don't count Michael Damian's "Rock On" because the 2009 recording is one of the best re-recordings available.
Elsewhere:
Down at #14, the song "Love the World Away" by Kenny Rogers is again available. I found the disappearance of the song last year to be strange since most of Kenny's catalog is playable. I wondered if its association with the Urban Cowboy soundtrack might have had something to do with it. Other prominent songs from that soundtrack, such as Joe Walsh's "All Night Long" and (now, unfortunately) Johnny Lee's Lookin' for Love are not playable on Spotify. And the entire soundtrack has not been released. An important soundtrack, should be fully available. Anyway, "Love the World Away" can now be played again.
Speaking of Kenny, his only other song that was unavailable, which happens to be his last Pop Top 40 hit, also recently became available on a new compilation and can be removed from the list at #23. That would be the Gibb Brothers-penned "This Woman," which charted in early 1984.
Also at #23, the authentic version of Morris Day's "Fishnet" is now available, along with its entire parent album.
Down at #37, the Top 40 hit from Robin Gibb is available again, but for some reason, the one from Barry Gibb is not. Robin's was removed before Barry's, but not by much time, and it has been quite a while since "Boys Do Fall in Love" was made avaialble again. Barry is the only living Bee Gee or Gibb brother and he was largely responsible for the end of the Warner deal and the new agreement with Universal/Capitol. I wonder why his solo album Now Voyager has not yet been transferred to Universal/Capitol. Robin's Secret Agent album, from whence comes "Boys Do Fall in Love," is now licensed to UMG/Capitol. Hopefully Barry's song becomes available again soon.
The remaining unavailable songs are isolated cases that aren't going to draw much attention (though in cases like Jack Wagner's "All I Need," they should), so we just have to hope that eventually, something will happen to make them show up. Some of them are not in the Spotify database at all.
October 1 is coming up, which seems to be a date that some label deals expire or are renewed. Several songs disappeared last October 1 (including the two unavailable hit singles at #9 whose parent albums are otherwise available). So that could be either a good or a bad date on our list.
I should note that in early July, there were some brief disappearances, which resulted in some intemperate posts from me. Bob Seger's "Shakedown," his only #1 song, along with some other songs, were very breifly removed. Much of Neil Diamond's catalog also briefly vanished. As did Sheena Easton's "The Lover in Me." All of these became available again rather quickly.
Thanks for following the thread! If there is a major change, or something I want to spotlight, I will revisit it again. Sorry for the long delay.
Nice thread! I have a no-repeat 80's playlist and there are *loads* of tracks that I've been waiting to come on Spotify so I can add them. For *years* in many instances! I'm UK-based so these may be available elsewhere, but I'm looking for:
Alexei Sayle - ‘Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?
The Art Company – Susanna
Artists United Against Apartheid - Sun City
Belle & The Devotions - Love Games
Big Sound Authority - This House (Is Where Your Loves Stands)
Bourgeois Tagg – I Don't Mind At All
The Brat - Chalk Dust - The Umpire Strikes Back
Brown Sauce - I Wanna Be A Winner
Carey Johnson – Real Fashion Reggae Style
Claire & Friends - It’s ‘Orrible Being in Love (When You’re 8½)
The Commentators - 19 Not Out
The Cool-Notes – Spend the Night
Eddy Grant – I Don't Wanna Dance
Farley "Jackmaster" Funk – Love Can't Turn Around (feat. Darryl Pandy) - Radio Edit
Fatal Charm – Summer Spies (Hi@30mix)
The Firm - Arfur Daley…’E’s Alright
The Four Bucketeers – The Bucket of Water Song
Fred Wedlock - The Oldest Swinger in Town
Glenn & Chris - Diamond Lights
Grange Hill Cast - Just Say No
Harry Enfield -Loadsamoney (Doin’ Up The House)
Jimmy the Hoover - Tantalise
Julia and Company - Breakin’ Down (Sugar Samba)
Keith Harris and Orville - Orville’s Song
Keith Michell - Captain Beaky
Kenny Everett - Snot Rap
Lil Louis – French Kiss
Linda Ronstadt – Somewhere Out There (with James Ingram)
Mel Brooks - To Be or Not to Be (The Hitler Rap)
Michelle Shocked – Anchorage
Morris Minor & The Majors – Stutter Rap (No Sleep Till Bedtime)
Pete Wylie – Sinful
The Piranhas - Tom Hark
Sal Solo – San Damiano (Heart and Soul)
Sam Moore & Lou Reed - Soul Man
The S.O.S. Band - Just be good to me
Spitting Image - The Chicken Song
Steve Walsh – I Found Love You What!
