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.
Quick Facts Compilation album by various artists, Released ...
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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]
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No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist | Producer(s) | Time |
1. | "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" | John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie | The Pointer Sisters | Jimmy Iovine, Roy Bittan | 3:22 |
2. | "Winter Wonderland" | Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith | Eurythmics | Eurythmics, Richard Feldman | 3:36 |
3. | "Do You Hear What I Hear?" | Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker | Whitney Houston | Iovine | 3:33 |
4. | "Merry Christmas Baby" | Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore | Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band | Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin | 4:53 |
5. | "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" | Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane | The Pretenders | Iovine, Bob Clearmountain | 4:42 |
6. | "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" | Tommie Connor | John Cougar Mellencamp | Mellencamp, Don Gehman | 2:39 |
7. | "Gabriel's Message" | Charles Bordes and Sabine Baring-Gould | Sting | Sting, Pete Smith | 2:14 |
8. | "Christmas in Hollis" | Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels and Jason Mizell | Run-D.M.C. | Run-D.M.C., Steve Ett (co.), Rick Rubin (co.) | 3:00 |
9. | "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" | Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry and Phil Spector | U2 | Iovine | 2:21 |
10. | "Santa Baby" | Joan Javits, Philip Springer and Tony Springer | Madonna | Iovine | 2:35 |
11. | "The Little Drummer Boy" | Katherine Kennicott Davis, Harry Simeone and Henry Onorati | Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band | Iovine, Bob Seger | 3:32 |
12. | "Run Rudolph Run" | Johnny Marks and Marvin Brodie | Bryan Adams | Adams | 2:43 |
13. | "Back Door Santa" | Clarence Carter and Marcus Daniel | Bon Jovi | Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora | 3:54 |
14. | "The Coventry Carol" | Traditional | Alison Moyet | Moyet, Peter Oxendale | 3:25 |
15. | "Silent Night" | Josef Mohr and Franz X. Gruber | Stevie Nicks | Iovine, Bittan | 4:37 |
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- First pressings of the album contain a spoken introduction on The Pretenders' "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", presumably by a child. This introduction was later omitted, shortening the track by about 13 seconds.
- Starting in 1992, "Back Door Santa" was replaced by another Bon Jovi song, "I Wish Everyday Could Be Like Christmas", which originally appeared as a B-side on their single "Keep the Faith".
According to the liner notes:[7]
Musicians
Technical personnel
- Tom Banghart – assistant engineer (2)
- Jon Bon Jovi – arranger (13)
- Steve Boyer – assistant engineer (5)
- Joe Chiccarelli – mixing (11)
- Bob Clearmountain – mixing (1, 3-6, 9, 12, 13)
- Mark DeSisto – assistant engineer (11), additional engineering
- Peter Droll – assistant engineer (10)
- Steve Ett – engineer and mixing (8)
- Richard Feldman – engineer (2)
- John Fryer – engineer (14)
- Humberto Gatica – mixing (2, 15)
- Danny Grisgby – additional engineering
- Rob Jacobs – assistant engineer (1, 10), additional engineering
- Bruce Lampcov – engineer (5), mixing (5)
- David Leonard – engineer (6)
- Scott Litt – engineer (3, 5, 9)
- Jeremy Lubbock – arranger (10)
- Bob Ludwig – original mastering (4)
- Stephen Marcussen – mastering
- Kooster McAllister – engineer (13)
- Mark McKenna – assistant engineer (1, 3, 11), additional engineering
- Michael Morongell – assistant engineer (1)
- Alison Moyet – arranger and mixing (14)
- Dan Nash – assistant engineer (1, 15), additional engineering
- Peter Oxendale – arranger and mixing (14)
- Thom Panunzio – engineer (3, 9, 15)
- Toby Scott – engineer (4)
- Don Smith – engineer (1, 11)
- Pete Smith – engineer and mixing (7)
- Smudger – engineer (12)
- Roger Talkov – engineer (13)
- Richard Warren – arranger (15)
- Shelly Yakus – engineer (1, 10, 11, 15), mixing (10)
- Michael Young – engineer (13)
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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)