[1] Santa Claus Is Coming to Town performed by Pointer Sisters - 3:21
[2] Winter Wonderland performed by Eurythmics - 3:34
[3] Do You Hear What I Hear? performed by Houston, Whitney - 3:31
[4] Merry Christmas, Baby performed by Springsteen, Bruce / E. Street Band - 4:51
[5] Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas performed by Pretenders - 4:40
[6] I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus performed by Mellencamp, John Cougar - 2:38
[7] Gabriel's Message performed by Sting - 2:10
[8] Christmas in Hollis performed by Run DMC - 2:59
[9] Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) performed by U2 - 2:19
[10] Santa Baby performed by Madonna - 2:34
[11] The Little Drummer Boy performed by Seger, Bob / Silver Bullet Band - 3:29
[12] Run Rudolph Run performed by Adams, Bryan - 2:42
[13] I Wish Everyday Could Be Like Christmas performed by Bon Jovi - 4:26
[14] The Coventry Carol performed by Moyet, Alison - 3:24
[15] Silent Night performed by Nicks, Stevie - 4:36
BRYAN ADAMS - Guitar, Producer, Performer
BON JOVI - Performer
EURYTHMICS - Producer, Performer
WHITNEY HOUSTON - Performer
STEVIE NICKS - Performer
THE POINTER SISTERS - Performer
THE PRETENDERS - Performer
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Producer, Performer
STING - Producer, Performer
U2 - Performer
ANNIE LENNOX - Performer, Keyboards
DAVE A. STEWART - Guitars, Producer, Drum Programming
MADONNA - Performer
JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP - Producer, Performer
ALISON MOYET - Arranger, Producer, Performer, Mixing
RUN-D.M.C. - Performer
SILVER BULLET BAND - Performer
BOB SEGER - Producer, Performer
NILS LOFGREN - Guitar
KENNY ARONOFF - Drums
LISA GERMANO - Fiddle
CLARENCE CLEMONS - Saxophone
RICK VITO - Guitar
ROY BITTAN - Piano, Producer
JOHNNY BLITZ - Keyboards
DON BREWER - Drums
BLAIR CUNNINGHAM - Drums
MICKEY CURRY - Drums, Assistant Engineer
DAVID ERVIN - Keyboards
RICHARD FELDMAN - Keyboards, Producer, Drum Programming
DAVID FREEMAN - Guitar
CRAIG FROST - Piano
STEVE LUKATHER - Guitar
ROBBIE MCINTOSH - Guitar
ALTO REED - Saxophone
T.M. STEVENS - Bass
MIKE WANCHIC - Guitar
RUPERT BLACK - Keyboards
WADDY WACHTEL - Guitar
JAI WINDING - Piano
JIMMY JOHNSON - Bass
STEVE JORDAN - Drums
JON LANDAU - Guitar, Producer
CHRIS CAMPBELL - Bass
JOHN CASCELLA - Accordion
ROBBIE NEVIL - Background Vocals
DARLENE LOVE - Background Vocals
ROSEMARY BUTLER - Background Vocals
SHARON CELANI - Background Vocals
LAURA CREAMER - Background Vocals
DONNY GERRARD - Background Vocals
DORIAN HOLLEY - Background Vocals
PAT PETERSON - Background Vocals
DARRYL PHINNESSEE - Background Vocals
ANDREA ROBINSON - Background Vocals
CRYSTAL TALIEFERO - Background Vocals
JOHN TOWNSEND - Background Vocals
KEITH SCOTT - Background Vocals
JIMMY IOVINE - Producer, Executive Producer
STEVEN ETT - Producer
DON GEHMAN - Producer
CHUCK PLOTKIN - Producer
BOB ROCK - Producer, Mixing
RICK RUBIN - Producer
PETER OXENDALE - Arranger, Producer, Mixing
PETE SMITH - Producer, Engineer, Mixing
MARC DESISTO - Engineer, Assistant Engineer
JOHN FRYER - Engineer
BOB CLEARMOUNTAIN - Engineer
DANNY GRIGSBY - Engineer
ROB JACOBS - Engineer, Assistant Engineer
BRUCE LAMPCOV - Engineer
DAVID LEONARD - Engineer
SCOTT LITT - Engineer
MARK MCKENNA - Engineer, Assistant Engineer
DAN NASH - Engineer, Assistant Engineer
THOM PANUNZIO - Engineer
TOBY SCOTT - Engineer
DON SMITH - Engineer
SHELLY YAKUS - Engineer
SMUDGER - Engineer
JOE CHICCARELLI - Mixing
HUMBERTO GATICA - Mixing
RANDY STAUB - Mixing
BOB LUDWIG - Mastering
STEPHEN MARCUSSEN - Mastering
TOM BANGHART - Assistant Engineer
STEVE BOYER - Assistant Engineer
MIKE MORONGELL - Assistant Engineer
JEREMY LUBBOCK - Arranger
CHARLES JUDGE - String Arrangements, Synthesizer Arrangements
PAUL MARSHALL - Production Coordination
RICH WARREN - Arranger
VICKI IOVINE - Production Coordination
EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER - Liner Notes
KEITH HARING - Art Direction
CHUCK BEESON - Art Direction
RICHARD FRANKEL - Art Direction
FRANK OLINSKY - Art Direction, Design
JEFF GOLD - Art Direction
Recorded to benefit the Special Olympics, this has some of the biggest
names in contemporary music, most covering seasonal favorites with
mixed success. Outstanding tracks include The Pretenders "Have Yourself
a Merry Little Christmas" with Chrissie Hynde giving a touching
performance. Run-D.M.C.'s topical "Christmas in Hollis" relies heavily
on sampling "Back Door Santa" and may head you toward the dance floor.
Alison Moyet's stately version of "The Coventry Carol" is beautifully
haunting. Only the Material Girl, Madonna, embarrasses herself with an
overly campy "Santa Baby."
When was the last time you heard collard greens being sung about in a
Christmas song? Probably never, unless you're a Run DMC fan, or were
wise enough to hop on the Very Special Christmas tip. The rappers'
contribution to this benefit collection is probably the highlight,
although traditional songs covered by now-traditional artists like the
Pretenders ("Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas") provide the
majority of the material here. Eurythmics turn in a suitably chilly
"Winter Wonderland," Stevie Nicks sings a beautifully haunting "Silent
Night," and Whitney Houston proves again that she's every woman with
"Do You Hear What I Hear"--that is, every woman with a voice strong
enough to do the song justice. "Santa Baby," Madonna's contribution,
isn't as sultry as it could be, but there's more fun thanks to
hell-on-heels, the Pointer Sisters and Bon Jovi.
