🎄 Holidays! AOTW: Various Artists, "A Very Special Christmas"

[Rudy]

Now up to Volume 5, with a separate jazz edition entitled Jazz To The World, this popular series raises money for the Special Olympics. This is the historic first (and arguably best) volume, which features a cross-section of pop and rock music of 1989, when it was released:

1. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - The Pointer Sisters
2. Winter Wonderland - Eurythmics
3. Do You Hear What I Hear? - Whitney Houston
4. Merry Christmas Baby - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
5. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas -The Pretenders
6. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - John Cougar Mellencamp
7. Gabriel's Message - Sting
8. Christmas In Hollis - Run-D.M.C.
9. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2
10. Santa Baby - Madonna
11. The Little Drummer Boy - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
12. Run Rudolph Run - Bryan Adams
13. I Wish Everyday Could Be Like Christmas-Bon Jovi
14. The Coventry Carol - Alison Moyet
15. Silent Night - Stevie Nicks

(Apologies for the catalog # on the home page: my AOTW system is set up to handle A&M SP #s for our normal AOTWs.)

 

[Tim Neely]

Now up to Volume 5, with a separate jazz edition entitled Jazz To The World, this popular series raises money for the Special Olympics. This is the historic first (and arguably best) volume, which features a cross-section of pop and rock music of 1989, when it was released:

1. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - The Pointer Sisters
2. Winter Wonderland - Eurythmics
3. Do You Hear What I Hear? - Whitney Houston
4. Merry Christmas Baby - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
5. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas -The Pretenders
6. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - John Cougar Mellencamp
7. Gabriel's Message - Sting
8. Christmas In Hollis - Run-D.M.C.
9. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2
10. Santa Baby - Madonna
11. The Little Drummer Boy - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
12. Run Rudolph Run - Bryan Adams
13. I Wish Everyday Could Be Like Christmas-Bon Jovi
14. The Coventry Carol - Alison Moyet
15. Silent Night - Stevie Nicks

(Apologies for the catalog # on the home page: my AOTW system is set up to handle A&M SP #s for our normal AOTWs.)

Several corrections:
1. The correct catalog number is SP-3911.
2. It was released in 1987. It actually peaked at #20 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, the first Christmas album to get that high in a long, long time. It then re-entered the LP charts in 1988, 1989 and 1990 -- after that, Billboard no longer allowed albums more than a year old to re-enter the main top 200 charts.
3. Sometime in the 1990s (no later than 1994), a change was made in the CD track lineup. The original Bon Jovi track, on the LP, cassette and original CD, was "Back Door Santa," recorded live in 1987. "I Wish Everyday Could Be Like Christmas" was originally the B-side of a single, "Keep the Faith," in the fall of 1992.
4. The CD was also issued as a "gold CD" by Mobile Fidelity.
5. There also was a volume called World Christmas in the same series.

Two of the other songs on the set appeared as singles before this album was released: "Gabriel's Message" by Sting had been the B-side of his single "Russians," issued near Christmas in 1985; and "Merry Christmas Baby" by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band had been the B-side of the single "War," from the live box set in 1986. Both songs made their first LP appearance here.

All in all, this was a breakthrough album; it helped revitalize the Christmas music industry, which, with the sole exception of Mannheim Steamroller, was pretty stagnant in 1987. It had largely been surrendered to Nat and Bing and Elvis and Johnny (Mathis) and a few other warhorses by then. Not that they were bad, but they were old. And most of the more contemporary Christmas recordings either were difficult or inconvenient to get (usually on poorly distributed seasonal 45s).

I remember that most industry observers were shocked at just how successful this album was and how readily it was accepted into the Christmas radio canon, so to speak. Fifteen years after its initial release, I still hear many of these songs on the radio during the Christmas season (this year I've already heard 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 and 13).

 

[Rudy]

Tim--when I posted the CD this morning, I popped over to Amazon to grab some (mis)information, rather than dodge the mess that's collected in the basement. Just realized a few things:

1. The CD was right here on the desk in front of me. Duh! (Just CD, no case...had to grab some tracks to make a compilation.)

2. It is, indeed, CD3911. I was thinking this was past the era of the four-digit catalog numbers. Just made the change on the home page.

3. Whaddaya know, a 1987 copyright date! (1989 didn't seem right when I posted it...I distinctly remember buying it a CD and a cassette during December 1987.)

