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Rating: Country: U.S.A. Release Date: November 20, 2007 Distributor: Universal Music Related Sites: · Special Olympics Web Site Grade: B

When A Very Special Christmas came out in 1987, it was the first real all-star compilation of holiday music for my generation, and a feel-good purchase knowing the funds would benefit Special Olympics programs around the world. Since then, the venture has grown to a series of six albums, and the first assembly of visuals in the form of the recently-released A Very Special Christmas - The 20th Anniversary Music Video Collection. Seven of the songs appearing here are videos created around the time they appeared on their respective albums, with only the initial three collections represented, and in diminishing quantity. The remaining five are live performances filmed for two "A Very Special Christmas from Washington D.C." events.

Opening things off is a big slab of mid-'80s cheese and old-school rap, "Christmas in Hollis" by Run DMC -- a laughably low-budget affair shot on video that nonetheless communicates its sincerity of message. U2's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" follows, in a black-and-white performance video. Campiness returns with a midriff-baring Gwen Stefani in the punk-ish "Oi To The World" by No Doubt, in a location far removed from snowy holiday scenes you might expect. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" by John Cougar Mellencamp ("After Image") charms with his very young daughter concluding the song with her rendition of the chorus. "Gabriel’s Message" by Sting is a moody production that only reveals the artist out of shadow at the very end. Jon Bon Jovi's "Please Come Home for Christmas" warms your fire in what basically amounts to a make-out session with Cindy_Crawford. The final produced video is "What Child Is This?" by Vanessa Williams -- a lounge number lavishly filmed in black-and-white.

Footage from the final five entries is culled from what looks like a sit-down dinner benefit event from our nation's capital. The first two are from 1998, as Eric Clapton's "Christmas Tears" serves up some tasty blues guitar, and "Oh Holy Night" by Tracy Chapman is just her and her acoustic guitar in an appropriately subdued reading. The concert from 2000 seems to have been a more rambunctious affair, with a trio of performances included here that manage to bring attendees Bill, Chelsea, and Hillary Clinton to their feet. "Run Rudolph Run" by Sheryl Crow is the weakest of the bunch, but the song's very nature sets a fast pace. Wyclef Jean -- at the peak of his solo popularity -- belts out Little Drummer Boy / Hot Hot Hot, and interjects a rap into Stevie Wonder's "Merry Christmas Baby."

With the distinctive Madonna and child artwork by Keith Haring that has graced every cover in the series (as well as the first album's color scheme), A Very Special Christmas - The 20th Anniversary Music Video Collection is a fine compilation and historical record of this charity's artistic contributions that will continue to provide help through its sale. "A Very Special Christmas is a fitting way to spread holiday cheer," said Timothy Shriver, Special Olympics Chairman, "but, more importantly, this gift will help bring the joy of Special Olympics to many more children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing them the chance of a new life -- a life of participation, pride, friendship and joy!" And who can argue with that?