PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Get your turntable ready! The Philly Specials are releasing a third Christmas album, “A Philly Special Christmas Party,” and it’s available now for vinyl pre-order.
“This one has been just as fun as the first two,” record producer and former Eagle Connor Barwin told KYW Newsradio in September. “It’s gotten bigger, more people involved.”
The 12-song album stars Jason Kelce, Jordan Mailata, Lane Johnson, and a variety of guests. Singles will be released every Friday until Nov. 22. The first one, “It’s Christmas Time (In Cleveland Heights)” featuring Boyz II Men and Jason’s brother Travis, dropped Nov. 1. It’s available on all streaming platforms.
“I think there’s really something unique about this happening in Philadelphia that it’s worth celebrating,” says fellow producer Charlie Hall from The War on Drugs. “I don’t know that anybody expected that this was going to be such a fulfilling adventure just on every level.”
Proceeds from vinyl sales benefit the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Their previous albums — 2022’s “A Philly Special Christmas” and 2023’s “A Philly Special Christmas Special” — have raised more than $4 million for local charities.
And if Friday’s song release wasn’t enough to get you in the holiday spirit, you can tune in tonight to QVC. Starting at 8 p.m., you can buy exclusive holiday ornaments of Kelce, Johnson and Mailata. Proceeds will go to CHOP.
“We realize how special Christmas is for kids,” Barwin said. “The holidays, it is a magical time. To be doing something that can bring a little bit of joy to especially young kids that maybe they’ve fallen on hard times because of their circumstance, to be able to do that is incredible when you step back and think about that.”
This is expected to be the final Christmas album the offensive line trio will put together.
“Three’s sort of the magic number, right?” Hall said. “There’s a lot of mythology behind the trinity and whatever example you want to use. … I don’t know. It just keeps getting better and, yeah, on the one hand, it’s like why wouldn’t we keep going? But this just felt like the perfect way to sort of tie this all up.”
The full album drops to digital platforms on Nov. 29.