Christmas in Our Hearts

Christmas in Our Hearts is the seventh studio album and the first Christmas album by Filipino singer-songwriter and businessman Jose Mari Chan. It was released on November 17, 1990, by Universal Records. The album sold over 600,000 units in the Philippines in 2006, certifying Double Diamond by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI).[2] It is considered to be the first OPM album to surpass the Diamond status. It is currently the biggest-selling album in the Philippines, selling more than 800,000 copies to date.[3] Due to the recurring popularity of the song and album during the annual holiday season, Chan became known to Filipinos as "The Father of Philippine Christmas Music."[4][5]

Christmas in Our Hearts
Studio album by
Jose Mari Chan
ReleasedNovember 17, 1990[1]
Recorded1990 (see recording locations)
GenreHoliday, adult contemporary, easy listening, spirituals
LanguageEnglish
LabelUniversal
ProducerJose Mari Chan
Jose Mari Chan chronology
Constant Change
(1989)		 Christmas in Our Hearts
(1990)		 Thank You Love
(1994)
Alternate cover
25th Anniversary Edition cover
Singles from Christmas in Our Hearts
  1. "Christmas in Our Hearts (with Liza Chan)"
    Released: November 1990
  2. "A Perfect Christmas"
    Released: December 1990

The album also features cover versions of "A Christmas Carol", "This Beautiful Day", and "Christmas Children" from the 1970 musical Scrooge.

The album has been re-released as a 25th Anniversary Edition on iTunes, Spotify, and Spinnr on October 30, 2015.

Background

According to Chan, the title track and first single of the album, "Christmas in Our Hearts", was originally an arrangement titled Ang Tubig Ay Buhay ("Water Is Life"), based on a poem written by Chari Cruz-Zarate. He took him two days to set the words to music, intending to make it a silver jubilee song for the Assumption High School Class of 1963. He described the poetry of Ang Tubig ay Buhay as very beautiful, which he found easy to compose a melody for.[6]

It was a catchy, pretty melody, which I felt was too precious to use only for a Class Homecoming. So I decided to turn it into a Christmas song.[6]

Before production started, Chan had attended Mass at the Santuario de San Antonio Parish in Forbes Park, Makati; when a young lyricist named Rina Cañiza knocked on his car window. Cañiza would later replace the poem with the lyrics of "Christmas in Our Hearts" as we know it today, using Chan's melody for Ang Tubig ay Buhay. Chan also contributed some words to the song upon its submission, wherein his record producer, Bella Dy Tan, gave her opinion that the song was not going to sell because it was a Christian song. Chan then came up with the song, "A Perfect Christmas", which Tan said would be a hit. However, when Chan played both songs at a press conference, the media and DJs singled out "Christmas in Our Hearts" as their favorite. Tan was astonished to observe that the public loved the song. "Christmas in Our Hearts" eventually became a runaway hit and remains one of the most played songs in public places all over the Philippines.[6]

Commercial performance

Christmas in Our Hearts is the best-selling album not only by Chan, but by an Original Pilipino Music (OPM) artist to date. Just weeks after the album was released, it was certified triple platinum by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) in 1990.[7] In December 2006, it was awarded with a Double Diamond certification by the PARI on GMA Network's SOP (Sobrang Okey Pare) for selling more than 600,000 units in the Philippines.[2] It makes Chan the only Filipino artist to achieve the feat, with two Double Diamond albums—the other one being Constant Change.[8] It makes the album the best-selling OPM Christmas album of all time. In addition, it always tops album charts during Christmas season.[9] The album has sold over 800,000 copies in the country to date.[3]

25th Anniversary Edition

In celebration of the album's 25th anniversary, Universal Records announced on their Facebook page that Christmas in Our Hearts is to be re-released in a special 25th Anniversary Edition.[10] It was first released online on iTunes, Spotify and Spinnr on October 30, 2015, and was released on CD on November 11, 2015.

Track listing

All tracks were produced by Jose Mari Chan.

  1. "A Wish on Christmas Night" (Chan, Pinky Valdez)
  2. "Do You Hear What I Hear?" (Gloria Shayne, Noël Regney)
  3. "Mary's Boy Child" (Jester Hairston)
  4. "Christmas in Our Hearts" (with Liza Chan) (Chan, Rina Cañiza)
  5. "A Christmas Carol" (featuring the Ateneo Glee Club) (Leslie Bricusse)
  6. "A Perfect Christmas" (Chan)
  7. "Give Me Your Heart for Christmas" (Robert Goodman)
  8. "This Beautiful Day"—Jaymie Magtoto (Bricusse)
  9. "The Sound of Life" (Chan, Valdez)
  10. "Christmas Children" (Bricusse)
  11. "Little Christmas Tree" (Mickey Rooney)
  12. "When a Child Is Born" (Ciro Dammicco, Fred Jay)
  13. "It Is the Lord!" (Chan, Maria Christina Ansaldo Estrada)
  14. "The Lord's Prayer" (Traditional)
  15. "Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)" (Irving Berlin)
  16. "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You" (Meredith Willson)

25th Anniversary Edition bonus track
  1. "The Sound of Life (Instrumental)" (Louie Ocampo, Chan, Valdez)
  2. "Christmas Past" (Chan, Ocampo)

Personnel

Credits were taken from Titik Pilipino.[11]

Certifications
Country Provider Certification Sales
Philippines PARI 20× Platinum (2× Diamond)[3] 800,000+[3]

See also

References
  1. "List of PARI Gold, Platinum & Diamond Awardees". PARI. The Philippine Association of the Record Industry, Inc. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  2. "Double Diamond". Philippine Daily Inquirer. March 10, 2006. Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  3. "Numbers". Philippine Daily Inquirer. December 18, 2010. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  4. Requintina, Robert (September 1, 2021). "11 INTERESTING FACTS: 'Christmas In Our Hearts' by Jose Mari Chan". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  5. Gutierrez, Angelica (November 24, 2017). "Jose Mari Chan, (Not) The Father of Philippine Christmas Carols". Esquire Philippines. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  6. Ernie Pecho (September 14, 2003). "Isang class jubilee song ang "Christmas In Our Hearts"". The Philippine Star. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  7. Bong Godinez (April 7, 2008). "Filipino song composers of all time (Part 2)". pep.ph. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  8. "Jose Mari Chan's "Christmas In Our Hearts": The Best-Selling OPM Christmas Album Of All Time!". Universal Records official blog. November 20, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  9. Ernie Pecho (December 11, 2005). "Ano ang pinaka-mabentang Christmas album na lokal?". The Philippine Star. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  10. "Universal Records Philippines on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on April 27, 2022.
  11. "Christmas in Our Hearts - Jose Mari Chan". Titik Pilipino. Archived from the original on August 6, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
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