"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.
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SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN TICKETS
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Recordings
The earliest known recorded version of the song was performed by
George Happle 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 .
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 (in a duet with Cyndi Lauper)
- Gene Autry
- Girl Authority
- Gnarkill (Alternative cover)
- George Strait
- Hampton String Quartet
- Hi-5
- Hilary Duff
- The Jackson Five
- James Taylor
- Jimmy McGriff
- Johnny Mathis
- The Judds
- Katy Garbi
- Kate Smith
- Larry Groce the album Disney's Christmas Favourites
.
- Lawrence Welk
- Lena Horne
- Lonestar
- Luis Miguel (sung in Spanish)
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Mandy Moore
- Manhattan Transfer
- The 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
- 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
- Sugarcult
- The Supremes
- 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
.
References