The earliest known recorded version of the song was by banjoist
Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934 (Decca 264A)[6] 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 (catalog No. 25145A) on September 26, 1935, by
Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra with vocals by Cliff Weston and
Edythe Wright.[7]
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.[14][15] This version borrows the chorus refrain from the 1963 recording by the Crystals.[16] It was first released as a track on the 1981 Sesame Street compilation album, In Harmony 2, as well as on a 1981 promotional, radio-only, 7-inch single (
Columbia AE7 1332).[17][18] Four years later, it was released as the B-side to "
My Hometown", a single off the Born in the U.S.A. album.[19] 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 (usually the line "you'd better be good for goodness sake", and occasionally the key line "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" as well). Sometimes, concert crowds would sing along with the entire song, and the band, who were known to encourage this behavior for the song, would do nothing to dissuade those audiences from doing so, instead welcoming the crowds' enthusiasm. 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.
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.[26]
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".[27]
Sebastián Yatra recorded a Spanish version for Christmas 2019 and released it as a single.[28] The song charted in Spain and on Billboard'sHot Latin Songs chart and was certified gold by the RIAA in the US.[29]
Charts
The Supremes version
Chart performance for "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" by the Supremes
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201851 into search. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201851 into search. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
The earliest known recorded version of the song was by banjoist
Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934 (Decca 264A)[6] 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 (catalog No. 25145A) on September 26, 1935, by
Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra with vocals by Cliff Weston and
Edythe Wright.[7]
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.[14][15] This version borrows the chorus refrain from the 1963 recording by the Crystals.[16] It was first released as a track on the 1981 Sesame Street compilation album, In Harmony 2, as well as on a 1981 promotional, radio-only, 7-inch single (
Columbia AE7 1332).[17][18] Four years later, it was released as the B-side to "
My Hometown", a single off the Born in the U.S.A. album.[19] 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 (usually the line "you'd better be good for goodness sake", and occasionally the key line "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" as well). Sometimes, concert crowds would sing along with the entire song, and the band, who were known to encourage this behavior for the song, would do nothing to dissuade those audiences from doing so, instead welcoming the crowds' enthusiasm. 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.
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.[26]
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".[27]
Sebastián Yatra recorded a Spanish version for Christmas 2019 and released it as a single.[28] The song charted in Spain and on Billboard'sHot Latin Songs chart and was certified gold by the RIAA in the US.[29]
Charts
The Supremes version
Chart performance for "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" by the Supremes
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201851 into search. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201851 into search. Retrieved January 23, 2019.