4. I had no clue there was a change in the tracks, but the sanitized newer version is probably a little more politically correct, if you catch my drift...

5. Note to self: don't post AOTW's on a Monday morning. (As if I'm any sharper on any other particular day of the week! )

To be honest, not many of the tracks are my cup of tea, but there are some "instant classics" on here. U2's contribution, "Christmas (Baby Please come Home)", is one of those that I'll crank up every time. Has that same "big" sound they got on The Joshua Tree. I don't care for Bob Seger much, but his "Little Drummer Boy" is quite good. Sting's song is a bit spooky, but I give him credit for being different and not doing another "'Rudolph" or "Jingle Bells." The one track that we all used to skip around here was the Run-DMC.

IIRC, wasn't there also a live TV special that went along with this first release?

These releases take on a little different meaning when it's possible my older daughter may be eligible for Special Olympics. It's a good program, too--kids who are in Special Olympics, we found out, don't have to pay for much of anything. A bit of a comfort to those of us who already pay out a small fortune for other things that insurance doesn't cover...

 

[Tim Neely]

Yes, I think you are right; I, too, remember a TV special on "the making of A Very Special Christmas" when it came out, in the same vein as the earlier "making of Band Aid" special.

Believe it or not, I had never heard Darlene Love's majestic original version of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" until AFTER I heard U2's version. I love 'em both. It's not Christmas unless I've heard both versions during the season, and I already have.

There are some songs that I'm not keen on, either. Compared to "2000 Miles," the Pretenders' version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a real yawner. But I like the U2, Bob Seger, John Mellencamp, Alison Moyet, and Sting tracks especially.

"Christmas in Hollis" by Run-D.M.C. is a track I've learned to appreciate. The horn sample in it comes from the original version of "Back Door Santa" by Clarence Carter. Speaking of which, I suspect that the real reason the Bon Jovi song was changed was because, frankly, their version of "Back Door Santa" is awful, the worst track on the whole album.

In my former life as a sportswriter, I did several stories on Special Olympians. I have the utmost respect for the organization. Many of them are real athletes who would do well against what the world calls "normal" people, and I tried to treat them as such when I wrote about them.

 

[jimac51]

Madonna revitalized Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby" and brought attention to the original- a Christmas lounge delight! Mac

 

[Tim Neely]

Absolutely true, Mac ... the original had been all but forgotten, but it started to re-appear on compilations within a couple years. By the way, I didn't learn this until last year, but at some point Eartha Kitt re-recorded "Santa Baby" in stereo -- and the arrangement is exactly like Madonna's; same tempo, same orchestration, everything. This other version is on the Season's Greetings Millennium Collection 3-CD set.

 

[Rudy]

By the way, I didn't learn this until last year, but at some point Eartha Kitt re-recorded "Santa Baby" in stereo -- and the arrangement is exactly like Madonna's; same tempo, same orchestration, everything.

I take it Madonna's version came first, then? I seem to recall hearing Eartha Kitt's version last year for the first time...I'm willing to bet it was the newer version, since I was listening hard to tell if it was Madonna or not.

Kitt did a marvelous voice part in the Disney movie "The Emperor's New Groove." She plays a nasty lady, but you can tell she's having a blast playing the part! "Pull the lever, Kronk" ....kerSPLASH... (yelled from afar: "Wrooong lever!")

 

[Tim Neely]

I take it Madonna's version came first, then? I seem to recall hearing Eartha Kitt's version last year for the first time...I'm willing to bet it was the newer version, since I was listening hard to tell if it was Madonna or not.

According to the liner notes of the Season's Greetings 3-CD set, Kitt's second version was copped by Madonna; it says "Originally Recorded Prior to 1972."

 

[Mr Bill]

I remember when this first came out A&M announced they were going to doseveral Chrstmas singles from both this album as well as new and old items. Artsits specifically announced were Bryan Adams, Billy Crystal and Herb Alpert. The only one I actually ever saw (and bought) was Bryan Adams' "Christmas Time"/"Christmas Reggae." I belive the Billy Crystal one only went as far as radio promo copies. Of course, we'd get no new Herb Christmas material until Jazz To The World came along quite some time later...

