A Very Special Christmas (album)

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.

A Very Special Christmas
Cover art by Keith Haring
Compilation album by
various artists
ReleasedOctober 12, 1987[1]
GenreChristmas music, Children's music
Length50:57 (Original version)
51:11 (Revised version)
LabelA&M
ProducerJimmy Iovine
Various artists chronology
A Very Special Christmas
(1987)		 A Very Special Christmas 2
(1992)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
New Musical Express9/10[3]

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
TrackSong TitleWriter(s)ArtistTime
1."Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"John Frederick Coots and Haven GillespieThe Pointer Sisters3:22
2."Winter Wonderland"Felix Bernard and Richard B. SmithEurythmics3:36
3."Do You Hear What I Hear?"Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne BakerWhitney Houston3:33
4."Merry Christmas Baby"Lou Baxter and Johnny MooreBruce Springsteen and the E Street Band4:53
5."Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"Hugh Martin and Ralph BlaneThe Pretenders4:42
6."I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"Tommie ConnorJohn Cougar Mellencamp2:39
7."Gabriel's Message"Charles Bordes and Sabine Baring-GouldSting2:14
8."Christmas in Hollis"Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels and Jason MizellRun-D.M.C.3:00
9."Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry and Phil SpectorU22:21
10."Santa Baby"Joan Javits, Philip Springer and Tony SpringerMadonna2:35
11."The Little Drummer Boy"Katherine Kennicott Davis, Harry Simeone and Henry OnoratiBob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band3:32
12."Run Rudolph Run"Johnny Marks and Marvin BrodieBryan Adams2:43
13."Back Door Santa"Clarence Carter and Marcus DanielBon Jovi3:54
14."The Coventry Carol"TraditionalAlison Moyet3:25
15."Silent Night"Josef Mohr and Franz X. GruberStevie Nicks4:37
  • 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".

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. 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.


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