"Delivering Christmas" Released On New CD

[John Takis]

I was at the Post Office today, and while I waited for the clerk I glanced over their annual holiday CD. To my surprise, the words "The Muppets" popped out at me. Sure enough, Track 11 on the CD is "Delivering Christmas (from Letters to Santa) -- The Muppets featuring Jesse L. Martin". I suppose this should not come as a huge surprise, given that the song is essentially a valentine (or Christmas card) to the postal service. The title of the CD is, appropriately enough, "Letters to Santa," and is available for $9.99 at most USPS locations or on the USPS website's Postal Store.

It's worth noting that this isn't simply audio ripped from the film. It's a true album cut; singers and instruments only -- no side dialogue or sound effects. Interestingly, the track is NOT designated as "previously unreleased." Did this song appear on a previous album -- last year's USPS holiday CD perhaps? Or on some other album that flew by me? As far as I know, no official soundtrack for "Letters to Santa" was ever issued ... although I could easily be wrong.

Anyway, I figured fellow Muppet music completists would probably want to know about this.

 

[theprawncracker]

Huh! That is very interesting! I bet you would be a hero to all of us Muppet fans if you were willing to e-mail a copy of the MP3.

 

[John Takis]

Huh! That is very interesting! I bet you would be a hero to all of us Muppet fans if you were willing to e-mail a copy of the MP3.

While I'm extremely sympathetic to fans who would rather not drop $9.99 on two-and-a-half minutes of music, I think I'll let the struggling postal service make a few more bucks before I start bootlegging their product. But don't worry ... if this album ever drops out of print and becomes scarce as hen's teeth, Santa won't let you down -- I'll vouch for that.

 

[Kermieuk]

Hi Guys,

The Muppets: Letters to Santa Soundtrack album in now available at Amazon it features Delivering Christmas. It contains all 4 main songs from the special for $0.99 each, or buy the whole album all 4 songs for just $2.71, bargain!

Chris

 

[Kermieuk]

Well what a surprise. mp3's from amazon.com are only available to US residents. These limitations on different countries is so annoying.

Can anyone help. Id love to get these on my ipod!

Chris

 

[John Takis]

Thanks for the heads-up, Kermie! But here's something interesting ... now that I compare the two, the Post Office CD features an ALTERNATE VERSION of the song! To wit:

• It's missing the clucking chicken chorus.
• The orchestral backdrop is also a slightly different arrangement; the strings at the beginning, for example, are an octave higher.
• It fades out during the "Gotta beat the clock" vamp at the end, just before it speeds up and gets crazy. Makes more sense for a non-Muppet compilation album.
• Most interestingly, the line "We made the world a promise, there's nothing we won't do / We're here to make your Christmas wish come true" is sung by Bill Barretta's Pepe, rather than by Jesse L. Martin! An uncharacteristic sentiment for Pepe, but there it is.

And, of course, the CD is uncompressed audio. So depending on how much of a completist you are, I'm afraid you're still out $10.

 

[Frogpuppeteer]

Well what a surprise. mp3's from amazon.com are only available to US residents. These limitations on different countries is so annoying.

Can anyone help. Id love to get these on my ipod!

Chris

Im in the us and it wont let me buy it...if anyone can help me out with this and the new version they shall be my best friend

 

[Kermieuk]

Hey Frogpuppeteer,

If someone helps you out would be so kind to send me a copy. Id love these studio official versions.

Please help............anyone!

COcon146765@aol.com

Chris

 

[Stulz]

NOT Jesse L. Martin

Just finished listening to the Alt version on the USPS CD.

It's true that Pepe does sing "We made the world a promise, there's nothing we won't do / We're here to make your Christmas wish come true"

But it gets weirder: Even though Jesse L. Martin is credited in the liner notes and on the case, all his other verses (beside the the one mentioned above) have been replaced by an unknown studio singer.

Also many, but not all, of the "Delivering Christmas" choruses have also been replaced by studio singers and aren't the Muppets at all.

They cut most of the "beat the clock" refrain out and I think the official soundtrack version would be improved by editing that out as well.

As a whole, it's not bad, but the studio singers are not as good as Jesse L. Martin or the Muppet Chorus.