"Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas song featuring Santa Claus written by J. Fred Coots and

Haven Gillespie James Lamont Gillespie (February 6, 1888 – March 14, 1975) pen name Haven Gillespie, was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist. He was the writer of "You Go to My Head", "Honey", "By the Sycamore Tree", "That Lucky Old Sun", " Breezi ...

. The earliest known recorded version of the song was by banjoist Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934. It was then sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in November 1934. This version became an instant hit with orders for 500,000 copies of sheet music and more than 30,000 records sold within 24 hours. The version for Bluebird Records by George Hall and His Orchestra (vocal by Sonny Schuyler) was very popular in 1934 and reached the various charts of the day. The song has been recorded by over 200 artists including Bing Crosby and

The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (January ...

The Crystals The Crystals are an American vocal group that originated in New York City. Considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era in the first half of the 1960s, their 1961–1964 chart hits – including "There's No Other (Like My Baby)", " ...

, Neil Diamond, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Bill Evans,

Chris Isaak Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. He is widely known for his breakthrough hit and signature song " Wicked Game", as well as other songs such as "Blue Hotel", " Baby ...

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

The Carpenters The Carpenters (officially known as Carpenters) were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinct, soft, musical style, combining Karen's contr ...

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

, Luis Miguel, and

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

Melody and lyrics

Haven Gillespie's lyrics begin "You better watch out, better not cry / You better not pout, I'm telling you why / Santa Claus is coming to town". Cantor's original performance, broadcast at the height of the Great Depression, included verses not in the standard version of the song, encouraging listeners to be charitable and help the less fortunate at Christmas.

History

Recordings

The earliest known recorded version of the song was by banjoist

Harry Reser Harrison Franklin Reser (January 17, 1896 – September 27, 1965) was an American banjo player and bandleader. Born in Piqua, Ohio, Reser was best known as the leader of The Clicquot Club Eskimos. He was regarded by some as the best banjoist of ...

and his band on October 24, 1934 (Decca 264A) featuring Tom Stacks on vocal, the version shown in the Variety charts of December 1934. The song was a sheet music hit, reaching number 1. The song was also recorded for Victor Records (catalog No. 25145A) on September 26, 1935, by

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

& His Orchestra with vocals by Cliff Weston and Edythe Wright. The song is a traditional

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

and has been covered by numerous recording artists. Bing Crosby and

the Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (January ...

reached the ''Billboard'' charts briefly in 1947 with it.

1960s

In 1962, the Four Seasons version charted at number 23 on ''Billboard''. In 1963, producer

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

included a version of the song on his rock album ''

A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector ''A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector'' (originally released as ''A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records'') is an album of Christmas songs, produced by Phil Spector, and originally released as Philles 4005 in 1963. Spector treate ...

'' performed by

. In 1965,

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successf ...

' version charted at number 4 in Singapore.

1970s to 1990s

In 1970,

Rankin-Bass Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usual ...

produced '' Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town'', an hour-long animated TV film based on the song, with

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

narrating the origin of Santa Claus. The same year,

included the song on their best-selling album ''

Jackson 5 Christmas Album ''Jackson 5 Christmas Album'' is the first Christmas album, and fourth studio album, by Motown family quintet the Jackson 5, released on October 15, 1970. Included on the ''Christmas Album'' is the Jacksons' hit single version of "Santa Claus Is ...

''. The Jackson 5 version would chart 50 years later on Billboard 100 at #46. In 1971,

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from S ...

included the song on '' A Partridge Family Christmas Card''. An eccentric 1972 live recording by Joseph Spence has been described as "a performance for the ages" by music critic

Peter Margasak Peter Margasak is a music critic, journalist, and artistic director of the annual Frequency Festival in Chicago, an event that grew out of his longstanding work programming the weekly Frequency Series for experimental, improvised, and contemporary ...

released the song as a single in 1974. A rock version by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band was recorded on December 12, 1975, at

C. W. Post College LIU Post (formally, the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, and often referred to as C.W. Post) is a private university in Brookville, New York. It is the largest campus of the private Long Island University system. The campus is named ...

in Brookville, New York, by Record Plant engineers Jimmy Iovine and Thom Panunzio. This version borrows the chorus refrain from the 1963 recording by The Crystals. It was released first in 1982 as part of the ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...

