more christmas schmaltz

I think this is a great laid-back arrangement of the (usually-upbeat) Christmas classic "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". It has all the ingredients of the best of the Carpenters: the unusual chord progressions and their trademark multi-layered vocal harmonies which really make the song their own (although it's not, obviously), the orchestral arrangement (featuring Bacharach-esque trumpets), groovy sax solo, and of course Karen's silky pitch-perfect alto.

Depending on your tolerance levels for 1970s US light entertainment, you might feel the need to fast-forward through the Jack-Benny-as-Santa skit from Perry Como's 1974 Christmas show. I recommend starting at roughly the 2:10 mark...