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Recently, it occurred to me that several times since I started my "Great Songs of the '70s" blog in 2019, I've highlighted songs that were on the charts in late 1979 and crossed over into 1980.
What I HAVEN'T done very often, is taken a look at songs that were on the charts in late 1969 and crossed over into 1970!
With that in mind, I checked Billboard's Hot 100 for the last week of '69 and made a somewhat surprising discovery: THREE former #1 songs that were in the Top 10 as the old decade ended--were STILL in the Top 10 as the new decade began:
"Leaving on a Jet Plane" by Peter, Paul & Mary at #2
"Someday We'll Be Together" by Diana Ross and the Supremes at #3
"Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)" by Steam at #5.
So here's what I'm going to do: Over the next 3 days, I'm going to highlight these "Great Songs" one at a time...beginning with "Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)."
There's quite a backstory about this song...which almost never saw the light of day.
In 1961, Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer wrote a song called "Kiss Him Goodbye" while they were members of a doo-wop group called The Glenwoods. The group broke up and nothing came of it...until 1968.
Gary was recording a few songs and his old friend Paul was producing. Mercury Records was interested in releasing them as singles, but they wanted some songs to go on the flip sides.
At that point, they decided to resurrect "Kiss Him Goodbye," but Paul thought the song should have a chorus to make it a bit longer than the original.
When he started writing the extra music, he added the "Na-Nas" as lyrical placeholders until he could come up with some REAL lyrics. While Paul was vocalizing the "Na-Nas," Gary joined in with a few "Hey-Heys' and they decided THAT was good enough for a flip side that no one would ever listen to anyway.
Boy, were they wrong!
Next, they stitched the song together like Frankenstein's monster. Gary sang, Paul played keyboards and they had an audio engineer lift and add drum and percussion parts from two entirely different songs.
Amazingly, they were able to complete the entire track in one recording session!
The folks at Mercury decided to release "Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)" as a single on their subsidiary Fontana label, but they needed a name for the group. For reasons lost to time, Gary & Paul decided on Steam...and the next thing you know, the song hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 in mid December of '69.
It was also a Top 10 hit in Canada, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK.
And then, sports team grabbed hold of it...and to this day, you can hear it at ballparks and stadiums all over the world.
(Trivia for diehard baseball fans: The first time it was heard at a baseball game was at Chicago's old Comiskey Park, when legendary White Sox organist, Nancy Faust, started playing it at appropriate game points--absolutely delighting the home crowd as they sang along. Note: She was also known for playing things like "Three Blind Mice' when the umpires took the field).
In 1983, Bananarama covered the song, which became a Top 10 hit in the UK (#4), and in 1987, The Nylons recorded an a capella (with drums) version that reached #12 on Billboard's Hot 100.
"Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye):" A "Great Song of 1969, 1970, 1983 & 1987," proving that greatness can come out of nowhere when you least expect it! Steam (1969-70):
Bananarama (1983):
The Nylons (1987):
Nancy Faust:
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