And now, for some very special music in some very special collections - which, incidentally, benefit Special Olympics.

Although Very Special Christmas - Volume 3 has some very nice songs, it's the weakest of this series to date. Sting starts it off with "I Saw Three Ships" - good... "Christmastime" by the Smashing Pumpkins was a very pleasant surprise as I've never paid them much attention, and this is truly lovely... On the other hand, Natalie Merchant just doesn't grab me with her rendition of "Children Go Where I Send Thee" - and I do generally like her work, solo or earlier with 10,000 Maniacs... No Doubt contributes "Oi To The World" - real lively, makes you want to dance... more a joyful sound than an oiful one *L*... one of the better cuts, but certainly far from traditional... Okay, now another that I thought I would have liked, because I like most of what she does - Sheryl Crow's "Blue Christmas"... maybe she would think it's sucessful for bringing me down... it's just too blue for me... Can rappers make music ? Rarely, but this version of "Santa Baby" features an "all star" group of Mase, Puff Daddy, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Salt n' Pepa, Onyx and Keith Murray which is different... unusual... interesting... and not terribly bad, although I prefer the old Eartha Kitt version, or the more recent one by Madonna... Enya does a beautiful bilingual hymn - "Oiche Chiun (Silent Night)"... Hootie and the Blowfish do "The Christmas Song"... maybe since everyone does this eventually, you ought to try it, Bruce ?... Steve Winwood does "Christmas Is Now Drawing Near At Hand," an old Christmas song sung by beggars... Tracy Chapman does "O Holy Night" - I'm not a Chapman fan, but it's not too awful... if you are a fan, you'll enjoy... Patty Smith singing "We Three Kings" was also a disappointment to me... But another redeemer (bad pun, Michael, the season of the birth of the Redeemer and you play on the term for a song you like...Jeez...) is Blues Traveler's "Christmas"... Mary J. Blige ("Christmas In The City"), Johnny Lang, Dave Matthews ("Christmas Song"), and Chris Cornell with Eleven ("Ave Maria") round out this CD...