The 80’s may have been the decade of decadence but when duty called, the day’s biggest stars hung their egos over the door like mistletoe and recorded some of the most memorable and meaningful music of their careers for charity.
Band Aid may have recorded “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, the biggest Christmas hit of the decade but that all-star track wasn’t the only Christmas gift 80’s rockers placed under the tree.
The A Very Special Christmas series of albums featuring some of the biggest-name artists began in 1987 and has since generated over $100 million for the Special Olympics making it the most successful benefit recording in musical history.
A Very Special Christmas
Record producer Jimmy Iovine, former engineer for John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen and producer for Stevie Nicks, Dire Straits and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers wanted to create a Christmas album to dedicate to his father. His wife suggested the Special Olympics as the beneficiary.
Soon after Sting, Madonna and U2 along with Nicks and Springsteen signed on and before long the first A Very Special Christmas album appeared in time for the 1987 holiday season.
1987 was a record year for hits, it was a time when dance music was still called dance music and the CD was inching very close to supplanting the record album as the format of choice. Madonna charted with True Blue, U2 finally hit the big time with The Joshua Tree, Run D-M-C owned rap and Bon Jovi still had the best hair in rock.
A Very Special Christmas was not only one of the biggest Christmas albums of the year, it was also one of the biggest all-star collaborations.
Do You Hear What I Hear
Still years away from her biggest hit, a young Whitney Houston had two number one albums under her belt and a sleigh full of dance/pop hits. For this collection she delivered “Do You Hear What I Hear”, a haunting rendition of the seasonal classic.
The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, fresh off scoring a number one album with his multi-disc live collection mustered enough energy to choke out “Merry Christmas Baby”, while Bryan Adams, still years away from becoming the king of adult radio with his immortal hit “Everything I Do, I Do It For You”, planted the maple leaf on the collection with “Run, Run Rudolph”.
Santa Baby
In typical 80’s fashion, the album features multiple styles side by side. Madonna brings her “Who’s That Girl” kookiness to her playful version of “Santa Baby”, sounding every bit the complete opposite of Sting’s sombre “Gabriel's Message”, a track he reprised on 2009’s “If On A Winter’s Night”.
The Pointer Sisters, who had a handful of hits in the early part of the decade brought their special breed of sisterly love and dorkiness to the holiday favourite “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, The Eurythmics sound both ethereal on the magical on “Winter Wonderland” and even the Pretenders manage to sound festive on “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”.
Little Drummer Boy
Despite the big names and talent featured on A Very Special Christmas, the best tracks on the album come from Bob Seger and Stevie Nicks. Sounding both hearty and humble, Seger delivers a memorable performance of the “Little Drummer Boy” while Nicks’ album closing version of “Silent Night” brings freshness to the classic, making it sound both heart-warming and chilling at the same time. A true classic.
Besides Christmas, no other holiday has featured so prominently in the world of music. And while many people are just as happy to slap on that old Bing Crosby album like they do every year, those with taste, a love of the 80’s and a charitable heart will delight in the original A Very Special Christmas.
A Very Special Christmas by Various Artists is now available as a digital download.
Additional Source: Eunice Kennedy Shriver - One Woman's Vision
James W. Coates - A nomad at heart, James W. Coates has been combining his passion for music, writing and traveling ever since his father packed the family ...
