Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
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| "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" | ||
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| Single by Steam | ||
| B-side(s) | "It's the Magic in You Girl" | |
| Released | 1969 | |
| Format | 7" single | |
| Recorded | 1968 | |
| Length | 4:08 6:20 (long version) |
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| Label | Fontana F 1667 (US) | |
| Writer(s) | Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer, Paul Leka | |
| Producer(s) | Paul Leka | |
| Chart positions | ||
| Steam singles chronology | ||
| "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" (1969) |
"I've Gotta Make You Love Me" (1970) |
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| "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" | ||
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| Single by Bananarama | ||
| from the album 'Deep Sea Skiving' | ||
| B-side(s) | Tell Tale Signs (non-lp track) | |
| Released | February 1983 | |
| Format | 7" single, 12" single | |
| Recorded | 1982 | |
| Genre | Pop/New Wave | |
| Label | London Records | |
| Writer(s) | Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer, Paul Leka | |
| Producer(s) | Tony Swain Steve Jolley |
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| Chart positions | ||
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| Bananarama singles chronology | ||
| "He's Got Tact" (1982) |
"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" (1983) |
"Cruel Summer" (1983) |
"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.
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[edit] History
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.[1].
The original recording of "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" has been released in many collections of oldies songs and re-recorded by other groups. In 1983, UK girl group Bananarama released the song as a single off their album Deep Sea Skiving. This version became a top ten hit in the United Kingdom. Their music video features a feminist message as the girls undergo boxing training in order to retaliate against a bunch of guys.
In 1987, Canadian act The Nylons released an a cappella version of this song as a single under the shortened title "Kiss Him Goodbye." It became their biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number twelve.
[edit] Cultural impact
The song was transformed into a stadium anthem during the 1977 Major League Baseball season. Chicago White Sox organist Nancy Faust had played the song many times before when opposing pitchers were relieved or when the Sox had clearly won the game, but without much reaction from the Comiskey Park fans. During a critical series with the Kansas City Royals, however, the crowd began singing along with the tune, and a tradition was born.[2] Since then, the song has become a staple of many sporting events. The song's familiar chorus of "Na na na na / na na na na / hey hey / goodbye" is often chanted by fans near the end of a contest to signify that victory is all but assured. This is sometimes accompanied by the gesture of holding up keys. Other versions of lyrics sung by the crowds at sporting events can be interpreted as "Na na na na / na na na na / hey hey / Start the bus," in reference as to it's time to just leave town now.
[edit] References to "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye"
- The song remains a favorite of White Sox fans. Today it is used when opposing pitchers are pulled, when the White Sox hit a home run, and when the Sox win a game. It was also played by Nancy Faust during the White Sox World Series victory parade on October 28, 2005. Fans at Soldier Field and other Chicago sports venues are also known to sing it when victory is certain. However, because it is so closely associated with the White Sox (see Cubs-White Sox rivalry), it is never played at Wrigley Field, despite its mention in the song "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request" by folksinger and Cub fan Steve Goodman.
- The chorus is sung by fans of the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens at the end of games where victory is assured.
- The chorus is often played on the public address system during National Basketball Association games when a player on the visiting team fouls out of a game.
- During many Test Cricket games, fans in Bay 13 like to chant this when a drunk spectator is ejected by Police.
- During the matches of the Germany national football team in 1970 FIFA World Cup many fans chanted the song where using the tone shout "Alemania, Alemania, hey hey hey Deutschland" ("Alemania" is "Germany", in Spanish). This form of chanting was used by football clubs within the English Football League prior to the 1970 FIFA World Cup,who would sing, as an example " Na, Na, Na, Na - Na, Na, Na, Na - Hey Hey Millwall ". The chant was still being heard during the 2006 - 07 season of the English Football League.
- In professional wrestling, the song is often sung by the audience when a heel wrestler is forced to leave an arena or "brand" after losing a match or being "fired" and, less frequently, when a wrestler is talking excessively.
- On the late '80s MTV gameshow Remote Control, the song was played (and sung by the studio audience) whenever a contestant lost the game and left the show.
- The song has been featured in the following media:
- The Simpsons, 1989 - Present
- South Park, 1997-Present
- Remember the Titans, 2000
- Raising Helen, 2004
- Kingdom Hospital, 2004
[edit] Lyrics
The verse of the song centers on the singer telling a woman the reasons why she should dump her current beau. The lengthy, repetitive fade-out chorus is the part that is typically sung by the fans: Na,na... na, na, na, na... hey, hey, hey... goodbye.
[edit] See also
| Preceded by "Come Together" / "Something" by The Beatles |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Steam version) December 6, 1969 |
Succeeded by "Leaving on a Jet Plane" by Peter, Paul and Mary |
