A Very Special Christmas (album)

Last updated
A Very Special Christmas
A Very Special Christmas.jpg
Cover art by Keith Haring
Compilation album by
various artists
ReleasedOctober 12, 1987 [1]
Genre Christmas music, Children's music
Length50:57 (Original version)
51:11 (Revised version)
Label A&M
Producer
Various artists chronology
A Very Special Christmas
(1987)
A Very Special Christmas 2
(1992)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]
New Musical Express 9/10 [3]

A Very Special Christmas is the first in the A Very Special Christmas series of Christmas-themed compilation albums produced to benefit the Special Olympics. The album was released on October 12, 1987, and production was overseen by Jimmy Iovine for A&M Records. A Very Special Christmas has raised millions of dollars for the Special Olympics. [4] The cover artwork was designed by Keith Haring.

Contents

On January 16, 1998, the album was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of four million copies in the United States. [5]

As of November 2014, A Very Special Christmas is the 19th best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the United States during the SoundScan era of music sales tracking (March 1991 – present), having sold 2,520,000 copies according to SoundScan. [6]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie The Pointer Sisters 3:22
2."Winter Wonderland" Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith Eurythmics 3:36
3."Do You Hear What I Hear?" Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker Whitney Houston 3:33
4."Merry Christmas Baby"Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band 4:53
5."Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane The Pretenders 4:42
6."I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" Tommie Connor John Cougar Mellencamp 2:39
7."Gabriel's Message" Charles Bordes and Sabine Baring-Gould Sting 2:14
8."Christmas in Hollis" Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels and Jason Mizell Run-D.M.C. 3:00
9."Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry and Phil Spector U2 2:21
10."Santa Baby"Joan Javits, Philip Springer and Tony Springer Madonna 2:35
11."The Little Drummer Boy" Katherine Kennicott Davis, Harry Simeone and Henry Onorati Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band 3:32
12."Run Rudolph Run" Johnny Marks and Marvin Brodie Bryan Adams 2:43
13."Back Door Santa" Clarence Carter and Marcus Daniel Bon Jovi 3:54
14."The Coventry Carol" Traditional Alison Moyet 3:25
15."Silent Night" Josef Mohr and Franz X. Gruber Stevie Nicks 4:37

Personnel

According to the liner notes: [7]

Musicians

Technical personnel

Sales

Sales for "A Very Special Christmas"
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada210,000 [8]
United States2,520,000 [6]

References

  1. A Very Special Christmas Vol. 1 | A Very Special Christmas
  2. A Very Special Christmas at AllMusic
  3. Quantick, David (14 November 1987). "33". New Musical Express . p. 34. ISSN   0028-6362.
  4. McGee, Matt (2008). U2: A Diary. Omnibus Press. p. 111. ISBN   978-1-84772-108-2.
  5. "RIAA Searchable Database". Recording Industry Association of America . Archived from the original on 2014-08-30. Retrieved 2014-12-02.
  6. 1 2 Billboard Staff (2014-12-01). "The Gifts That Keep on Giving: Biggest Radio and Album Hits of the Holidays". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2014-12-02.
  7. A Very Special Christmas (CD booklet). Various Artists. Europe: A&M Records. 1987. 393 911-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. Mackie, John (December 8, 1987). "Pick of the Christmas albums". The Vancouver Sun . p. D10. ProQuest   243718319 . Retrieved March 1, 2024. The Christmas record this year belongs to A&M records, who have sold some 210,000 copies in Canada