Bath And Body Works THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS: HOLIDAY MUSIC Series (2004-2006)

For three years and three years only as far as HERC can tell, the omnipresent mall store Bath & Body Works sold double disc music collections filled with Holiday and Christmas songs (yes, Virginia, there is a difference) old and new, vintage and fresh, good and not so good.

The first edition of The Perfect Christmas: Holiday Music does not bear the year in its title like the following editions do but it bears a copyright date of 2004.  In addition to the title, each edition has two discs, each with 12 songs.  The first disc of each edition was manufactured by Universal Music Special Markets while the manufacturer of the second disc varies with each of the three editions.  For the 2004 edition, Warner Special Products handled the second disc, in this case it is labeled BE MERRY while the first disc is labeled BE JOLLY.  The set retailed for $20 with no mention of a charitable cause.  Of the two discs, the first - BE JOLLY - is the better, more consistent listen although BE MERRY has a few outstanding tracks as well.

 

Both the 2005 and 2006 editions of The Perfect Christmas: Holiday Music benefited the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The 2005 came with a bonus third disc of four Christmas songs sung by Make-A-Wish kid, Paige Armstrong.  The extra disc apparently added $4 to the retail price established by the previous year's edition.  The second disc was manufactured by SONY BMG Marketing Group this time around.   Once again, the first disc - SPARKLE - is the better listen with but one weak song (Ashanti's "Hey Santa") smack in the middle of the dozen.  The second disc is titled SHINE and features nine of twelve songs by female artists. 

The 2006 edition of The Perfect Christmas: Holiday Music, like the 2005 before it, states that one dollar from the sale of each CD went to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  The difference this time around was that the 2006 edition retailed for just $10.  The second disc - GLOW - was manufactured by Rhino Custom Products, A Warner Music Group Company and is the more enjoyable listen with but one weak track: Click Five's "My Girlfriend (Forgot Me This Christmas)".  The first disc is GLISTEN.  In the chart below, HERC ranks each disc from the entire series from his most to least preferred:

1	SPARKLE	2005-A
2	GLOW	2006-B
3	BE JOLLY	2004-A
4	SHINE	2005-B
5	BE MERRY	2004-B
6	GLISTEN	2006-A