Jump to content

Steam-Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye


tpj1965

Recommended Posts

Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" was a song written and recorded by Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer, and Paul Leka; attributed to a then fictitious band "Steam," it was released under the Mercury subsidiary label Fontana. It became the number one pop single on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1969. Although subsequent recordings and a quickly assembled touring band Steam met with little success, "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" remains a perennial favorite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was this their only hit?

Gary DeCarlo, Paul Leka and Dale Frashuer wrote the song in the early 1960's, when the three were members of a Bridgeport, Connecticut band called The Chateaus. The Chateaus disbanded after several failed recordings. In 1969, DeCarlo recorded several singles at Mercury Records in New York with Paul Leka as producer. The singles impressed the company's executives, who wanted to issue all of them as A-side singles. In need of "inferior" B-side songs, Leka and DeCarlo resurrected an old song from their days as the Chateaus, "Kiss Him Goodbye" with their old bandmate, Dale Frashuer.

With DeCarlo as lead vocalist, the three musicians recorded the song in one recording session. Instead of using a full band, Leka spliced together a drum track from one of DeCarlo's four singles and played keyboards himself. "I said we should put a chorus to it (to make it longer)," Leka told Fred Bronson in The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. "I started writing while I was sitting at the piano going 'na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na'...Everything was 'na na' when you didn't have a lyric." Someone else added "hey hey." (Bronson,2003)

To everyone's great surprise, the powers-that-be at the label decided to release the song, now named "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye", as the A-side on Fontana, a Mercury Records subsidiary. Leka thought it was "an embarrassing record, not that Gary sang it badly. But compared to his four songs, it was an insult." (Bronson, 2003) Since none of the musicians wanted credit for the tune, a nonexistent group, "Steam", was concocted. "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" rapidly rose to the top of the pop charts, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in December of 1969. A touring band, quickly assembled and dubbed "Steam" by their producer, Paul Leka, went on tour with the song but quickly disbanded in 1970. Despite the demise of the original band, "Na Na Hey Hey" continued to ride the charts during the 1970s. From Wikipedia

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Our picks

    • Wait, Burning Man is going online-only? What does that even look like?
      You could have been forgiven for missing the announcement that actual physical Burning Man has been canceled for this year, if not next. Firstly, the nonprofit Burning Man organization, known affectionately to insiders as the Borg, posted it after 5 p.m. PT Friday. That, even in the COVID-19 era, is the traditional time to push out news when you don't want much media attention. 
      But secondly, you may have missed its cancellation because the Borg is being careful not to use the C-word. The announcement was neutrally titled "The Burning Man Multiverse in 2020." Even as it offers refunds to early ticket buyers, considers layoffs and other belt-tightening measures, and can't even commit to a physical event in 2021, the Borg is making lemonade by focusing on an online-only version of Black Rock City this coming August.    Read more...
      More about Burning Man, Tech, Web Culture, and Live EventsView the full article
      • 0 replies
    • Post in What Are You Listening To?
      Post in What Are You Listening To?
    • Post in What Are You Listening To?
      Post in What Are You Listening To?
    • Post in What Are You Listening To?
      Post in What Are You Listening To?
    • Post in What Are You Listening To?
      Post in What Are You Listening To?
×
×
  • Create New...