--Mr Bill

 

[Tim Neely]

I remember when this first came out A&M announced they were going to doseveral Chrstmas singles from both this album as well as new and old items. Artsits specifically announced were Bryan Adams, Billy Crystal and Herb Alpert. The only one I actually ever saw (and bought) was Bryan Adams' "Christmas Time"/"Christmas Reggae." I belive the Billy Crystal one only went as far as radio promo copies. Of course, we'd get no new Herb Christmas material until Jazz To The World came along quite some time later...

--Mr Bill

I don't remember any plans for singles from the album. Actually, Bryan Adams' "Christmas Time" pre-dates A Very Special Christmas by a couple years; I remember it coming out on green vinyl in the 8500 series from the first, and in consecutive Christmas seasons it came out with two different picture sleeves.

Billy Crystal's "The Christmas Song" did make it to stock copies; I remember seeing it at Tower Records in the late 1980s, long after its picture sleeve was out of print.

Someone could probably put together a really nice album of stuff that consisted entirely of Christmas singles that A&M put out. Many of them did not appear on albums at the time; "My Favorite Things" by Herb & the TJB was a notable exception. Of course, "Merry Christmas Darling" by the Carpenters came out in 1970 and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" in 1974; there was a Shawn Phillips Christmas single, "A Christmas Song," also in 1970; you had "A Spaceman Came Travelling" by Chris DeBurgh -- a really neat song, first issued in 1976 and then again in 1977 as a 45 in the US; plus LP tracks by Herb Alpert -- his version of "The Bell That Couldn't Jingle" was a single in 1970 -- and Amy Grant ("Tennessee Christmas" was issued as a 45 with a picture sleeve).

 

[Rudy]

Tim: totally non-A&M related (and I don't have your Xmas guide in my hot little hands yet )...I've been curious about Al Jarreau's version of The Christmas Song. I recall hearing it on WJZZ for years (from at least the mid 80's if not earlier--I almost want to say 1983?), never was able to find it on 45, but a few years ago I lucked out and found it on a promotional CD single! Aside from the incredible luck, I was curious if it was ever commercially released. I was never able to find it, but that could also have been our stores' stocking situations.

Back then, Jarreau could have made one heck of a great Xmas album if he's put his mind to it. Not so sure lately, unless he went with a more traditional or jazz style like his best albums in the first half of the 80's. Some of his most recent recordings haven't done much for me. An even better idea would be an Al Jarreau & Friends holiday album. I saw him most recently, two summers ago, in a "festival" tour that featured Joe Sample, David Sanborn, George Duke and Roberta Flack. He's worked with enough other musicians that they could put together a really good project with a contemporary jazz edge without drifting into Smooth Jazz.

 

[Tim Neely]

Tim: totally non-A&M related (and I don't have your Xmas guide in my hot little hands yet )...I've been curious about Al Jarreau's version of The Christmas Song. I recall hearing it on WJZZ for years (from at least the mid 80's if not earlier--I almost want to say 1983?), never was able to find it on 45, but a few years ago I lucked out and found it on a promotional CD single! Aside from the incredible luck, I was curious if it was ever commercially released. I was never able to find it, but that could also have been our stores' stocking situations.

It was only issued on 45; indeed, you remember the correct year (1983). The more common version is a green-label promo copy on Warner Bros. with the catalog number "PRA" instead of a number (I own this and can confirm this). It also came with a picture sleeve. On the B-side is a version with a spoken message from Al Jarreau before it starts.

There was a regular copy of this single scheduled (Warner Bros. 7-29446) with "Our Love" on the B-side. My information is that this did come out on a 45 with a different picture sleeve than the "PRA" edition, but it's also possible that this version never made it beyond the promo stage.

It has since appeared on the CD Slow Jams Christmas Volume 2 (The Right Stuff, 1997). And it also appears on the Time-Life 2-CD set Body and Soul Christmas.

 

[Rudy]

Wow...that's the complete story. Thanks! 1983 was a good guess--it was the year I saw Jarreau in concert for his Jarreau album ("Mornin'", "Boogie Down"), and this recording sounded like it was recorded during the same sessions. I should dig out the CD and see if it gives the year that promo CD was pressed, and what number they assigned to it.

I miss our Live365 broadcast. Last year this time, I had enough tunes uploaded to where I had over 24 hours of Xmas music online...no repeats! I've thought about running Shoutcast from my Unix box here at home, but I don't think Comcast would care for the outgoing bandwidth usage...