Benefit Albums Are Rivals for Holiday Sales : * Competition: What started out as a project to aid Children’s Hospital has turned into a not-so-merry recording rivalry.

In the coming weeks, two locally generated benefit albums featuring Christmas standards and original seasonal music will be available in area stores, where they will appeal to the generosity of holiday shoppers.

Both releases have merit and serve equally noble ends, but behind the scenes the competition isn’t entirely friendly.

“The Christmas Album . . . A Gift of Hope” was produced in Los Angeles by Grammy-winning record producer Michael Lloyd and features major recording stars. It will raise money for a number of children’s hospitals across the country, including the nonprofit San Diego Children’s Hospital Foundation.

The other album--”The Stars Come Out for Christmas, Volume III”--was produced in San Diego by local performer and record producer Steve Vaus. It, too, features major recording stars and will benefit children’s hospitals in a number of cities. San Diego Children’s Hospital, however, will not be among those receiving proceeds from the “Stars” album, even though the foundation originated the project in 1989 as a fund-raiser. Instead, the local beneficiary of the Vaus album will be Casa de Amparo, a center that provides shelter and various services for abused or neglected children and their families.

Don’t feel bad if you find all of this a bit bewildering. Because of the publicity both projects are generating, confusion arises not only from the obvious similarities between them, but also from the fact that, because the two originated from the same source, some of the names involved are frequently cross-referenced. The holiday shopper with a heart, therefore, will be well served by an explanation of the common origin of the separate enterprises, their residual differences and similarities, and what musical bounties can be expected from each.

Vaus coordinated and produced the first “Stars” album for the San Diego Children’s Hospital Foundation in 1989. Pop, rock, and country recording artists such as Stevie Nicks, Loretta Lynn, the Commodores and Juice Newton contributed songs to the effort, which raised about $160,000.

When it came time to plan the 1990 effort, however, Vaus and the foundation’s policy-makers parted company over terms. As a result, Vaus produced the second volume of “The Stars Come Out for Christmas” as a rainmaker for the local chapter of the American Cancer Society, as well as for children’s hospitals in other cities. Meanwhile, Lloyd, after being contacted by SDCHF, offered to donate his services for the group’s 1990 project, “The Christmas Album . . . A Gift of Love.” And the race was on.

According to the SDCHF’s figures, their 1990 “Gift of Love” project involved 30 participating hospitals nationwide and generated sales of more than $1 million. Vaus estimates that the 1990 “Stars” recording raised “just under $2 million.” Both parties expect to do much better in 1991, despite the recession.

In interviews conducted over the past several days, spokesmen for each side expressed a desire to downplay their differences for the greater good. Nevertheless, a cool undercurrent prevails.

“Unfortunately, there is some confusion out there about which album is which,” said Sharon Ross, director of communications for the SDCHF. “It doesn’t help when Steve’s press releases mention his involvement with ‘local children’s hospitals,’ which makes it seem as though he’s talking about us.”

According to Ross, the fact that San Diego Children’s Hospital handles the medical care for Casa de Amparo further clouds the issue.

“I guess some of the confusion is unavoidable,” she added. “But, for the record, it was us who contacted Steve to do this in the first place, in 1989, and not the other way around.”

According to Ross, Vaus and the foundation reached an impasse over the producer’s demand to be paid a hefty fee to do the second “Stars” album, which the foundation’s nonprofit status wouldn’t allow. Vaus remembers it a little differently.

“That’s half-true,” Vaus said. “We did ask for money the second time, just like we did the first time, and it was approved by their board. In fact, we framed the letter (of approval) and have it here in the office. The money goes to cover production and manufacturing costs and the travel expenses of the artists. But I am not paid a producer’s fee--let me clarify that. We are paid for expenses incurred. And that’s all we asked (SDCHF) for in 1990. But when things fell apart, they tried to characterize the money as a producer’s fee.”

In response to a question about the money demanded by Vaus, Mark Morelli, media relations coordinator for San Diego Children’s Hospital and publicist for the “Gift of Hope” album, referred to a May, 1990 article in The Times, in which SDCHF senior vice president and executive director Stuart C. Turgel claimed that Vaus had demanded $250,000 to cover the cost of producing Volume 2 of “Stars,” after having done it the previous year for $16,000.

Vaus, although deflecting questions about the actual amount of money involved, stated that “a substantially larger budget” was needed to produce volumes 2 and 3.

“It takes about 10 months to put all this together,” he said. “With the first (Stars) album, we were looking at a local market, so we could hold costs down a lot. But, since then, this thing has gotten so big that it would just be impossible to do it on anything close to the original budget.”

Vaus claimed that the actual deciding factor in the schism was Turgel’s desire to participate in all subsequent artist and song selections, at which Vaus balked.

Morelli confirmed that the foundation has an interest in the sort of entertainment with which it is associated, but he added that there were never any specific stylistic disagreements with Vaus.

“If you read the names on the albums,” Morelli said, “You’ll see that there actually are a lot of similarities between the two.”

Vaus, however, remains convinced of the foundation’s relative musical conservatism.

