Steam na na hey hey kiss him goodbye other recordings of this song

If you’ve attended any sporting event in the last 40 years, you’ve likely chanted “the chorus of “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye,” the infectious 1969 hit that, during its original release, actually toppled “Come Together” by The Beatles out of the number one spot on the charts. Not bad for a tune that was originally intended for use as a B-side to a single by singer Gary DeCarlo, who also recorded under the name Garrett Scott.

The song was the work of DeCarlo, Paul Leka, and Dale Frashauer, who had performed together in the early 1960s as The Glenwoods, a doo-wop group based in Bridgeport, CT. After they disbanded, Leka went on to become a producer for artists like The Left Banke and The Lemon Pipers, who had a hit with “Green Tambourine,” a song co-written by him.

In the late 1960s, DeCarlo was working on some solo recordings, with Leka serving as his producer. One of the tunes they cut was “Workin’ On A Groovy Thing” which became a hit for The Fifth Dimension. Another promising song from the sessions was entitled “Sweet Laura Lee,” which was planned for release as a single. A B-side was needed, so DeCarlo, Leka, and their old bandmate Frashauer dusted off “Kiss Him Goodbye,” an unfinished tune from their doo-wop days. They updated the song, and added the “Na Na” and “Hey Hey” parts to flesh out the tune.

Mercury Records loved what they heard, and wanted to release “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye,” as its own single on their subsidiary label, Fontana Records. There was just one catch.

Mercury decided to issue “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” under the name Steam, ostensibly so it wouldn’t impact the success of DeCarlo’s own single. The song rocketed up the charts, going all the way to number one, while DeCarlo’s own releases were unsuccessful. Bypassing DeCarlo, the label put together a group of musicians to go out on the road as Steam for live gigs, and to lip-sync to the original recording for television appearances. A self-titled album by the band was released in 1970, featuring songs composed by DeCarlo, Leka, and Frashauer, but only one other single “I’ve Gotta Make You Love Me,” hit the charts. Frustrated by the lack of support from his label, DeCarlo struggled to get his own career off the ground, while the record company wanted him to perform on the studio recordings by Steam, rather than tour with the band.

For years, Gary DeCarlo was the unknown hero behind the success of “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.” He finally got his due in 2011 when he was one of the artists included on a PBS concert special featuring the music and artists of the 1960s. The show was hosted by radio personality TJ Lubinsky, who interviewed DeCarlo about his contributions to the song. In 2014, DeCarlo released the album Long Time Comin’, which featured a new version of his classic hit. Sadly, he passed away in 2017, but his place in music history is assured. “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” has lived on as a pop-culture classic, and has been featured in memorable scenes from TV shows like The Simpsons, and films such as Remember The Titans. The iconic tune has been covered throughout the years by artists as wide-ranging as the Jean Terrell-led version of The Supremes, the pop trio Bananarama, acapella group The Nylons, and the late Donna Summer, who recorded a (wait for it) disco version of the song.

-John Visconti

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Dreams of fame quickly evaporated for its singer, Gary DeCarlo

The Jimmy Kimmel Show aired a humorous animated video on Jan. 21, 2021 to commemorate the inauguration of Joe Biden. The video was set to Steam’s 1969 monster hit, “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.” But the song never gave its lead vocalist, Gary DeCarlo, much to laugh about.

Although Steam was a one-hit wonder band, that one hit is heard in movies and TV commercials 50 years later and is sampled by other artists. DeCarlo was for years deprived of the income and fame the song’s success would have provided.

In the early 1960s, DeCarlo, Paul Leka and Dale Frashuer were members of doo wop groups named the Glenwoods, the Citations, and the Chateaus. The three got together again in 1968 when DeCarlo recorded four new singles for Fontana Records.

“The record company wanted me to put out a song called ‘Sweet Laura Lee,’ which was written by Larry Weiss who wrote ‘Rhinestone Cowboy,’” DeCarlo told Jennifer Dodge in 2014. “I didn’t really want to lead with a ballad, but they said that that’s what they wanted, so . . .

“We needed a B-side for it, and ‘Na Na’ became the B-side. It didn’t have the chant, though. The chant was born the night in the studio. Actually ‘Na Na’ was written a few years before, and it was just called ‘Kiss Him Goodbye.’ It was a blues shuffle. I always liked it, and I said to Dale, ‘Dale, I want to do “Kiss Him Goodbye.” Tell Paul that that’s what I want to do.’ When we went to the studio that night, the chant was born, and that was it. We went in around seven o’clock that night, and by five the next morning it was done, just the way you hear it on the radio.”

DeCarlo told Classic Bands that when the record company decided to release “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” as a single, he was promised that a road band would be formed around him. It never happened. A band named Steam toured the country with the song but DeCarlo was not a part of it. “All they did basically was go out and when they did the video, they lip-synched. And when they went out and did the shows, people would say to them, ‘How come you don’t sound like the record?’ That’s because they didn’t. There was no guitar on the record. There was no bass on the record. So these guys didn’t even know what they were doing.”

“That hurt me,” DeCarlo recalled in the Connecticut Post in 2016. “I remember driving to the railroad station hearing the song on the radio and just wanting to yell out the window ‘That’s me!’ I fell into a deep depression.”

“Na Na Hey Hey” reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on Dec. 6, 1969. While DeCarlo received one third of the songwriting royalties, he was unable to tour as a member of Steam.

DeCarlo performed the song on ’60s Pop, Rock & Soul: My Music, the 2011 PBS concert special produced by TJ Lubinsky, which helped bring his story to a national audience. In 2014, DeCarlo recorded a new version of “Na Na Hey Hey” for his album Long Time Comin’.

Today “Na Na Hey Hey” is a popular sports stadium anthem, often played when a visiting player leaves the field in defeat. DeCarlo, 75, died in June 2017 after a long battle with lung cancer.

Check out my book, Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever, available on Amazon.

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