Haven Gillespie's lyrics begin "You better watch out, better not cry / You better not pout, I'm telling you why / Santa Claus is coming to town". Cantor's original performance, broadcast at the height of the Great Depression, included verses not in the standard version of the song, encouraging listeners to be charitable and help the less fortunate at Christmas.
Recordings
The earliest known recorded version of the song was by banjoist Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934 featuring Tom Stacks on vocal, the version shown in the Variety charts of December 1934. The song was a sheet music hit, reaching number 1. The song was also recorded for Victor Records 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 briefly in 1947 with it.
1960s
In 1962, the Four Seasons version charted at number 23 on Billboard. In 1963, producer Phil Spector included a version of the song on his rock album A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector performed by The Crystals.
1970s to 1990s
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 the song on their best-selling album Jackson 5 Christmas Album. In 1971, The Partridge Family included the song on A Partridge Family Christmas Card. A 1972 live recording by Joseph Spence has been described as "a performance for the ages" by music critic Peter Margasak. The Carpenters released the song as a single in 1974. A rock version by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band was recorded live at C. W. Post College in Brookville, New York on December 12, 1975. This live version borrows the chorus refrain from the 1963 version by The Crystals. This version was eventually released first in 1982 as part of the Sesame Street compilation album In Harmony 2, and again in 1985 as a B-side to "My Hometown", a single from 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 due to seasonal air play. Live performances of the song often saw the band encouraging the audience to sing some of the lyrics with—or in place of—the band's vocalists. Sometimes, concert crowds would sing along with the entire song, and the band would do nothing to dissuade those audiences from doing so. This version remains a Springsteen concert favorite during the months of November and December, and the band is among the few that keep it in their roster of songs during the holidays. Other well-known versions of this song include Mariah Carey from the albumMerry Christmas and the Pointer Sisters version off the album A Very Special Christmas, also borrowing from the Crystal's arrangement. Andy Williams performed the song on his album I Still Believe in Santa Claus, which was released on 1 October 1990.
2000 and after
recorded the song in Spanish as "Santa Claus Llegó a La Ciudad" for his Christmas album Navidades. His version of the song peaked at number 26 on the BillboardLatin Pop Songs chart. The song has also been recorded in A capella versions. First by Straight No Chaser on their 2008 album Holiday Spirits, and later by Pentatonix on their 2014 album That's Christmas to Me. In October 2015, EMI Music Publishing lost the rights to J. Fred Coot's stake in the song. EMI had earned the rights to the song via Leo Feist's publishing company in the 1980s. In December 2016, DNCE covered it with many pop artists who were popular at the time. In September 2017, the family of Haven Gillespie sued Memory Lane Music Group for $700,000, asking for an 85% stake in "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town". Canadian singer Michael Bublé's version was released on October 24, 2011, as the second track on his Christmas album. His version has gained a lot of success, being the most-streamed cover of the song on Spotify, with over 104 million streams, as of January 23, 2019.
