Campaign: Get These Albums on Spotify!

These days, we pretty much take for granted that all the music we will want to listen to is on Spotify (or Apple Music, or Amazon). That’s why it always comes as a shock to me when I get in the mood to hear a certain song or album and search for it on Spotify and find to my horror that it is not available!

Yes, most of these songs can be found on YouTube, but as someone who relies on Spotify for making playlists and easy access listening on my phone, I would rather see these five albums become fully available on all streaming services. The artists and labels are missing out on potential revenue from them by not having them available on the predominant services for music listening, and they are losing the chance to gain new fans (since how many people realistically are out there buying CDs from lesser-known artists).

So today, I would like to start a campaign to get these five albums up on all DSPs. I don’t know the reasoning behind their absence – maybe it’s a contractual problem, maybe the specific label is a streaming hold-out, maybe even the artists themselves have purposefully kept them off. Whatever the reason, I’m hoping this post can get the attention of some of the parties involved to get some movement going.

1. Scott Weiland – Happy in Galoshes

The late Stone Temple Pilots singer’s last proper solo album was one I was not ready for on first listen. It glazed over me. But I gave it another, and then another, and soon I found myself fully in love with this collection of far-out rock ‘n roll, and grew even more appreciative of the amazing range Weiland had. From David Bowie-style star-rock to Tom Petty twangers, Weiland wrote some of the best pop songs of his career here, and its a shame it’s not more wildly beloved. And by not having it easily available on streamers, it’s preventing millions of other folks discovering it.

2. Jesse Malin – Glitter in the Gutter

I was already a fan of Malin’s when this album came out, but this converted me into a super-fan. Every song was an ear worm; catchy, melodic rockers that pulled from Malin’s influences (The Replacements, Springsteen – who guests on the stand-out “Broken Radio”) while also fully establishing his voice as a songwriter.

3. Gin Blossoms – Major Lodge Victory

The Gin Blossoms were one of my favorite 90’s groups, so I was beyond stoked when I first heard they were coming back. And Major Lodge Victory did not disappoint. From the coming-of-age jangle rock of “Learning the Hard Way” to the heart-wrenching “Super Girl”, the Gins showed they were still amazing songwriters and not simply a nostalgia act. I saw the band respond to a question about this on Twitter and say it’s absence was due to the label, so perhaps someone over at Hybrid Recordings can get their act together and make this one available for the masses to hear.

4. Marvelous 3 – Ready Sex Go

The third and final album from Butch Walker‘s first alternative rock band. While Ready Sex Go didn’t have any break-out singles like “Freak of the Week”, songs like “Get Over” and “Radio Tokyo” were fantastic anthems that get stuck in my head to this day, and which I’ve found myself craving to hear again, but alas, except for the first single “Sugarbuzz”, the rest of this album remains unavailable online. Perhaps its due to the band’s battles with label Elektra, but whatever the case – here’s hoping something can be resolved to get this one online soon.

5. Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party – Ultra Payloaded

Perry Farrell‘s always been a bit of a weird dude, but in a great rock ‘n roll way. For his one and only album under the Satellite Party moniker, he truly sought to make an album that reflected a space-age rages, bringing in guests ranging from Fergie to New Order, and even putting music to a poem by the late Jim Morrison. While not every song was a smash, there was enough great material and strong ideas here to make this