'' compilation album '' In Harmony 2'', and again in 1985 as a B-side to "

My Hometown "My Hometown" is a single by Bruce Springsteen off his '' Born in the U.S.A.'' album, that was the then-record-tying seventh and last top 10 single to come from it, peaking at #6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart. It also topped the U ...

", a single from the '' Born in the U.S.A.'' album. Springsteen's rendition of the song has received radio airplay perennially at Christmastime for years; it appeared on ''Billboard'' magazine's Hot Singles Recurrents chart each year from 2002 to 2009 due to seasonal air play. Live performances of the song often saw the band encouraging the audience to sing some of the lyrics with—or in place of—the band's vocalists (usually the line "you'd better be good for goodness sake", and occasionally the key line "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" as well). Sometimes, concert crowds would sing along with the entire song, and the band, who were known to encourage this behavior for the song, would do nothing to dissuade those audiences from doing so, instead welcoming the crowds' enthusiasm. This version remains a Springsteen concert favorite during the months of November and December (often concluding the show), and the band is among the few that keep it in their roster of songs during the holidays. Other well-known versions of this song include Mariah Carey from the album '' Merry Christmas'' (1994) and the Pointer Sisters version off the album '' A Very Special Christmas'', also borrowing from the Crystal's arrangement. Andy Williams performed the song on his album '' I Still Believe in Santa Claus'', which was released on October 1, 1990.

2000 and after

Luis Miguel recorded the song in Spanish as "Santa Claus Llegó a La Ciudad" for his Christmas album '' Navidades'' (2006). His version of the song peaked at number 26 on the ''Billboard'' Latin Pop Songs chart. The song has also been recorded in

A capella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

versions. First by Straight No Chaser on their 2008 album ''Holiday Spirits'', and later by Pentatonix on their 2014 album ''

That's Christmas to Me ''That's Christmas to Me'' is the third studio album by a cappella group Pentatonix. It is their sixth release overall and their second holiday release following their 2012 EP ''PTXmas''. It only features previously unreleased material (except " Le ...

''. In October 2015, EMI Music Publishing lost the rights to J. Fred Coot's stake in the song. EMI had earned the rights to the song via

Leo Feist Leopold Feist (January 3, 1869, New York City – June 21, 1930, Mount Vernon, New York), in 1897 founded and ran a music publishing firm bearing his name. In the 1920s, at the height of the golden age of popular music, his firm was among the seve ...

's publishing company in the 1980s. In September 2017, the family of Haven Gillespie sued Memory Lane Music Group for $700,000, asking for an 85% stake in "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town".

Sebastián Yatra Sebastián Obando Giraldo (born 15 October 1994), known professionally as Sebastián Yatra, is a Colombian singer, songwriter and actor. He began as a Latin pop artist and has recorded many ballads, but has released several successful reggaeton ...

recorded a Spanish version for Christmas 2019 and released it as a single. The song charted on ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs and in Spain and was certified Disco de Oro by RIAA in the US.

Charts

The Supremes version

The Jackson 5 version

Michael Bublé version

Glee Cast version

Mariah Carey version

Various artists version

Bruce Springsteen version

Luis Miguel Spanish version

Sebastián Yatra version

Frank Sinatra version

Certifications and sales

The Jackson 5 version

Michael Bublé version

Bruce Springsteen version

Sebastián Yatra version

Mariah Carey version

References

External links

* (original lyrics) * {{Authority control Songs about Santa Claus 1934 songs Songs with lyrics by Haven Gillespie Songs with music by John Frederick Coots American Christmas songs Bing Crosby songs Bluebird Records singles Bruce Springsteen songs Eddie Cantor songs Mariah Carey songs Michael Bublé songs The Andrews Sisters songs The Carpenters songs The Crystals songs The Four Seasons (band) songs The Jackson 5 songs Song recordings produced by Phil Spector Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements

Melody and lyrics

History

Recordings

1960s

1970s to 1990s

2000 and after

Charts

The Supremes version

The Jackson 5 version

Michael Bublé version

Glee Cast version

Mariah Carey version

Various artists version

Bruce Springsteen version

Luis Miguel Spanish version

Sebastián Yatra version

Frank Sinatra version

Certifications and sales

The Jackson 5 version

Michael Bublé version

Bruce Springsteen version

Sebastián Yatra version

Mariah Carey version

See also

References

External links