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.
The original version of it was recorded on September 27 1935 by Joe Harris with Benny Goodman & 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 television film 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:
- Gene Autry
- The Beach Boys
- Tony Bennett
- Michael Bolton
- Boston Pops Orchestra
- Dave Brubeck
- Mariah Carey
- The Carpenters
- Ray Charles
- The Cheetah Girls
- Richard Clayderman
- Perry Como
- Ray Conniff Singers
- Bing Crosby
- The Crystals
- Hilary Duff
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Fourplay
- Natalie Grant
- Woody Herman
- Chris Isaak and Stevie Nicks
- The Jackson Five
- The Judds
- The Manhattan Transfer
- Johnny Mathis
- Dolly Parton
- The Pointer Sisters
- Emma Roberts
- Frank Sinatra (including a duet with Cyndi Lauper)
- Bruce Springsteen
- The Supremes
- James Taylor
- The Temptations
- Lawrence Welk
- 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.
[edit] References
- The Story of the song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"
- December 1956 issue of "The Kiwanis Magazine"
- [1]
