The Crystals - Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1963)

This American vocal group from New York, New York was of the premiere girl groups, which dominated the charts in the first half of the 1960s. When they were first discovered by Phil Spector in 1961, none of the five members were even close to finishing high school. Signed to Spector’s label, Philles Records, the girls shot to stardom with hit songs like “Da Doo Ron Ron” and “Then He Kissed Me.” Although the 1960s saw talent come and go, Dolores “Dee Dee” Kenniebrew rekindled the group in 1971 and still performs with new Crystals members to this day. Eventually the relationship between Spector and the girls soured, as many of the girls believed that Spector was withholding royalty money from them. Spector was also giving the girls far less attention, as his new obsession was on his latest discovery, The Ronettes. The group left Philles Records in 1964 and eventually disbanded in 1967. It wasn’t until 1971, as mentioned above, that they reunited around Dee Dee.

Written by John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie, this song was first sung in November 1934 on a radio show by Eddie Cantor. Cantor decided to give the song a chance after many other famous vocalists had rejected the song as being “too childish” and “silly.” This particular version of the song was recorded and released in 1963 on the album A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector.



The Crystals - Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1963)

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Lyrics:

Jimmy, I just came back from a lovely trip along the Milky Way
I stopped off at the North Pole to spend the holiday
I called on old, dear Santa Claus to see what I could see
He took me to his workshop and told his plans to me

Now Santa is a busy man, he has no time to play
He's got millions of stockings to fill on Christmas day
You better write your letter now and mail it right away
Because he's getting ready his reindeers and his sleigh

You'd better watch out, you'd better not cry
You'd better not pout, I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town

He's making a list, he's checking it twice
He's gonna find out who’s naughty or nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town

He sees when you are sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake

Oh, you'd better watch out, you'd better not cry
You'd better not pout, I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town

With little tin horns and little toy drums
Rooty-toot-toots and rummy-tum-tums
Curly head dolls that toddle and coo
Elephants, boats, and kiddie cars too
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town

The kids in Girl’s and Boy Land will have a jubilee
They're going to build a Toyland all around the Christmas tree
So, you’d better watch out, you’d better not cry
You’d better not pout, I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town

Santa Claus is coming to town