This Island Earth - See That Glow
Ward Brothers – Cross That Bridge
Wild Men of Wonga - Why Don’t Pretty Girls (Look at Me)
Win - You’ve Got the Power
Young Steve and the Afternoon Boys - I’m Alright
Playlist here, by the way, if you're interested!
http://open.spotify.com/user/gareth8/playlist/4KDxVha1YJ6AqEetl4onAD
Thank you for sharing your positive assessment of the 2009 Michael Damien “Rock On”. Ordinarily I discount remakes but that version is exceptional. James Dean would be proud!
I forgot to mention that I had to add one at #34. De La Soul's early albums are not available. Supposedly they want them to be, but the label does not want the headache of clearing the many samples. Somehow, "Me, Myself & I" had slipped through on a Classic Hip-hop compilation. Apparently this wss recently noticed and dealt with in a precision strike. That's the only add, though.
Gareth, this list is based on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 and U.S. availability, but a lot of things are the same. "Somewhere Out There" became available here a couple of years ago via the American Tail soundtrack.
Quick update--and I haven't reviewed everything. October 1 is always a dangerous day, as it seems to be when label deal renewals happen. Not a lot thus far that I can see.
Most notably, Mick Jagger's solo albums are now suddenly unavailable. For our purposes here, that affects the albums She's the Boss and Primitive Cool. The songs that are not available are #12 "Just Another Night," #38 "Lucky in Love" and #39 "Let's Work."
It seems strange that this hasn't been noted in the media anywhere, especially since they have not only disappeared from Spotify, but also from the download platforms (both iTunes and Amazon). He is obviously a huge name, but since the Stones albums are all still there and his solo work has often been disparaged (including by Keith Richards), it looks like nobody noticed. Hopefully this is a short absence pending a re-release. The only news about him since October 1 seems to be a tweet where he talked about #NewMusic. Any inquiries or information about the Jagger solo albums would be welcome.
On the good news front, Johnny Lee's "Lookin' for Love" is available again. Although it shows up as playable from both the original album (which is now available complete), and the Greatest Hits compilation, it seems to source from another multi-artist compilation (that's the album art that shows up when you play it from either the original album or the Greatest Hits album).
I don't really know what to expect here, since that song's presence on Spotify has been unstable to say the least. This is the second time it's disappeared and reappeared in the last year. Of course, it's from the Urban Cowboy soundtrack, which also included "Love the World Away" by Kenny Rogers (removed last year and recently restored) and "All Night Long" by Joe Walsh (always unavailable). Wouldn't it be great if they just released that important soundtrack in its entirety?
Anyway, I'll do a more thorough availability review when I have the time.
It appears that the removal of Jagger's solo albums has started to be noticed in certain social media such as Reddit. Do we have any explanation? They have disappeared across the board, streaming and digital, with the exception of the Alfie soundtrack. For the purposes of this thread, the albums in question are She's the Boss and Primitive Cool.
The highly unstable "Lookin' for Love" by Johnny Lee has once again been removed after making a brief reappearance via an apparently new compilation. It seems that the song does indeed lack current licensing and has "slipped through" a couple of times. This despite the entire parent album (to which it is the title track) having been recently made available. I wish I knew the explanation for why this song has issues. I guess it could be an Urban Cowboy thing (the hits from that soundtrack have been spotty on Spotify). Or it could be yet another example of the vile, despicable, yet ubiquitous practice of making everything available EXCEPT the big hit single.
EDIT: "Love the World Away" by Kenny Rogers is also again unavailable after briefly returning. It looks like the Urban Cowboy soundtrack's general unavailability might be the explanation.
I think the Mick Jagger albums were removed because BMG no longer distributes their music through INgrooves.
Not a lot of good news lately, exacerbated by Spotify inexplicably deciding to no longer support the functionality of matching unavailable tracks in its database to local files (a feature that has worked for years).