“Just look at the artists on their upcoming album and the artists on ours,” he said. “We have folks like Christopher Cross, Stephen Bishop, the Commodores, Kathy Mattea, and Ray Charles. There are things on our album that I’m sure would never make it onto theirs, including a new Andrew Gold song that I think is going to be one of the biggest hits of the Christmas season. It’s called ‘The Bells of St. Victor,’ and it’s a little bit out on the edge, but it’s an incredible piece of work. Another is a new Kim Carnes cover of Chuck Berry’s ‘Run, Run Rudolph.’ ”

“By comparison,” Vaus continued, “they have people like Susan Anton, Lorna Luft and John Schneider. I mean, Lorna Luft ? I firmly believe that radio play is ultra critical for a release of this sort, and with our more current lineup of artists, we expect to get airplay on several types of radio formats. But it’s obvious that (the other album) is aimed at the 55 and over crowd.”

Morelli pooh-poohed the suggestion that the “Gift of Hope” album targets any particular demographics.

Indeed, although there are significant points of departure between the two artist rosters, there is also a great deal of stylistic overlapping. Reba McEntire, Hank Williams Jr. and Willie Nelson, for example, appear on both recordings.

The major coup for Lloyd’s “Gift of Hope” project is Frank Sinatra, who sings “Silent Night” to piano accompaniment by Frank Jr. In a phone interview Tuesday, Lloyd explained how Sinatra’s daughter Nancy, who also contributed to the album, got Ol’ Blue Eyes involved.

“Nancy and I have been friends for years, and she asked if I’d like her dad to participate,” Lloyd said. “Of course, I told her I’d be thrilled. Fortunately, Frank felt is was for a good cause, and he had some time between tours, so he agreed to help out.”

Both projects received financial assistance. The Fieldstone Foundation underwrote production and manufacturing costs for the “Stars” album, while for the third consecutive year, San Diego-based Star System Inc. (the money-card company) performed the same role for SDCHF’s effort.

Vaus, however, held to his conviction that important distinctions between the two releases include the dispersal of proceeds and the matter of regional identity.

“Every single penny from our retail sales (of “Stars”) goes directly to the charities,” he emphasized. SDCHF “can’t say that because part of their marketing plan is to give retailers a portion of the proceeds. They may not talk about that, but it’s a fact. Plus, ‘Stars’ is produced right here in San Diego. We really look at this thing as a hometown thing because a lot of local players get to play on it, and so forth.”

Morelli is not in total agreement with those claims.

“Our retailers do not take a cut from sales of the ‘Gift of Hope’ album,” Morelli countered sternly. “One hundred percent of the proceeds go to the hospitals. And, if you compare the two, you’ll find that 18 of the 24 tracks Michael (Lloyd) produced were done so specifically for this album. I don’t believe Vaus has that many.”

(Thirteen of the 24 holiday classics and original songs on the “Stars” album were recorded specifically for that project. Others had been recorded for other purposes and donated to the project.)

For all the differences between them, however, the people behind the two projects remain steadfast in their common goals.

“Frankly, I think there’s a place for both albums,” Vaus allowed. “I would not be wild about seeing this descend into a he-said-she-said thing. I think everyone will be better served by focusing on the albums rather than on the teacup controversy.”

“We really don’t have anything against Steve, or what he’s doing,” Ross agreed. “We wish him much success. But at the same time, we have to feel pretty excited about our project, and the talent we’ve lined up. I hope both albums do well.”

How 2 Christmas Albums Stack Up

“THE CHRISTMAS ALBUM . . . A GIFT OF HOPE”

RELEASE DATE: Mid-November.

FORMAT: Available on cassette ($8.95) and CD ($12.95).

OUTLETS: About 400 local retail stores, including Bullock’s, Burger King, Long’s Drugs, Nurseryland, 7- Eleven and Dean’s Photo, or by calling a toll-free number (800) 858-8998.

ARTISTS INCLUDED: Frank Sinatra, Willie Nelson, Henry Mancini, Dionne Warwick, Barry Manilow, Lou Rawls, Stryper, James Earl Jones, Nancy Sinatra, Ricky Van Shelton, Magic Johnson, Bill Medley, Kenny Loggins, George Jones, Tony Orlando, Pat Boone, the mother-son team of Shirley Jones and Shaun Cassidy, and a trio consisting of 1950s-’60s teen idols Freddie Cannon, Johnny Tillotson and Brian Hyland.

“THE STARS COME OUT FOR CHRISTMAS, VOL. III”

RELEASE DATE: On sale now.

FORMAT: on cassette ($9.95) and CD ($14.95)

OUTLETS: San Diego County branches of Security Pacific Bank, Play Co. and Target stores. It can also be ordered by mail by sending payment plus postage and handling to “The Stars Come Out for Christmas, Volume III,” P.O. Box 23802, San Diego, 92193. For more information, call Craig Fisher at 268-9883.

ARTISTS INCLUDED: Ray Charles, Harry Connick Jr., Nicolette Larsen, Baillie and the Boys, the Beat Boys, Holly Dunn, Rosanne Cash, Earl Thomas Conley, Steve Wariner, Don McLean, the McCarters, Mac McAnally, K.T. Oslin, Dolly Parton, Christopher Cross, Stephen Bishop, and the Commodores.

The “Stars” album will get a boost from a free, public Christmas carol concert at Broadway Circle (Horton Plaza) on Nov. 22. Organizers expect a crowd of 6,000 to 8,000 at the event, called “Light Up the Night,” which will feature performances by some of the artists on the album, including Stephen Bishop, Nicolette Larson, Andrew Gold and the Commodores.