Song written by J. Fred Coots and H. Gillespie. First recorded by Harry Reser and His Band in 1934. When it was covered by Eddie Cantor on his radio show in November 1934 it became a hit; within 24 hours, 500,000 copies of sheet music and more than 30,000 records were sold.
The song is a traditional Christmas standard and has been covered by over 200 artists including Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, the Crystals, Neil Diamond, Fred Astaire, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Bill Evans, Chris Isaak, the Temptations, the Carpenters, Michael Bublé, Luis Miguel, and the Jackson 5.
Kim Wilde performed the song during a TV performance on Tonight with Jonathan Ross in December 1990. She also sang the song when she participated in Britain Sings Christmas in 2007.
Live performances
‘Santa Claus is coming to town’ was performed live by Kim together with Status Quo and Roy Wood during the Quofestive Tour in December 2011. She also performed the song live during Christmas concerts in December 2014 and 2015.
Lyrics
You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I’m telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town!
He’s making a list,
Checking it twice,
Gonna find out who’s naughty or 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!
Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I’m telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town!