The Holiday Collection artwork

The Holiday Collection — one record, four ways into Christmas

December 1, 2012

You usually meet these songs one at a time. “This Christmas” on the radio, “The Best Day of the Year” on a playlist — each one standing on its own. This post is about hearing them together, as one record.

That is what The Holiday Collection is: not a single, but a set. Four tracks, one artwork, one Christmas — and two songs heard two ways each:

  1. This Christmas
  2. This Christmas (Pop)
  3. The Best Day of the Year
  4. The Best Day of the Year (Bonus) — Bill Champlin

The alt versions are usually heard by very different audiences. The bonus version of “The Best Day of the Year” brings in Bill Champlin, formerly of the band Chicago (2x Grammy winner) — his version finds its audience in Japan. The pop version of “This Christmas,” meanwhile, makes its yearly rounds in the clubs. Same songs, different rooms, different crowds.

Put together, the EP does something the singles cannot do on their own. It is a deeper Christmas listen of fourteen minutes: the bright one, the warm one, each one twice, each time a little different. One artwork over all of it — red, candy cane, stars and hearts.

These songs have travelled a long way separately. “This Christmas,” written with my friend Harry Hess, climbed to number 24 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and has since been played in 27 countries. Heard together, they are not just a hit and a follow-up. They are a collection — and, hopefully, one that will continue to grow, with new Christmas tracks added as they come.

You may notice one Christmas song isn't here yet: "Christmas Ain't the Same (Without You)." This collection is built in pairs — every song twice. It has one version so far. When it gets its second, it joins the set.

Merry Christmas, everybody. 🎅🏻

— Franklin

Songs written and co-written by Franklin McKay.
“This Christmas” — written by Franklin McKay and Harry Hess.
“The Best Day of the Year” — written by Franklin McKay and Harry Hess.