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1987 compilation album by various artists
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
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 ".
Personnel
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)
Sales
References
External links