As aware of the market as I was, I had noticed a gradual increase in the amount of new Christmas product through the seventies and eighties. But EVERYTHING changed in 1987.
In 1987, producer Jimmy Iovine and A&M records released "A Very Special Christmas". THE "A Very Special Christmas". The original accept no substitutes "A Very Special Christmas". The album collected up an array of contemporary artists--pretty much the cream of the crop of the day--and let them write and record an original Christmas song, or a traditional favorite, in their very own style. Madonna, The Boss, Whitney Houston, Run DMC, Sting, The Pretenders, The Eurythmics, John Cougar Mellencamp, freakin' U2! On and on it went. The Keith Herring art was iconic. The money raised all went to the Special Olympics. It was the most amazing thing to happen to Christmas music since the Phil Spector album--or at least since the "Original" Soul Christmas album on Atco--certainly the most amazing thing to happen to Christmas music in the years of my personal obsession. After that, the flood gates opened wide and Christmas music flowed free. So much Christmas music, so little time.
It has been 25 years since that revolutionary release, my friends. 25 years. Man, do I feel old. Since then, another 6 "Very Special Christmas" albums have been released, plus a handful of genre based albums that have actually been better than the main series (IMHO). Released in 2009, "A Very Special Christmas 7" was especially disappointing to me, as they turned the project over to the kiddie corps. Carrie Underwood and Sean Kingston, alright; Mitchel Musso, Vanessa Hudgens and Miley Cyrus, not so much. It seemed like the VSC folks had lost their way.
25 years on (and 3 years since their last attempt), "A Very Special Christmas" will celebrate this year with TWO albums. One of the albums, released through WORD records, will be entitled "A Very Special Christmas: Bringing Peace On Earth". That set figures to have a traditional hue to it and you can expect Francesca Battestelli (working on her own Christmas album this year) to be among its featured artists. For the other album, "A Very Special Christmas 25th Anniversary", expect a more contemporary bent harkening back (we hope) to the very first "A Very Special Christmas" (at any rate, no kiddie corps). Artists involved in the projects include Christina Aguilera (those Voice judges all got the spirit at once, didn't they), Michael Buble, Train, Rascal Flatts, Vince Gill and Amy Grant, Cheap Trick, Jason Mraz, Dave Matthews, and The Band Perry. Release is scheduled for October 16. As always, the money raised will go to the Special Olympics, for whom the series has already raised more than $100 million.
I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for something truly amazing. That would make for a Very Special Christmas indeed.