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 | ||||
| from the album Steam | ||||
| B-side | "It's the Magic in You Girl" | |||
| Released | 1969 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Recorded | 1968 in New York at Mercury Sound Studios | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 4:08 (LP version) 6:20 (long version) 3:45 (45 version) 2:59 (45 radio version) |
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| Label | Fontana F 1667 (US) | |||
| Writer(s) | Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer | |||
| Producer | Paul Leka | |||
| Steam singles chronology | ||||
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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 | "Tell Tale Signs" | |||
| Released | February 1983 | |||
| Format | 7" single, 12" single | |||
| Recorded | February 1982 | |||
| Genre | Pop/New Wave | |||
| Length | 3:30 | |||
| Label | London Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer, Paul Leka | |||
| Producer | Jolley & Swain | |||
| Bananarama singles chronology | ||||
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"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" is a song written and recorded by Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer. Attributed to a fictitious band they named "Steam", it was released under the Mercury subsidiary label Fontana. It became a 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. The song was later used as a basis for Kristinia DeBarge's hit single "Goodbye" and in the movie Remember the Titans.
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[edit] History
Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer wrote a primitive version of the song in the early 1960s when they were members of a band from Bridgeport, Connecticut, 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).
Nobody believed that Na Na was worth anything and since neither Leka or DeCarlo wanted to have their names on it, the song was attributed to a non-existent band that they named Steam. Executives at Mercury Records decided to release the song as the B-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). What happened next surprised everybody who was involved in the project. A disc jockey in Georgia flipped Mercury's promo copy over and played the B side "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" on the radio. Requests to replay the song began to pour in by phone. Then the radio station put the song on its tight play list and other radio stations picked it up. When Mercury Records' promotional department heard that radio stations in the South were playing Na Na, they authorized the purchase of 100,000 copies in order to put it on the Billboard popular hit chart. When radio stations in other states saw the record appear on the Billboard popular hit chart, they picked it up and airplay of the song snowballed. The investment of approximately $50,000 in promotional funds to buy their own records worked for Mercury and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" reached number one in the United States for a pair of weeks, on December 6 and 13 of 1969; it was Billboard (magazine)'s final multi-week #1 hit of the 1960s and also peaked at number twenty on the soul chart [1]. The Steam Touring Band was quickly assembled and dubbed "Steam" by their producer, Paul Leka. They went on tour with the song for one year and disbanded in 1970. By the beginning of the 21st century, sales of "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" had exceeded 6.5 million records.
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 February 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 (#5), but only a minor hit in the US (Billboard #101) later that year. Their music video features a feminist message as the girls undergo boxing training in order to retaliate against a bunch of guys. In a sketch on the early 1980s comedy show, Three of a Kind, Tracey Ullman spoofed Bananarama singing "Na Na Hey Hey" (as well as "Shy Boy"), with the words "We are nanas".
A Disco remake of the song was recorded by original vocalist Gary DeCarlo (credited to his stage name Garrett Scott) and released as a 12" single in 1976 on the West End label as "Na Na Kiss Him Goodbye (Disco Version)".
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 that summer.
[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 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 hey / Start the bus", in reference as to its time to just leave town now. It is also frequently used at basketball games when a visiting player fouls out, or especially if they are ejected from the game, or if a visiting team is about to get eliminated from the playoffs.
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, 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 first known appearance in hockey was in 1982. The organist for the Vancouver Canucks began playing the song and fans began singing along to it during a playoff game.
In the mid-80s, fans of the Montreal Canadiens NHL franchise began singing the song towards the end of the final period when the Habs where in the lead, particularly during playoff matches. The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute men's hockey team did the same at all their home games starting with their 1984-85 NCAA championship season, continuing the tradition to the present day.
In Australian Rules Football, the song is used to send off supporters of the losing team that are leaving the stadium before the conclusion of the match. "Na na na na / na na na na / hey hey hey / goodbye" is chanted by the fans of the winning team, usually by the team's cheer squad.
United States soccer fans could be heard singing the song late in the second half of the US's 2-0 victory over Mexico in the 2002 World Cup round of 16 in Jeonju, S. Korea.
The song is also used by WWE fans. The fans often use the song to taunt a wrestler or other person who has been kayfabe fired or quits. The most memorable chant in recent history occurred at Wrestlemania XX during the Goldberg Vs Brock Lesnar match, since it became widely known that both participants would be leaving WWE afterwards, in spite of the company's downplay of the matter.
The song is also used by 2008 American Gladiators (2008 TV series) revival, mostly in water events, where the song is played, and the fans sing it while the contender or gladiator swims to the surface.
The band Panic at the Disco used the riff "na na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" to close their final song, Mad as Rabbits, during their 2008 Rock Band Tour.
In 1988 Brazilian singer Angélica recorded the song in Portuguese version for her debut album with the title "Na Na Na, Hey Hey, Tchau Tchau".
[edit] Other appearances
- German power metal band, Axxis, covered this song on the 2000 album entitled "Back To The Kingdom".
- In freestyle music, a group named Pure Pleasure used this in their song "My Final Goodbye".
- This song was featured in season 4 of the US sitcom Ally McBeal, sung by Vonda Shepard who played the resident singer at the bar where the show's characters drank and danced after work.
- In 2005, the song was used in a Tide to Go TV commercial featuring Kelly Ripa. In the commercial, Ripa sang the song as she was using the product, bidding "goodbye" to the stain she was treating.
- During the final few days of the Bush Administration, the song was used as something of an unofficial anthem by critics of President Bush, anxious to see him leave office; it was also featured in humorous segments on both The Rachel Maddow Show and Countdown with Keith Olbermann, discussing Bush's departure of office, as well as a number of parodies on YouTube.
- On November 4, 2008, after Barack Obama clinched victory in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, Obama supporters gathered outside the White House and chanted the song, a reference to then President George W. Bush's tenure coming to an end.
- On January 20, 2009, after the 2009 Inauguration of President Barack Obama, some members of the crowd outside the Capitol (which had been estimated at two million people at its peak) began singing the song when Bush appeared on the Jumbotron screens and as the helicopter lifted off carrying the former President George W. Bush home to Texas. [1]
- The song is interpolated in the 2009 song, "Goodbye", by Kristinia DeBarge.
- The song is interpolated in the 2009 song, "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" by Jay-Z.
- The song is sampled in the 2009 street single release rap song, "[D.O.A. Remix]" performed by Bone Thugs N Harmony.
- In Remember The Titans, the team sings in an interpretation of this song as an expression of team spirit, solidarity and sorrow.
- On an episode of Total Drama Action, entitled "Alien Ressurr-eggtion", Chris stated that if they peek at someone else's votes, its "Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye..."
- The song is used in the 1987 MTV game show Remote Control when the TV goes "Off the Air", meaning the player in last place at the end of Round 2 was eliminated. It was sung by the audience in one season as the losing player was ejected from the stage with the recliner they were sitting in from the beginning of the show in various ways, depending on which chair the losing player sat in.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 550.
- ^ http://www.ballparktour.com/Nancy_Faust.html
| Preceded by "Something / Come Together" by The Beatles |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single 6 December 1969 (two weeks) |
Succeeded by "Leaving On A Jet Plane" by Peter, Paul, and Mary |
