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
Producer
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]

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.

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. 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

Personnel

According to the liner notes:[7]

Musicians

Technical personnel

Sales

Sales for "A Very Special Christmas"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada — 210,000[8]
United States — 2,520,000[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. ^ a b 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 – via ProQuest. The Christmas record this year belongs to A&M records, who have sold some 210,000 copies in Canada

External links


The A Very Special Christmas series
Authority control databases
Categories