“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” is a Christmas song written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, and first recorded by Harry Reser and His Orchestra. When “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” was covered by Eddie Cantor on his radio show in November 1934, the song became a hit. In just 24 hours, 500,000 copies of sheet music and more than 30,000 records were sold! The Orchestra version of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town”was very popular in 1934 and was ranked on the various charts of the day. “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” has been recorded by over 200 artists. Do you think there has been a more covered song in history?
What Artists Have Covered “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town?”
“Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” has been covered by more than two hundred artists over the years. Some of those who have covered the song include, Mariah Carey, Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, the Crystals, Neil Diamond, Fred Astaire, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Mitch Miller, Boxcar Willie, Bill Evans, Chris Isaak, the Temptations, The Pointer Sisters, Kylie Minogue, the Carpenters, Michael Bublé, Luis Miguel, Michael Bolton, Justin Bieber, Jschlatt, the Jackson 5, Dolly Parton, and Lady Gaga. The version by Bruce Springsteen is the cover that is most popular cover now.
History of the Song
The is an interesting and noteworthy history associated with “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.” The earliest known version was by Harry Reser and His Orchestra on October 24, 1934 featuring Tom Stacks on vocal. This version appeared on the Variety chart of December 1934, reaching number 1. The song was also recorded on September 26, 1935, by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra with vocals by Cliff Weston and Edythe Wright.
The song is a traditional Christmas standard and has been covered by numerous recording artists. Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters reached the Billboard charts in 1947. In 1962, the Four Seasons reached number 23 on the Billboard charts. In 1965, the Supremes’ version reached the charts at number 4. In 1970, Rankin-Bass produced Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, an hour-long animated TV film based on the song, with Fred Astaire narrating the origin of Santa Claus.
The same year, the Jackson 5 included “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” on their Christmas Album. In 1971, the Partridge Family included the song on A Partridge Family Christmas Card. The Carpenters 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 in Brookville, New York, by Record Plant engineers Jimmy Iovine and Thom Panunzio. This is probably the most famous version now.
This version of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” borrows the chorus refrain from the 1963 recording by the Crystals. It was released on the 1981 Sesame Street compilation album. Four years later, it was released as the B-side to “My Hometown”, a single off 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 because of seasonal air play.
There have been numerous live performances of the song, which often saw the band encouraging the audience to sing some of the lyrics with 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). 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.
Conclusion
Several more versions have been released since the Bruce Springsteen version. However, his remains the most popular rendition of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.” The song even remains popular today as cover versions keep being released, it is one of the most popular Christmas songs of all time.
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