"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (sometimes with Coming changed to Comin') is a Christmas song. It was written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, and was first sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in November 1934. It became an instant hit with orders for 100,000 copies of sheet music the next day and over 400,000 copies sold by Christmas.
Recordings
The earliest known recorded version of the song was performed by George Hall and the Hotel Taft Orchestra (featuring Sonny Schuyler on vocals) in 1934. It was mostly an instrumental except for a 35-second vocal by Schuyler. The version shown in the Variety charts of December 1934 was Harry Reser featuring Tom Stacks on vocal. The song was a sheet music hit, reaching #1. The song was also recorded on September 26, 1935, by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra [1].
The song is a traditional standard at Christmas time, and has been covered by numerous recording artists. In 1970 Rankin-Bass produced an hour-long animated television special based on the song, with narrator Fred Astaire telling the original story of Santa Claus. Artists that have made notable covers of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" include the following:
- Aerosmith (Sung on Disney's popular show Lizzie Mcguire)
- Alan Jackson
- Alice Cooper
- All 4 One
- Alvin and the Chipmunks
- Alvino Rey with the King Sisters
- Art Paul Schlosser did a parody called IRS is Coming to Town
- The Beach Boys
- B2K
- Bianca Ryan
- Bill Evans
- Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters
- Bjorn Again
- Bootsy's Rubber Band
- Boston Pops Orchestra
- The Brady Bunch on their 1970 album Christmas with The Brady Bunch
- Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (two versions, one of which is a popular radio version)
- Bucky Covington
- Burl Ives
- The California Raisins
- The Carpenters
- The Cheetah Girls
- Chris Isaak and Stevie Nicks
- CKY
- The Crystals
- Cyndi Lauper with Frank Sinatra
- Dave Brubeck
- Dave Valentin
- David Benoit
- Destiny's Child
- Diana Ross
- Dolly Parton
- Dokken
- Elaine Paige on her 1986 album Christmas
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Emma Roberts
- Faith Hill
- Fourplay
- Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons
- Frank Sinatra
- Fred Astaire
- Gene Autry
- Ginette Reno (in French as Père Noël arrive ce soir)
- Girl Authority
- Gnarkill (Alternative cover)
- George Strait
- Hampton String Quartet
- Hi-5
- Hilary Duff
- The Jackson 5
- Jackie Gleason
- James Taylor
- Jimmy McGriff
- Johnny Mathis
- Joseph Spence
- The Judds
- Katy Garbi
- Kate Smith
- The Kidsongs Kids on their "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" video and DVD
- Larry Groce the album Disney's Christmas Favourites.
- Lawrence Welk
- Lena Horne
- Lonestar
- Luis Miguel (sung in Spanish)
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Mandy Moore
- Manhattan Transfer
- Mariah Carey
- Melanie Safka
- Merle Haggard
- McFly
- Michael Bolton
- Michael Martin Murphy
- Miley Cyrus
- Mitch Miller and the Gang
- Nat King Cole
- Natalie Grant
- Neil Diamond
- The Oak Ridge Boys
- Ozzie Nelson
- Patricia Barber
- The Partridge Family
- Peggy Lee
- Perry Como
- The Pointer Sisters
- Randy Travis
- Ray Charles
- Ray Conniff Singers
- Richard Clayderman
- Rosemary Clooney
- Shark Island
- Slade
- Smothers Brothers
- Stephanie McIntosh
- Sugarcult
- The Supremes
- Connie Talbot ( 2008 and 2009)
- The Temptations
- Tommy Dorsey
- Tony Bennett
- TVXQ
- Vanessa Amorosi
- Vince Gill
- Vonzell Solomon
- Woody Herman
- Wynonna
Mariah Carey recorded her version of the song for her holiday album Merry Christmas (1994), and in 2005 (see 2005 in music), a re-recording co-produced by Jermaine Dupri was included on the album's anniversary re-release and released as a CD single with the purchase of the 2005 DVD of the 1970s film Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town. In Merry Madagascar, a different version of the song was featured as "Santa Claus is Comin to Madagascar", written by David Soren and performed by Danny Jacobs, who also voices King Julien in the special.
References
- Story of the song from the December 1956 issue of "The Kiwanis Magazine" (excerpted at kiwanis.org)
- Christmas in the Charts (1920 - 2004) by Joel Whitburn. Copyright 2004 by Joel Whitburn.
See also
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