Pop Music Activism

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@aquaplex might be a bit off your priority list but I went on a bit of an obscure 90s R&B journey recently and there's still a lot missing naturally. Two that popped up this week that I wanted to listen to but weren't available were the 1994/1995 albums from 80s divas Donna Allen ("Real") and Jaki Graham ("Real Life")... have they ever been on your radar?

I hate incomplete discographies! I'm assuming it was due to label changes mid career, because other albums/songs are available.
 
Jaki Graham was slightly on my radar (You Can Count On Me) but afraid so much missing and so little time. Some of the Jaki stuff seem to be on obscure labels (her first three where major label)
 
Sorry another request :D I noticed the BUSH album Razorblade Suitcase is unavailable in the UK, and it's the album that has SWALLOWED on it :shock:

Not really in your regular wheelhouse, but I'm assuming it's just region-locked from some initial upload many years ago. If there's anything you could do to unlock it I'd be grateful :D



(Unrelated but HOW HOT was Gavin Rossdale!)
 
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Yeah You Can Count On Me was such a tune. Also Absolute E-Sensual. In fact she had 3 singles from that era, the other being a cover of Ain't Nobody which might be one of the obstacles, but the album without it would be fine - the cover wasn't that great.
 
Sorry another request :D I noticed the BUSH album Razorblade Suitcase is unavailable in the UK, and it's the album that has SWALLOWED on it :shock:

Not really in your regular wheelhouse, but I'm assuming it's just region-locked from some initial upload many years ago. If there's anything you could do to unlock it I'd be grateful :D



(Unrelated but HOW HOT was Gavin Rossdale!)

Already on this. Emailed their manager, distributor, lawyer and a member of the band and none bothered to reply. The lawyer eventually did and said the distributor was sorting it. That was two months ago. Clearly they ain’t in a hurry.
 
As it happens I started keeping a log a while ago of songs I would search for on Spotify and not find. I have most of them on mp3 on a hard drive somewhere and of course keep meaning to locate them but just can't be ARSED and continue to wait in vain for at least some of them to pop up on streaming eventually. Mostly dance and R&B but some pop as well. ALL of these songs, I think, charted in the UK so we are not talking about bootlegs and white labels here.

It's mostly just 90s stuff as that tends to be the playlists I make outside of recent music which is very rarely missing from streaming.

Steven Dante - Love Follows
1989​
Lavine Hudson - Intervention
1989​
Paul Johnson - No More Tomorrows
1989​
Robin Beck - Save Up All Your Tears
1989​
Gina Foster - Love Is A House
1989​
Kelly Charles ft James Bratton - Reachin'
1989​
Patti Day - Right Before My Eyes
1989​
Ruby Turner - Paradise (album)
1990​
Alisha Warren - Discover Me
1990​
Natalie Cole - Wild Women Do
1990​
Satoshii Tomiee - And I Loved You
1990​
Redhead Kingpin & FBI - We Rock The Mic Right
1990​
Touch Of Soul - We Got The Love
1990​
Maureen - Thinking Of You
1990​
Cool Down Zone - Heaven Knows
1990​
Brothers In Rhythm - Peace And Harmony
1990​
Lil Louis - Nyce And Slo
1990​
Tammy Payne - Free
1990​
Caron Wheeler - Livin' In The Light
1990​
Lance Ellington - Love Scared
1990​
Cool Down Zone - Waiting For Love
1990​
Mike Hitman Wilson - Another Sleepness Night
1990​
Lindy Layton - Echo My Heart
1991​
The Source ft Candi Staton - You Got The Love (original)
1991​
2 Mad - Thinking About Your Body
1991​
Caron Wheeler - Don't Quit
1991​
DJH ft Stefy - Think About
1991​
Clive Griffin - Reach For The Top
1991​
LA Mix - We Shouldn't Hold Hands In The Dark
1991​
The Big Dish - Big Town
1991​
Victoria Wilson James - Through
1991​
De La Soul - A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays
1991​
Circuit - Shelter Me
1991​
Bizarre Inc - Such A Feeling
1991​
Incognito - Crazy For You
1991​
Moodswings - Spiritual High
1991​
Driza Bone - Catch The Fire
1991​
DNA ft Sharon Redd - Can You Handle It?
1992​
Ruth Joy - Feel
1992​
Zoe - Holy Days
1992​
Urban Soul - Always
1992​
Bomb The Bass - Keep Giving Me Love
1992​
Craig McLachlan - One Reason Why
1992​
Janet Jackson & Luther Vandross - The Best Things...
1992​
Bizarre Inc - I'm Gonna Get You (original)
1992​
Caron Wheeler - I Adore You
1992​
Nu Colours - Power
1992​
Rodeo Jones - Natural World
1993​
Danni'Elle Gaha - Do It For Love
1993​
Bizarre Inc ft Angie Brown - Took My Love
1993​
Stephanie Mills - Never Do You Wrong
1993​
JTQ ft Noel McKay - Love The Life
1993​
Rodeo Jones - Shades Of Summer
1993​
808 State ft Robert Owens - Gimme Shelter
1993​
Lindy Layton - We Got The Love
1993​
Evolution - Everybody Dance
1993​
Aftershock - Slave To The Vibe
1993​
Goodmen - Give It Up
1993​
Will Downing - There's No Living Without You
1993​
Terri & Monica - Uh-Huh
1993​
Judy Cheeks So In Love
1993​
Charlotte - Queen Of Hearts
1994​
Eve Gallagher - Change Your Mind
1994​
Lisa Lisa - Skip To My Lu (remix)
1994​
7669 - Heree Ah Cumm
1994​
Leena Conquest - Boundaries
1994​
Ultraboogie - Head On
1994​
Jaki Graham - Ain't Nobody
1994​
Brand New Heavies - Back To Love (Graham Park mix)
1994​
All Saints - Silver Shadow
1994​
Al Green - Waiting On You
1994​
Project ft Gerideau - Bring It Back 2 Luv
1994​
Think Twice - Waiting For You
1994​
Affair - Are You Ready
1994​
Subliminal Cuts - Le Voie Le Soleil
1994​
Colourblind - Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else
1994​
Y?N-Vee - Chocolate
1994​
Hustlers Convention - Just Can't Give It Up
1994​
EVE - Good Life
1995​
Donna Allen - Real
1995​
Jaki Graham - You Can Count On Me
1995​
Stepz - Hold Me So Tight
1995​
 
