Na Na Hey Hey songwriter passes

Obituaries for folks in the entertainment world that have come to the end of the road.

Na Na Hey Hey songwriter passes

Postby Neumann Sennheiser » Mon Oct 24, 2011 11:06 am

I noticed this week from the October 1969 CKLG chart in our Radiowest Today in History that the original version of "Na Na Hey Hey, (Kiss Him Goodbye)" was just beginning it's climb on the charts at around this time and it also just came to my knowledge that the songwriter of ‘Na Na Hey Hey died earlier this month at age 68.
Paul Leka was a songwriter and producer who worked with many recording stars but who was best known for writing the chanting chorus of “Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)” a hit that was reborn in the 1970s as a sports arena anthem.
He died due to lung cancer on Oct. 12 in a hospice near his home in Sharon, Conn.
Mr. Leka made his name in the Tin Pan Alley tradition, writing or arranging songs for other people. He wrote and produced “Green Tambourine,” a No. 1 hit in 1967 for the psychedelic soft-rock band the Lemon Pipers; signed REO Speedwagon to its first record contract; and produced four of Harry Chapin’s albums, including 1974’s “Verities & Balderdash” containing the song that was Chapin’s lone No. 1 hit, “Cat’s in the Cradle.”
In 1969, Mr. Leka was helping a longtime friend from Bridgeport, Conn., Gary DeCarlo, fill the B-side of a single he was recording for Buddah. With Mr. Leka on keyboards, they started with a song they had written years before, a bluesy shuffle called “Kiss Him Goodbye.” But it filled only two minutes of playing time, and to make sure disc jockeys would not play it — instead of Mr. DeCarlo’s A-side — they decided to add a chorus to stretch it to four minutes, beyond the time limit of most radio formats.
“I started writing while I was sitting at the piano, going ‘na na na na, na na na na ... ” Mr. Leka told Fred Bronson, the author of “The Billboard Book of Number One Hits.” “Everything was ‘na-na’ when you didn’t have a lyric.” Mr. DeCarlo added the “hey hey.” They chanted the chorus at the beginning and end of the original song, and as an added poison pill left the dummy lyrics in.
Nonetheless, the record company decided to release it as the A-side of a 45 by Steam, a fictitious group name the two men invented for the record. The song reached No. 1 in late 1969 and enjoyed a happy radio life span. Then it came back.
In 1977 the organist for the Chicago White Sox, Nancy Faust, began using the song to stoke the crowd into taunting an opposing team when, say, a visiting player struck out or a visiting pitcher was removed or the team was about to lose.
It is unclear how it spread, but within a few years the chant was heard at sports events everywhere, more ubiquitous than “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” since fans sing it at football and soccer games, too.

Paul Theodore Leka was born on Feb. 20, 1943, in Bridgeport.
He worked for Mercury, Elektra and CBS Records and later opened his own recording studio in Bridgeport, where he helped produce songs for Gloria Gaynor, Stevie Wonder and Kris Kristofferson and others.
"You don't know man! I was in radio man! I've seen things you wouldn't believe!"
User avatar
Neumann Sennheiser
Advanced Member
 
Posts: 1129
Joined: Sat Jun 24, 2006 10:43 pm
Location: Port Ludlow, Washington, USA

Re: Na Na Hey Hey songwriter passes

Postby Neumann Sennheiser » Mon Oct 24, 2011 11:22 am

Just for the curious, this is the original intended "A" side to that 1969 45rpm release by Steam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEexF78Qnic
"You don't know man! I was in radio man! I've seen things you wouldn't believe!"
User avatar
Neumann Sennheiser
Advanced Member
 
Posts: 1129
Joined: Sat Jun 24, 2006 10:43 pm
Location: Port Ludlow, Washington, USA

Re: Na Na Hey Hey songwriter passes

Postby kat » Mon Oct 24, 2011 1:52 pm

Interesting stuff Neumann. Always nice to know the story behind the hits.

All I can add is Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye to Paul. Sorry to hear you ran out of Steam.

:cat2:
The world has two kinds of people. Cat people and idiots.
User avatar
kat
Advanced Member
 
Posts: 532
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 9:36 pm
Location: Bellingham, WA


Return to The End Of The Road

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 83 guests