Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

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"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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[edit] 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 song was also recorded on September 26, 1935, by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra [1]. Many believe that Benny Goodman was the first to record the song, but in 1935 Goodman actually recorded the Johnny Mercer tune, "Santa Claus Came In The Spring." Goodman never recorded "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town."

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:

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.

The Smothers Brothers' version, found on their album, "Think Ethnic!", is only twenty-five seconds long, and ends with Tom Smothers' singing, "Santa Claus is dead" instead of the title.

In 2004, indie rock band The Kris Special wrote and recorded a spoof called "Santa Claus is Comin' to Motown" for inclusion on a Christmas compilation.

[edit] Trivia

There was a 1970's television special of the same name.

The lyrics of the song have been a source for jokes for years. A Calvin and Hobbes strip implied that if Santa "sees you when you're sleeping [and] knows when you're awake," he must be a "CIA spook." The movie Santa Claus: The Movie has Santa reminding his elves to write "the list" carefully, because (following the song) he'll be "checking it twice".

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[edit] See also

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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer • Return to Oz • The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show • The Ballad of Smokey the Bear • The Cricket on the Hearth • The Mouse on the Mayflower • Little Drummer Boy • Frosty the Snowman • Mad Monster Party? • The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians • Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town • Here Comes Peter Cottontail • The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor's New Clothes • Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters • Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea • Red Baron • That Girl in Wonderland • 'Twas the Night Before Christmas • The Year Without a Santa Claus • The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow • The First Easter Rabbit • Frosty's Winter Wonderland • Rudolph's Shiny New Year • The Little Drummer Boy, Book II • The Easter Bunny is Comin' To Town • The Hobbit • Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey • The Stingiest Man in Town • Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July • Jack Frost • The Return of the King • Pinocchio's Christmas • The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold •The Coneheads • Wind in the Willows • The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus • The Flight of Dragons • Santa Baby!
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