Great list @funky. I've probably got mist of them on CD too (possibly some are even on vinyl)

De La Soul is famously not on streaming due to years of legal wrangling but there was an announcement in June that their catalogue had been.bought and will finally be made available.
 
Looking back at that list the Natalie Cole song Wild Women Do from The Pretty Woman soundtrack still seems like a huge omission. Not sure what is going on there. That was a pretty big hit from a massive soundtrack. It doesn't appear on any of her compilation albums.
 
Also Caron Wheeler's less successful and non-charting 1993 second album appearing on Spotify, but her hit 1990 album "UK Blak", which contains 3 hit UK singles, still nowhere to be seen.
 
Actually most of all we REALLY need to get the debut album from Zoe (of Sunshine on A Rainy Day fame) on soon as well. That album was great and contained 3 singles.

Sunshine On A Rainy Day is currently only available via a couple of compilation albums, and we all know how tenuous they are on streaming. They could come off at any minute and then one of the greatest pop songs of the 90s would be completely unavailable... even a SINGLE version would be SOMETHING... especially considering there are two very famous versions of that song, the original album version and the single remix from 1991. I'd take either of them, they're both amazing.
 
Looking back at that list the Natalie Cole song Wild Women Do from The Pretty Woman soundtrack still seems like a huge omission. Not sure what is going on there. That was a pretty big hit from a massive soundtrack. It doesn't appear on any of her compilation albums.
Best Things In Life Are Free is a massive omission too. It was even on that Janet “Number Ones” compilation (compared to a dodgy remix on Design of a Decade) but neither album is streaming :confused:
 
Best Things In Life Are Free is a massive omission too. It was even on that Janet “Number Ones” compilation (compared to a dodgy remix on Design of a Decade) but neither album is streaming :confused:

Janet’s always been weird hasn’t she? I don’t fully know but I’m guessing something to do with her label switch in the early 90s. Didn’t Design of a Decade like miss the whole ‘Janet’ project (other than the main single that they would’ve had to pay big bucks for) due to differing labels? I also remember in the DVD days you could never get a full collection of videos on one due to the same thing.
 
Janet’s always been weird hasn’t she? I don’t fully know but I’m guessing something to do with her label switch in the early 90s. Didn’t Design of a Decade like miss the whole ‘Janet’ project (other than the main single that they would’ve had to pay big bucks for) due to differing labels? I also remember in the DVD days you could never get a full collection of videos on one due to the same thing.
I don’t think streaming issues have much to do with that. It just affected Design of a Decade which was an A&M release with two new songs and only included That’s The Way Love Goes from the Janet album on Virgin, despite being her most successful album at the time.


