Royal Oak Tribune

Mousketeer­s reunite for holiday album, special

- By Gary Graff ggraff@medianewsg­roup.com @GraffonMus­ic on Twitter Proceeds benefit MusiCares and the Brave of Heart Fund. More informatio­n can be found via MMCHoliday­s.com. For more from Lucca, visit theoakland­press.com/ entertainm­ent.

Once you wear the ears, you’re always a Mousketeer.

That’s the message behind “Why? Because it’s Christmas” a new album and streaming “Virtual Record Release Party” (via M12.tv), out on Friday, Dec. 27. Some 17 alumni of Walt Disney’s “The All-New Mickey Mouse Club” — including Waterford Township native Tony Lucca, one of the project’s executive producers — have joined forces to sing holiday favorites and give the world a look at what they look like

all these years later.

Lucca says the project was an outgrowth of a 30th anniversar­y Club reunion for the Disney Channel last year.

“It was amazing, and there was a huge outpouring of support from all the fans,” says Lucca, 44, who now resides in Nashville, Tenn. “We were like, ‘How great is this?!’ and one of the castmates said she loves holiday music, what if we did a Christmas album, and one of my other castmates was like, ‘ Hang on — is this something we can actually do?’

“Before you knew it, we had a record in production

and people working from all over the country. It was really inspiring.”

The Club’s most famous alumni — Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling, JC Chasez and Keri Russell — are not part of the project, but Lucca says all were invited.

 ?? PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CLUB/ M12 ?? Alumni of Disney’s “The All-New Mickey Mouse Club” have done the new album “Why? Because it’s Christmas,” out Dec. 27, and streaming “Virtual Record Release Party.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CLUB/ M12 Alumni of Disney’s “The All-New Mickey Mouse Club” have done the new album “Why? Because it’s Christmas,” out Dec. 27, and streaming “Virtual Record Release Party.”

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