But a couple of pieces of GREAT news in the Top 10!!
Somebody has listened to us! Jack Wagner's "All I Need" is finally available--as a single track. The full parent album is not available. Also, something I REALLY didn't expect...Regina's "Baby Love," together with the entire parent album Curiosity has recently been made available!!
Two other charting songs that are missing:
Just Another Woman in Love by Anne Murray #1 country and #1 adult contemporary (it is on Tidal however)
Shoes by Reparata (ok, maybe it didn’t chart in the U.S. but it’s a really good song to not have available)
Delayed update, as there has been some activity, mostly bad, but some good. I've been a little busy and should have done this update sooner.
"The Doctor" by The Doobie Brothers (#9) became available several weeks ago, and appears to be stable. Annoyingly, however, it is sourcing from a compilation (the release of which probably made it available) and not directly from the Cycles album. This EVEN THOUGH the rest of the album is available and was available during the absence of "The Doctor." Come on, Mr. Ek and acolytes, fix this sourcing issue. Obviously the original album, with its art, is better than a compilation, especially if the rest of the album is available. But at least the song can be played again.
I had my suspicions that some of those releases from "Enterprise Music" (an outfit connected to Rdeg, which is mildly dubious in its own right) were going to have issues. Not all of them have been removed, but those that have are tragedies. The worst is Charlie Dore's "Pilot of the Airwaves" at #13. It was so nice to have the original version of this song in its original key available for a while, even though the sound quality left something to be desired. My guess is that we won't see this again anytime soon, if ever. Why? I am betting that Ms. Dore is turning a profit from the hideous (seriously, abominably awful) re-recording that is all over the place. The thing is a whole-step or a third lower, sluggish to the max, and just a drag compared to the bright original. Whoever owns the rights, why not get the original up and remove this piece of garbage? Surely there's more money to be made streaming and downloading the original. The entire parent album had been available from Enterprise, and the whole thing is gone, so maybe it doesn't have everything to do with the re-recording, but still...
Down at #29, in a true tragedy for me since I love the song, "Holiday" from The Other Ones has been removed, along with its parent album. It appears to still be available in Europe, can anyone confirm? The group only had the one hit in the U.S., so maybe making that hit available here isn't a priority, but Alf and Janey Klimek appear to still be active. No way to appeal to them to make this truly awesome song available again? I do think that the song and album, when they were available, were connected to Rdeg, though. It disappeared around the same time as the Charlie Dore album.
At #32, "I Couldn't Say No" by Robert Ellis Orrall and Carlene Carter had been available on a compilation from--yes, Rdeg. It disappeared at the same time as the two above.
A couple of the rare Enterprise/Rdeg songs and albums are still available. But consider them unstable. I don't want to draw attention to them, so won't mention them.
Sometimes, a truly obscure song that was not even in the Spotify database will surprisingly show up. We have an example here in "The Clapping Song" by Pia Zadora at #36. A polarizing figure when she was famous, Zadora's song is almost a novelty. But it was a Top 40 song in 1983, and it's available now (legit release from Curb Records).
Drawing attention to the most glaring omissions at this point...the biggest one is STILL Irene Cara's What a Feelin' album. Mr. Ek, what is the issue here? This album was long available and it contains four Top 40 hits. One of those is Top 20, another is Top 10, and one was a massive #1 hit for 6 weeks. It is licensed to Canadian label Unidisc and is available on iTunes and other download stores. Its absence is criminal, especially with no explanation. Make it happen!
I have noticed the absence of Mick Jagger's solo albums come up on a couple of discussion boards, but we still have no explanation or timetable for their return. Keith Richards just signed a new deal with BMG for his solo catalog, so something might be up with Mick's solo work. It would be nice to know.
Barry Gibb's Now Voyager album, from which the #37 song "Shine, Shine" stems, remains unavailable. I inquired with the curator of the Gibb Collective website, who actually made contact with Barry's agent, and they don't seem to know why it is unavailable (sigh). It has something to do with Barry being signed to Sony as a solo artist but to UMG/Capitol as a Bee Gee. It had been licensed to Warner, along with the Bee Gees catalog, before that catalog moved over to UMG/Capitol. So somebody connected to Mr. Gibb knows that the album and its Top 40 hit are now unavailable. The question is whether anyone cares enough to do anything about it.
