Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

Album

Steam

Label

Fontana Records

Genre

Bubblegum

Composer(s)

Gene DeCarlo;Dale Frashuer;Paul Leka

Entered Chart

Oct 18, 1969

Peak Date

Dec 6, 1969

Released

November 1969

Recorded

1969 Studio Mercury Sound Studios, New York

Catalog #

Fontana 1667

B-Side

It's The Magic In You Girl

One of the strangest #1 hits in history, this song was written as a throwaway B-side, but became a cultural phenomenon used for years to come as a musical goodbye. The song was written by Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer and Paul Leka, who had been in a band together called the Chateaus in the early '60s. One of the unfinished songs they wrote as the Chateaus was a tune called "Kiss Him Goodbye," which they worked on in 1961. In 1968, Leka co-wrote and co-produced the song "Green Tambourine," which was a huge hit for The Lemon Pipers. The following year, he started working with DeCarlo, who was using the stage name Garrett Scott. Working for Mercury Records, they set to work writing singles for "Garrett Scott," recording four songs, which Leka produced. The first one released was "Working On A Groovy Thing," which was written by Roger Atkins and Neil Sedaka. The 5th Dimension also recorded the song and released it first, which tanked the Garrett Scott version (The 5th Dimension recording made #20 US; Patti Drew recorded the song a year earlier, taking it to #62). The next single planned for DeCarlo was "Sweet Laura Lee," a ballad written by Larry Weiss, composer of "Rhinestone Cowboy." Needing a B-side, Leka and DeCarlo went back to the studio, where they were joined by their old bandmate Dale Frashuer, who suggested they use their 1961 song "Kiss Him Goodbye." That song didn't have a chorus, so Leka wrote one, lazily using "na na"s instead of actual words. They started the session around 7 p.m. and finished at 5 a.m., but when they emerged, they had the completed song. When Bob Reno, the A&R man at Mercury, heard the song, he loved it and didn't want to waste it as a B-side. He needed singles for the Mercury subsidiary Fontana Records, so the song was released on that label and credited to the group Steam (named because after the session to record it, the guys were crossing 7th Ave and a subway train went beneath the roadway, shooting steam up from a manhole). From there, the story gets convoluted, but when the single was released it became a surprise hit. Another song called "Now That I Love You" was used instead on the Garrett Scott "Sweet Laura Lee" single, which went nowhere when it was released. DeCarlo had a huge hit on his hands, but not as a solo artist but as part of an anonymous group. The most-repeated story is that the three writers were embarrassed about "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," so they created the name Steam to hide their identities. DeCarlo told Songfacts, however, that he was never embarrassed by the song, and that he was promised more of the action. "I was supposed to be the singer and road act for 'Na Na' as it was my B-side," he said. "When Paul and the company got together they decided to split the record, meaning there would be two out. Paul said I would be able to do both as Garrett Scott, which I was later told I had no group. Paul said he would get me a group from a booking agency in New York, which never happened. 'Na Na' was never done with a group in mind, it was the B-side of my single. The name Steam wasn't invented until the album was being done." The group chant is the hero of this song, but it does tell a story, as the singer is asking the girl to kiss-off the guy she's with and get with him, since he will appreciate her. As Gary DeCarlo tells us: "It was and still is about the love factor. Anyone who's been in a love triangle can identify with this. Trying make the girl realize that he's not the guy for her." This is commonly used at sporting events when the home team is about to win or an opposing player is removed from the game. It seems almost custom made for that purpose, with a stadium-ready chorus that is taunting but playful. The first major league stadium to put it in their regular rotation was the Chicago White Sox, whose organist, Nancy Faust, started playing it in 1977. After an 8-second intro, the song goes right into the chorus, which was handy for musical directors or anyone else looking for a quick blast of the song to get the goodbye message across. B-sides in the '60s were often ad-hoc affairs designed to be clearly inferior to the A-side so that disc jockeys wouldn't flip the record. The three musicians who recorded this had that in mind for this song, and kept it simple: there is no bass or guitar on the track, and the repeating drum loop was lifted from one of the four Garrett Scott singles, a song called "Sugar" written by Neil Sedaka. The song was built in layers, with just the drum track, piano, organ and a board DeCarlo played as percussion to accompany the vocals. The famous chant in this song came spontaneously. Paul Leka started singing the "Na na na na, goodbye" part, and Gary DeCarlo added the "Hey hey hey" parts, which they repeated over and over. This was done to lengthen the song - the master recording was