First, there's the album that bears the name and image of Ellen Degeneres. I've known about that one and its been on the List, but its basically a compilation of stuff most visitors here would already have. Older tracks from Stevie Wonder and the Ronettes. Newer stuff from Lady Gaga and Coldplay. In fact, the most notable thing about the album is the terrific joke of the title: "Ellen's The Only Holiday Album You'll Ever Need.........Volume 1". That's a good giggle, but that's about all.
The biggie, I think was "Christmas With Nashville". We reported on that project a long, long time ago. I had wondered what became of it and people on the TV show's Fan forums thought I made the whole thing up. Eventually, Amazon had a listing for an Import and, more recently, the digital download. But I was scratching my head over the domestic CD version. Mystery solved; the hard copy CD is a Target exclusive. The track order is different than that we originally reported, but, otherwise, it is what we thought it was. Pick up "Christmas With Nashville" in store or online.
It was also a bit of a surprise to see the Vamps debut album in a Deluxe version. Once again, it was a very long time ago we reported that The Vamps had recorded several Christmas songs. At the time, at least, the songs were only available digitally and in Great Britain. As "Meet The Vamps" is finally getting its stateside release (and here it is Christmas time), Target scored an exclusive coup (of sorts). The Target version of "Meet The Vamps" includes 3 of the new Vamps holiday tunes, "Jingle Bells", "Hoping For Snow" and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". Typical Boy Band mayhem ensues.