The Best Things In Life Are Free was I think only on the international edition of the compilation, but the original Mo Money soundtrack album version is superior and If there was an issue with the A&M releases then surely Control and RN1814 would also be missing, right?

Either way, the Number Ones compilation in 2009 seemed to sort out those label disputes - probably because by then Universal had bought both A&M and Virgin anyway.
 
Also Caron Wheeler's less successful and non-charting 1993 second album appearing on Spotify, but her hit 1990 album "UK Blak", which contains 3 hit UK singles, still nowhere to be seen.
This is weirdly available on US Apple Music
 
Think Caron Wheeler is cos rights to her main album we’re split with Universal now having US rights and Sony elsewhere.

Best Things In Life Are Free is on my radar and I followed up last week. It seems that for the post A&M years Janet has to approve digital releases (hence the missing stuff round the Design Of A Decade era). Not sure on the issues with Best Things though!
 
The N’dea Davenport solo album would be a huge one for me to get on Spotify.
Was on V2 / Virgin iirc.
 
Oh N’Dea Davenport! Don’t get me started on Bring It On! Why is that not on streaming? There’s two versions, one also with Guru (which I think is the original) and that’s missing from his album. Something going on with that track. And it’s amazing, a neo soul standard. :(
 
@aquaplex might be a bit off your priority list but I went on a bit of an obscure 90s R&B journey recently and there's still a lot missing naturally. Two that popped up this week that I wanted to listen to but weren't available were the 1994/1995 albums from 80s divas Donna Allen ("Real") and Jaki Graham ("Real Life")... have they ever been on your radar?

I hate incomplete discographies! I'm assuming it was due to label changes mid career, because other albums/songs are available.
This from Cherry Red may be of interest. No idea what it means in terms of possible availability on streaming platforms, though. Or of whether the later stuff will get a release...

Jaki Graham: 35th Anniversary Collection, 4CD Box Set​

Jaki Graham​

£22.99

Released October 22, 2021.

• Four CD set celebrating the 35th anniversary of Jaki Graham’s albums ‘Heaven Knows’ and ‘Breaking Away’ (released in 1985/86). This is the first widely available reissue of the ‘Heaven Knows’ album since 1986.

• Featuring the most comprehensive collection of Jaki’s EMI albums plus loads of related bonus tracks including 12” mixes, remixes of the singles and B-sides from the period.

• ‘Heaven Knows’ contains two UK Top 20 singles; ‘Could It Be I’m Falling In Love’, a duet with David Grant that peaked at #5 and ‘Round And Around’ that reached #9.

• ‘Breaking Away’ enjoyed extensive chart success across Europe and produced four UK Top 20 singles, ‘Mated’, again duetting with David Grant and peaking at #20, ‘Set Me Free’ #7, ‘Breaking Away’ #16 and ‘Step Right Up’ #15.

CD 1 features the ‘Heaven Knows’ album plus bonus tracks including UK single versions of ‘Heaven Knows (Feels So Good)’, ‘Once More With Feeling’ and her duet, ‘Could It Be I’m Falling In Love’ with Linx frontman David Grant, plus the US remixes of ‘Once More With Feeling’ and ‘What’s The Name Of Your Game’.

CD 2 features 12 tracks of extended versions plus remixes including the hard to find ‘Revolutionary Mix’ of ‘Round And Around’ and US remixes of ‘Once More With Feeling’ and ‘What’s The Name Of Your Game’. Also included are ‘Freeze You Out’ and ‘Greatest Smile’, both previously unreleased tracks sourced from the tape archives.

CD 3 features Jaki’s 1986 album ‘Breaking Away’ plus 4 bonus tracks including single versions of ‘Breaking Away’ and ‘Step Right Up’ and extended versions of ‘Set Me Free’ and ‘Mated’.

CD 4 includes various mixes and remixes from the ‘Breaking Away’ period including two mixes of ‘Set Me Free’, three of ‘Breaking Away’, two of ‘Step Right Up’ and ‘Still In Love’ along with a three track Mega Mix featuring ‘Set Me Free’, ‘The Closest One’ and ‘Step Right Up’.

The collection comes in a box with each CD in individual wallets featuring related Jaki Graham sleeve images from the period, with a 20 page booklet including sleeve notes and a UK Discography.

