Canadian country singer Anne Murray first broke through in both the US and Canadian markets in 1970 with the song "Snowbird", which actually peaked higher on the main US Billboard chart than on the country chart (#8 vs. #10). She would go on to have a string of hits on both the country and main charts of both countries, culminating in her #1 hit "You Needed Me" in 1978. That, however, would prove to be her last top ten single on the main US chart, though she would continue to score numerous top ten appearances on the country charts, including several #1s, during the 80s. Her career slowed during the 90s, though she still remained a force on the Canadian chart, until she seemed to retire from producing new material around the turn of the century. That was when she also got a bit of newfound notoriety when she was namedropped in the Oscar-nominated song "Blame Canada" from South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut (South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker approached her about performing the song at the Oscars, and she was reportedly game, but had a prior commitment on Oscar night).
Near the height of her American popularity, she starred in a special for CBS in 1981, one that is unfortunately not fully available online. 14 years later, with her popularity having faded considerably south of the border, she starred in Anne Murray's Classic Christmas for the CBC. And for any CBC affiliates worried about running afoul of Canadian content laws, this special certainly would help them meet the quota, as it was so Canadian that I'm shocked that Murray didn't enter playing hockey while dressed as a Mountie and guzzling maple syrup.
Instead, she enters walking down a snow-covered path singing "Winter Wonderland", which includes poising in front of a snowman during the "In the meadow/we can build a snowman" line and entering the studio during "later on, we'll conspire/as we dream by the fire" (yes, the set has a fireplace). Not to question Murray's visual choices, but it's a bit too literal video for me.
Murray has three special guests, all, as you can guess, very Canadian. Roch Voisine, who grew up in the Francophone region of New Brunswick before moving to Quebec, was her first guest. He was fairly popular in English Canada, but was even more popular in French Canada and French-speaking Europe. Needless to say, he never broke through in the US. At the time of the special, he was 32, and Murray, who wasn't quite old enough to be his mother, gushed over his looks (and to be fair, he was quite attractive). He also has a nice voice (if somewhat accented), singing an original song before duetting with Murray on a medley, including "We Three Kings", "The Little Drummer Boy", and "Deck the Halls".
The other big musical guest was the Barenaked Ladies. At the time, they had just began to break through in America, though they were already quite popular north of the border. Still, it would be nearly three years before their song "One Week" would become ubiquitous. The group sings a jazzed-up "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" before joining Anne on a medley of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus".
The biggest guest, however, didn't sing a note. Canadian figure skater Elvis Stojko had won the silver medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics and followed that up by winning the world championship in 1995. He gets three segments, one at the beginning where he banters with Anne, and two where he skates respectively to her rendition of "O Holy Night" and then, appropriately enough, to Elvis Presley's "Santa Claus is Back in Town".
After a couple more solo numbers, including one backed by a gospel choir, Murray ends the special singing with her own family, husband Bill (who would separate from Murray two years later) and teenage kids William and Dawn. This was, somewhat oddly, the very end of the special, as they finish singing and cut directly to credits, without Murray offering a customary goodbye.
While the special was clearly of a lower budget than US specials, the differences weren't too glairing. Indeed, CBS could have easily slotted this in on a Tuesday evening some point in December. That said, I don't think American audiences were deprived of much by not getting to see this unless they lived close enough to the border to get a CBC station. Unless you're a big Anne Murray fan, or a fan of one of her guests, or are just very eager to see what a Canadian Christmas special is like, this is a pretty generic evening. Anne Murray's Classic Christmas is a pleasant way to spend an hour, but like most specials, isn't anything more.
Next time: Two TV remakes of a Christmas classic
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