Rant agaist Spotify. I've been sarcastic about this, but now I'm going to be serious. The decision to remove the database matching feature for unavailable local files was a horrendous one, and I can't believe somebody at Spotify was ignorant enough to make the decision to end it. And I can't believe that Daniel Ek, who seems to care about his customers, wouldn't have fired this nameless underling immediately for making such a horrific move, and restored the feature. That, and the sourcing issue mentioned above really need to be fixed. Allow songs to display the source that users play, or add to playlists from, not some other arbitrary source. Seems logical and simple, but apparently not. The Doobie Brothers song listed above is a great example of this.
Would argue that Thomas Dolby's catalog still a glaring omission. She Blinded Me With Science, Hyperactive, Windpower, Europa all still missing!
I am also going to reiterate my disgust about the practice of making an entire album available EXCEPT the big hit single. If labels are responsible for this, it is borderline unethical. The Doobie Brothers "The Doctor" was an example of this (and still is since it isn't sourcing correctly from the album). Other examples are Johnny Lee "Lookin' for Love" where the entire album, of which it is the title track, is otherwise available. Ditto for the Paul Carrack album One Good Reason, which is mostly available except for the #9 hit "Don't Shed a Tear." This sort of thing is wholly unconscionable.
Unfortunately, there has been some recent activity that has seen more precision strikes of songs. At this point, with all the "big names" pretty much on board, we are likely to see more removals than additions or restorations. Songs that disappear, even from big artists like Mick Jagger, just aren't getting enough attention for anyone to do anything about it. So this update is all bad and no good, except for yet another reappearance of "Lookin' for Love" via compilation that is sure to be reversed before too long as have all previous reappearances.
The most egregious elimination was of several Olivia Newton-John songs, most notably the #5 "Make a Move on Me." Obviously, somebody at Spotify knows why this happened, but nobody is going to tell us. There were some other songs that became greyed out in recent days too. Hopefully the ONJ thing at least is quickly resolved. Also, the Doobie Brothers "The Doctor," which had been available via compilation for a while, is again unavailable. Here is the list of new (all negative) changes:
#5: "Make a Move on Me" by Olivia Newton-John
#20: "Soul Kiss" by Olivia Newton-John
#21: "Earth Angel" by New Edition
#28: "That's Love" by Jim Capaldi
#31: "Livin' in Desperate Times" by Olivia Newton-John
#36: "Salt in My Tears" by Martin Briley (it appears that a re-recording of this is available)
#38: "Tied Up" by Olivia Newton-John
Also, the #19 "Don't Stop the Music" by Yarbrough and Peoples was greyed out in the only source that had decent album art. The song, in both long and short versions, is legitimately available elsewhere, so with as much bad as has been happening with song removal, I guess I shouldn't complain about that. I'm guessing the example of "Earth Angel" by New Edition might have to do with the fact that it is a cover and something about rights of the original, but then again, a couple of single versions of their songs have also been greyed out (the longer album versions are still available).
That is seven new disappearances, which is alarming, but four of them are from a single major artist, and will hopefully get enough attention to be dealt with soon. Everything from the "Xanadu" soundtrack is still available, as are some other hits like "Physical," "Heart Attack," and "Twist of Fate." "Make a Move on Me" is the big one.
"Soul Kiss" is yet ANOTHER example of an entire album being available EXCEPT for the (in this case only) hit single. Ditto "Earth Angel" by New Edition (but I really think that has to do with something regarding the original tying into a cover). Daniel Ek really needs to make a point of getting after labels for this unscrupulous practice.
Positive update:
The #13 "Pilot of the Airwaves" by Charlie Dore, along with its parent album Where To Now appears to now be legitimately available with a license notice for the original label, Island Records, along with Enterprise Music, an Rdeg subsidiary. This was apparently at the behest of Ms. Dore herself.
Now that the original is available, can we please purge the lower-key re-record from Spotify? That would be awesome.
Slade has since licensed their material, so the #20 "Run, Run Away" and the #37 "My, Oh My" are now available.
And the #29 "Holiday" by The Other Ones is thankfully back up.
I haven't done a thorough check for any new removals. I haven't noticed any, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any.
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