Welcome to the first installment of the Car Boot Christmas Countdown! Over the next ten days (taking us up to Christmas Eve) I'll be posting about all the festive records I've been gathering together from car boot sales and chazzas during the year in readiness for the season, not to mention the Car Boot Christmas Special cloudcast.
First up then, costing £2, A Very Special Christmas:
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| Various Artists - A Very Special Christmas (1987) |
This star studded album was released in October 1987 in aid of the Special Olympics and attracted a host of big-hitters from both sides of the pond including Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, U2 and Stevie Nicks. Songs include both the traditional and more modern, from Alison Moyet's Coventry Carol, through Whitney Houston's Do You Hear What I Hear? to the magnificent Christmas In Hollis from Run DMC.
Producer Jimmy Iovine's desire to put out an album of Christmas music in memory of his father, and his wife Vicki's idea that proceeds support Special Olympics athletes worldwide resulted in not just this quadruple platinum record, but an entire series over the past 27 years.
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| The rest of the series to date |
Like the performances, production and other costs, artist Keith Haring's striking cover image was provided free of charge, meaning that 100% of proceeds from the whole series have enabled athletes in hundreds of countries to take part in coaching programmes and competitions. You can find out more about the albums and the charity here: http://www.averyspecialchristmas.org/
With such a great line-up on this record, when trying to pick out a couple of tracks for the Car Boot Christmas Special I was spoilt for choice and ended up using four! I'll certainly be keeping a lookout for the other albums on my travels - I'd no idea that there was such a large series. As the second installment didn't come out until 1992, it's only Volume 1 that can be found on vinyl. The rest are readily available on CD from the charity's website and online retailers.
Tracklisting
Side 1.
1. The Pointer Sisters - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.
2. Eurythmics - Winter Wonderland.
3. Whitney Houston - Do You Hear What I Hear?
4. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Merry Christmas Baby.
5. The Pretenders - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.
6. John Cougar Mellencamp - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.
7. Sting - Gabriel's Message.
Side 2.
1. Run DMC - Christmas In Hollis.
2. U2 - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).
3. Madonna - Santa Baby.
4. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - The Little Drummer Boy.
5. Bryan Adams - Run Rudolph Run.
6. Bon Jovi - Back Door Santa.
7. Alison Moyet - Coventry Carol.
8. Stevie Nicks - Silent Night.
Make sure you come back tomorrow (Tues 16th Dec) for Part 2 of the Car Boot Christmas Countdown, featuring two more festive LPs for the cheapskate record collector.
Hear me playing selections from this album and loads more Christmas music on vinyl gleaned from the boot sales and charity shops of Suffolk in the Car Boot Christmas 2014 cloudcast:
See you tomorrow!
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