Yeaaaah, a grainy, B&W video from the Boss!
Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Bruce Springsteen
Written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, this song was first sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in November 1934; the song became an instant hit with orders for 100,000 copies of sheet music the next day and more than 400,000 copies sold by Christmas that year. It has become a traditional standard at Christmas time and has been covered by numerous recording artists. In 1970, Rankin-Bass produced an hour-long animated television special based on the song, with narrator Fred Astaire telling the original story of Santa Claus.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band has released two versions of the song, one of which is a popular radio version. Springsteen's live December 12, 1975 performance of the song was first officially released in 1981 and has become one of the most popular versions of this Christmas standard. The track sells pretty well in the USA every November-December and is Springsteen's best selling 1-track download in the USA.
The Crystals' version, from which Springsteen heavily borrows, was originally released on November 22, 1963 on Phil Spector's various artists album, A Christmas Gift For You. Unfortunately, the release date coincided with the assassination of President John F Kennedy and the album did poorly in sales. Original pressing are scarce and collectible, now selling for $400-$500 in excellent condition.
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