Track Listing:

DISC ONE:
HEAVEN KNOWS
1 ROUND AND AROUND
2 HEAVEN KNOWS (FEELS SO GOOD)
3 COULD IT BE I’M FALLING IN LOVE (DUET WITH DAVID GRANT)
4 I FELL FOR YOU
5 HOLD ON
6 THE FACTS OF LOVE
7 YOU’RE MINE
8 LOVING YOU (DUET WITH DEREK BRAMBLE)
9 WHAT’S THE NAME OF YOUR GAME
10 STAY THE WAY YOU ARE
BONUS TRACKS
11 ONCE MORE WITH FEELING (7” VERSION)*
12 COULD IT BE I’M FALLING IN LOVE (7” VERSION) (DUET WITH DAVID GRANT)*
13 HEAVEN KNOWS (FEELS SO GOOD) (7” VERSION)*
14 VICTIM OF EMOTION*
15 WHO’S MAKING UP YOUR MIND*
16 ONCE MORE WITH FEELING (US REMIX 7”)*
17 WHAT’S THE NAME OF YOUR GAME (US REMIX 7”)*

DISC TWO:
BONUS TRACKS + EXTENDED VERSIONS
1 WHAT’S THE NAME OF YOUR GAME (EXTENDED VERSION)*
2 HEAVEN KNOWS (FEELS SO GOOD) (12” VERSION)
3 ONCE MORE WITH FEELING (EXTENDED VERSION)*
4 COULD IT BE I’M FALLING IN LOVE (EXTENDED VERSION) (DUET WITH DAVID GRANT)
5 ROUND AND AROUND (EXTENDED VERSION)*
6 ROUND AND AROUND (REVOLUTIONARY REMIX)*
7 HEAVEN KNOWS (FEELS SO GOOD) (AFTER HOURS MIX)*
8 ONCE MORE WITH FEELING (US REMIX 12”)*
9 THE FACTS OF LOVE (INSTRUMENTAL)*
10 FREEZE YOU OUT (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)*
11 GREATEST SMILE (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)*

DISC THREE:
BREAKING AWAY
1 SET ME FREE
2 BREAKING AWAY
3 STILL IN LOVE
4 LOVE UNDER MOONLIGHT
5 LET’S GET BLUE (DUET WITH DEREK BRAMBLE)
6 STOP THE WORLD
7 LUV 2 MUCH
8 THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE
9 THE CLOSEST ONE (DUET WITH DEREK BRAMBLE)
10 STEP RIGHT UP
11 MATED (DUET WITH DAVID GRANT)
12 LOVE ME TONIGHT
BONUS TRACKS
13 BREAKING AWAY (SINGLE VERSION)
14 STEP RIGHT UP (SINGLE VERSION)
15 MATED (EXTENDED VERSION) (DUET WITH DAVID GRANT)
16 SET ME FREE (EXTENDED VERSION)

DISC FOUR:
BONUS TRACKS
1 SET ME FREE (DANCE TILL YA DROP MIX)*
2 SET ME FREE (SPECIAL EXTENDED MARK BERRY MIX)*
3 BREAKING AWAY (EXTENDED VERSION)*
4 BREAKING AWAY (SAX VERSION)*
5 BREAKING AWAY (SPECIAL DUB “MULTI BAND DELAYED” RE-MIX)*
6 LOVE ME TONIGHT (EXTENDED VERSION)*
7 STEP RIGHT UP (PURE DANCE MIX)*
8 STEP RIGHT UP (DUB MIX)*
9 THE MEGA MIX (SET ME FREE, THE CLOSEST ONE, STEP RIGHT UP)*
10 STILL IN LOVE (LIGHTS DOWN (LOWER MIX))
11 LUV 2 MUCH (TOO MUCH 12”)
12 STILL IN DUB*
* denotes appearing on CD for the first time
 
Not a request per se @aquaplex as I know you must have a very long list, but I see Petula Clark’s (quite extraordinary) ‘Cut Copy Me’ is not on Spotify in the UK which seems a shame.
 
Is there any chance of ever getting Prince's 'The most beautiful girl in the world' on there?
 
Is there any chance of ever getting Prince's 'The most beautiful girl in the world' on there?

I think there's a VERY long running legal case for that song, where somebody has claimed it's "borrowed" the melody or elements from another song - unlikely to get solved any time soon as poor Prince is NO MORE, and I doubt it's top the list of things for the Prince estate to tackle :D
 
If of interest anyone wants to show their thanks, or if anyone wants a good retro club night, I’m doing this in London on Saturday night.

If you’re the kind of person who wishes the likes of Supersister, Tymes4, Boom, Fragma, Kaci, bon, Jonathan Wilkes and any pop acts second or third biggest single would be played in clubs, this is the one for you!
https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.evbuc.com%2Fimages%2F146098757%2F390707248163%2F1%2Foriginal.20210831-095619
 

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