“STEAM” Singer Gary DeCarlo Dies at 75

Singer GARY DeCARLO died today after a long and courageous battle with cancer at the age of 75. He was a member of the band called STEAM, best known for the classic #1 hit "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye." It's a song the group didn't want to record. It was written in 1961 when the group was known as the Chateaus. They were so embarrassed by the song, they avoided recording it and almost forgot about it. Later, when they were a studio recording group, one more song was needed as a B-side. As an afterthought, they dug up that song they wrote but hated called "Kiss Him Goodbye," and added what they thought were many annoying "Na Na" verses so that it would never become the A-side of a single. However, their efforts to bury the song only rendered it more endearing and DJs flipped their single over and made it the A-side and a major hit record was born. It's been successfully remade several times by other artists, and has become a staple at sporting events. See the group perform the song then and now by clicking below.