so long they had to fade it out so it would fit on the record. When it was released, the song clocked in at 3:45. When this song became a hit, an entire album was commissioned and a group created for it. The song's singer and co-writer, Gary DeCarlo, sang backup on the other tracks but refused to sing lead on them, since he was not invited to tour with the band and hated the idea of other guys taking credit for his work. The group assembled to tour as Steam was: Bill Steer (lead singer), Jay Babins (guitar), Mike Daniels (bass), Ray Corries (drums), Tom Zuke (guitar), Hank Schorz (keyboards). DeCarlo, who died in 2017 at age 75, said he wanted to front Steam, but producer Paul Leka wouldn't let him. (Leka died in 2011 at age 68.) The chorus translates very well to other languages, giving it international appeal. The Spanish rendition goes: "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, adios." According to Tommy Mottola, who spent time as both chairman of Sony Music and husband of Mariah Carey, he is one of the backing singers on this track. He was working for MRC Music publishing at the time, whose workers were recruited to provide the group chorus. Bananarama covered this on their first album in 1983, taking it to #5 in the UK. In 1987, a Toronto group called the Nylons again revived the song, taking it to #12 US. Their version is a cappella, giving them the biggest ever a cappella hit on that chart until a year later when Bobby McFerrin went to #1 with "Don't Worry Be Happy." This song's lead singer Gary DeCarlo was asked not to reveal that it was him on the record, since there was a different singer performing it at live appearances. He says that his manager Paul Leka and record man Bob Reno placated him by promising to get him a hit as a solo artist, but that never happened. When we asked DeCarlo about how he felt when he heard the song, he replied: "It was a double-edged sword for me when I would hear it. I was and still am very proud and it's a great feeling to know that so many people still like it. But back then I wanted to open my car window or yell to people on the train that it was me they were hearing. I was very green about the business side, all I wanted to do was sing, create songs, produce, anything that had to do with music. Paul was telling people that it happened too quick for me, and because he was my manager, publisher, producer and longtime friend, I thought he had my back, which he didn't. I felt I had to listen to them because this was a shot for me with people that knew the business, even though my stomach felt like I had razors in it. I really fell into a state of depression and went for medication to try and deal with it. Everyone believed Paul's side of the story because they felt that he went on in the business and as they say my stuff bombed, like my recordings were garbage. My records never got the exposure that was needed to let the public decide if they were good or not. I have had my songs on YouTube and have gotten very favorable reactions from people, including musicians that I've done shows with." Gary DeCarlo released a new version of this song on his 2014 album Long Time Comin'. This rendition has a slower tempo and more of an R&B feel. The song has been used in political context on a number of occasions, often used to jeer departing politicians. On May 4, 2017, Democrats sang it to Republicans on the floor of the House of Representatives when a bill to replace the Affordable Care Act (Omamacare) passed. The Democrats opposed the bill, but were implying that their Republican counterparts would be voted out of office for passing it. The song has been used twice on The Simpsons ("Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk" - 1991, "C.E.D'oh" 2003) and in a number of other television shows and movies. In the 2000 film Remember the Titans, it is sung reverently at a funeral. Other uses include: TV: Cheers ("Indoor Fun with Sammy and Robby" - 1990) Ally McBeal ("The Blame Game" - 1998) Medium ("A Taste of Her Own Medicine" - 2009) House M.D. ("The Jerk" - 2007) Movies: Eddie (1996) Raising Helen (2004) Spud (2010) When this hit #1 on the Hot 100 (December 6, 1969), it displaced The Beatles "Come Together"/"Something" single. In 2019, this was used in commercials for GMC trucks to promote the new tailgates on their trucks. The spot shows owners of other trucks assembling to say goodbye to their tailgates.

Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye
He'll never love you, the way that I love you
'Cause if he did, no no, he wouldn't make you cry
He might be thrillin' baby but a-my love (my love, my love)
So dog-gone willin'
So kiss him (I want to see you kiss him. want to see you kiss him)
Go on and kiss him goodbye, now

Na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye

Listen to me now
He's never near you to comfort and cheer you
When all those sad tears are fallin' baby from your eyes
He might be thrillin' baby but a-my love (my love, my love)
So dog-gone willin'
So kiss him (I want to see you kiss him. I want to see you kiss him)
Go on and kiss him goodbye, na-na na-na-na na na

Na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye
Hey hey-ey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye