Columbia Records isn't treating Merry Christmas, due Nov. 8, as just another holiday album. It's the first seasonal album by the best-selling female solo artist of the '90s, Mariah Carey, and it will be handled as such.
In an unprecedented move for a Christmas release, Columbia will issue three different tracks to five different radio formats on Nov. 14, and has videoclips of two tracks completed.
“All I Want For Christmas Is You,” an original written by Carey, will be serviced to top 40 and AC. Another Carey-penned song, “Miss You Most (At Christmas Time),” will be serviced to R&B radio, and “Born On This Day,” an original by Carey and frequent writing partner Walter Afanasieff, will go to gospel and Christian radio.
In addition, videoclips for “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and “Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)” have been completed. The former will be serviced to MTV and VH-1, with the latter clip initially going to BET. “However, we do anticipate that MTV, VH-1, and BET will play both clips,” says Jay Krugman, Columbia VP of marketing.
A few different remixes of “Joy To The World” are being prepared for a 12-inch single that will be worked at clubs, Krugman adds.
On the retail front. Columbia will provide rack accounts with special display bins. Carey stand-ups, posters, flats, and bin cards will be available to retailers.
“I can't recall another Christmas album hitting such a wide variety of formats,” Krugman says. For Carey, he adds, the multiformat plan is appropriate: “Mariah is one of the most gifted and rare artists who transcends any one particular format. The marketing plan reflects the wide spectrum of her audience.”
Carey says her goal was to find a balance between new material and the classics. “It was kind of hard to choose which classic songs to record. So many songs have been done to death. You have to have a nice balance between classic standard Christmas hymns and fun songs.
“It was definitely a priority for me to write at least a few new songs, but for the most part, people really want to hear the standards at Christmas, no matter how good a new song is.”
The seven seasonal favorites on the album, produced by Carey and Afanasieff, are “Silent Night,” “O Holy Night,” “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” “Joy To The World,” “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” “Hark The Herald Angels Sing,” and “Jesus, Oh What A Wonderful Child.”
Retailers expect the mix of classics and Carey's originals to be a winning combination. “It wouldn't surprise me if it's the No. 1 Christmas album,” says Rick Levy, a music buyer for the 170-store, Philadelphia-based chain The Wall. “We're counting on it to be a very big seller.”
Getting in the spirit of Christmas wasn't a problem for Carey. “I actually started recording right after last Christmas. The first song I did was ‘Silent Night.’ The decorations didn't seem too out of place in the room at that point, and it didn't seem too strange to be singing Christmas music.”
The videoclip for “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was also completed during that time. “Everything that is in the video is really authentic Christmas stuff,” Carey says.
As work continued on the album into the spring and summer, Carey says, “It was kind of like the Christmas that never ended,” as the decorations remained on display in the studio.
Artistically, Carey enjoyed working on a Christmas album. “It comes from a totally different state of mind than when you are recording your own studio album. The writing and the actual recording of the new Christmas songs was really an interesting experience, because you are coming from a totally different perspective.”
The decision for Carey to cut a holiday album made perfect sense. “I'm a very festive person and I love the holidays,” she says. “I've sung Christmas songs since I was a little girl. I used to go Christmas caroling.”
To capture an authentic gospel feel on some of the material, Carey called on Loris Holland. “He co-arranged and co-produced some of the songs, and that added a really great authentic gospel flavor to a lot of the stuff.”
For example, on “Jesus, Oh What A Wonderful Child,” Carey says, “We cut the track live and had the guys that play it in church and the girls singing it. It wasn't like a traditional recording session. I had all my backup singers and their husbands and their babies playing tambourines, so we got to experience some real authentic church flavor.”
The campaign for Merry Christmas will kick off while Carey is riding high on the success of her duet hit remake of “Endless Love” with Luther Vandross. She recently visited Europe on a promotional tour, stopping in London to do Top Of The Pops with Vandross. “Luther, to me, is one of the best male vocalists in the world,” Carey says.
As for the future, Carey is already at work on her next studio album. “I already have seven songs,” she says. “I don't know when it's going to come out, but I want to go into the studio soon and start recording. I don't really stop writing and stop having musical ideas. I like to keep everything flowing.”
For now, the singer is looking forward to Christmas. Says Carey, “I hope that it snows.”