Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Year: 1934
Written By: J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie
Santa Claus is coming to town has long been a favorite with
adults and children alike. It fills children with hope every
season. They know that Santa has out his list and is checking it
twice to see who is naughty and nice. All good little boys and
girls will find presents under their trees on Christmas
morning.
The song is two-fold though. It benefits the parents and the
children. Parents everywhere use the song as an incentive for their
children to be extra good during the holidays. Santa Claus is
coming to town also introduced the famous list that Santa checks
every year to see who has been good and who has been naughty.
Whether it is in America or Canada or anywhere in between every
child wants to be on that list as a child that was nice all
year.
The much loved song is sometimes changed to say Santa Claus is
comin to town instead of Santa Claus is Coming to town according to
the artist that is recording it. The Christmas song was originally
written by John Fredrick Coots and Haven Gillespie and first sang
on Eddie Cantors radio show I Nov. 1934. Santa Claus is coming to
town was an instant success with orders for the sheet music
reaching 100,000 the very next day. The popular song had sold
400,000 copies by that Christmas. The song had already started to
work its way into people's hearts and hadn't even been officially
recorded yet.
The first known recorded version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town
was by banjoist Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934. Tom
Stackes was the vocalist for this version that hit number one
quickly on the sheet music charts. The next time the song was
recorded was on September 26, 1935 by Tommy Dorsey and his
orchestra.
After living in the hearts of everyone for many years and being,
one of the top favorites of all time at Christmas the beloved
Christmas carol was made into an hour-long animated TV special in
1970. This served to firmly embed the cartoon and the song in
people's hearts and minds forever. The story was pretty much the
same as the song with the voice of Fred Astaire telling the story
of how Santa Claus came to be.
There is a long list of stars that have recorded Santa Claus is
coming to town over the years. Among them are such well-known names
as Aerosmith, Allan Jackson, and The Chipmunks, the most recent
being Miley Cyrus. Whomever you listen to singing the Christmas
carol you can be assured that it will be on everyone's lips this
holiday season.
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Lyrics
You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
O! You better watch out!
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town
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