Back when I was buying vinyl, and later with CDs, I was a sucker for music associated with a good cause: No Nukes, a Cambodian refugee cause, USA for Africa, and so many more. And not just the We Are The World single but the whole album.
So, I have several CDs in the A Very Special Christmas series, in fact, the first seven (The live album is the fourth, and the acoustic album is the sixth.). The funds go to the Special Olympics, as noted here.
If you have Spotify, which I do, you can hear the whole set of albums. If not, you get the 30-second tease. For those of you in the latter category, my list of some of the songs I like.
The original and still the best (1987)
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town – the Pointer Sisters. They seem to be having such fun.
Winter Wonderland – Eurythmics. Annie Lennox’s great voice shines through.
Do You Hear What I Hear? – Whitney Houston
Merry Christmas, Baby -Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Prime Boss
Gabriel’s Message -Sting. This is in our church hymnal.
Christmas in Hollis – Run-D.M.C. I’ll admit that it took me a moment to embrace it, but now I like it a lot. The last time I took the Long Island Railroad, I noticed the Hollis, Queens stop.
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – U2 -It’s not Darlene Love, as heard on A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, but what is?
Santa Baby -Madonna. I’ve heard lots of complaints that it’s not as good as Eartha Kitt, but I heard this first, so I have an odd affection for it.
The Coventry Carol – Alison Moyet. My favorite song in the entire series.
Volume 2 (1992)
Christmas All Over Again – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. This song always makes my Christmas playlist on the blog.
Merry Christmas, Baby – Charles Brown, Bonnie Raitt. Bonnie had both Charles Brown and Ruth Brown on her subsequent tour.
What Child Is This – Vanessa Williams. That Carol of the Bells intro oddly works here.
Volume 3 (1997)
Children Go Where I Send Theee – Natalie Merchant. I loved this song growing up, and this take is fun.
We Three Kings – Patti Smith. This, by comparison, is particularly dark, which I also enjoy.
The Live album (1999)? There are too many covers of the previous iterations. Volume 5 (2001)? Some OK pieces.
Acoustic (2003)
This is primarily a country/bluegrass album.
Even Santa Claus Gets The Blues -Marty Stuart. It has a great guitar intro.
Christmas Is Near – Ralph Stanley. I love the harmony.
The subsequent album, the 7th volume (2009), is fine, though it covers many of the same songs that I heard before, and the earlier ones are usually better.
After that, 25 Years Bringing Joy to the World and 25 Years of Bringing Peace on Earth (both 2012) I haven’t heard yet. The latter features “Today’s Top Christian Artists.”
Finally, the ICON album (2013) is an odd mix of songs previously on albums from the series (Sting, Aretha, Bon Jovi, Underwood, Petty, Crow), older songs (Lennon, Presley, Wham!), and new songs by Rod Stewart and Josh Groban. You can still purchase these if you’re so inclined.