You are so right. I expected the same thing at first and started it with muted sound so I could just sit back and read it without listening to that machine like audio. When they showed the first part with him talking into his camera I had to turn up the sound. Wow! It was so relaxing sitting back, start the video over and, listen to his smooth delivery of some truly amazing facts about four friends and a song. One day it begins to grow legs of it's own. BOOM!!!! We have a smash hit that was not intended to be. When he reached the part about what the four did with the rest of their careers I found some of the legs it took on were astounding. Each of them went on to have something to do with the music 88 percent of the people on the planet would listen to I almost fell out of my chair. As he told how each passed I could only tap my chin with hands in prayer position and bow my head slightly with a thank you to each. Sorry I rambled on a bit but I love music so much.
A most interesting "back story"! Thanks for putting this one together! I graduated from High School in 1972, so this song was definitely on my radar when I was a youngster!
When i saw "Number one hit from a group that wasn't a group" my thoughts turned to Sugar Sugar by The Archies, a song written for The Monkees that they didn't want to go anywhere near...
A band I was in did a heavy metal version of Sugar, Sugar. I yell sang it with a raspy voice and the guitar player distorted the snot out of his Gibson solid body. The drummer simplified the beat and the bass stayed pretty much the same. Great fun!
In 1971, I backpacked across Europe, staying in Youth Hostels. In Switzerland, I stayed at a Youth Hostel along with a bunch of rowdy guys from Turkey and they were singing a Turkish translation of Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye repeatedly until it got obnoxious. But they wouldn't stop. I never forgot.
@@the_guitar_trooper That song story is also a great one. Evidently, after the Lemon Pipers failed to chart a few times, they were given somewhat of an ultimatum to do “Green Tambourine” or face being dropped. Supposedly, they were not very fond of the song. They complied and, as they say, the rest is music history. While some may cast the song in a “bubblegum” throw away mold, I agree it’s a great track and even the somewhat gimmicky over the top echoed vocal effect really worked well on that particular track.
@@MartysPopParty What's really weird is Paul used the exact same instrumental backing tracks dubbed over with the vocals from another group he was producing, Baltimore-based Peppermint Rainbow, and included it as an album cut.
@@gravityissues5210Strange indeed and I think it was in 1969 well after the LP’s version. Perhaps they needed an album filler and Paul had control of the master track…
When I read the thumbnail I knew immediately who and what it was! This is one of my favorite one-hitters! I'll blast it anytime! Btw, years sgo I read an article on the song and it was divulged that during that long percussion outro, one guy was playing beats on the top of a piano bench, lol! I love that 💩!
Wow they all died fairly young. In 1970 during my junior year in HS a bunch of us used to sing this in the locker room after gym class (quite loudly); that is until we were told to stop because we were disturbing the classes that were across the walkway from the gym. So much fun back then!
Had to laugh, you jogged a memory. I was in high school in the mid 70s, and our go-to song after basketball practice was "Black Water" by the Doobie Bros. We got pretty good at it, especially the A Capella part...sounded great in the shower. Coach used to have to kick us out so he could go home! Play that funky Dixieland, pretty mama come and take me by the hand!
@@the_guitar_trooper Yep, some of my more pleasant basketball memories...our team was AWFUL, much to Coach's frustration...but we had fun, anyway. We called ourselves the "Shower Power Express"!
38 year old in 2024. I like the song, especially now as a mature musician... but my first memories of the song were of it being a crowd chant at sporting events.
I have been a professional DJ since 1987, working in radio and doing bars and weddings and charity events. I have never heard this story before. Thanks, Guitar Trooper.
That was awesome GT! I knew that song but never had any idea about it's interesting history. Thanks so much for keeping the music of our past alive and well. 👍👍📀📀
Legend has it that two Fairfield musicians, Chris "Liggs" Higgins and Bill Blamey also had something to do with the making of this song. They were late '60's grads of local high schools, Roger Ludlowe, Andrew Warde and maybe a Bridgeport high school, and good musicians. But I can't verify.
The Boy and Girl Scouts in my area used to get together and attempt to make a 50 mile hike. I thank this song for being the “cool” song that we sang to keep us going! So, thank you, Steam and all interested parties. You managed to help teach an 11 year old chubby girl the power of music and the power of stubborn determination!
Yeah. At one point during Three Dog Night Captured Live at the Forum album, an audience member in the higher section yells a complaint of not being able to hear them very well and one of the group says “You can’t hear us up there? see? you should’ve bought the $5.50 tickets up front“
Remember that trivia show on MTV that was supposed to have been broadcast from the host’s basement? The contestants all lounged in beds, and when someone was eliminated, their bed, with them in it, would get pulled back through the wall to the tune of Na Na Hey Hey. The whole audience gleefully sang along.
I was a 14 year old boy when I went to the War Memorial Stadium in Hampton, Va for that music festival. My first!!! Seeing that poster brought a lot of good memories back. Thanks
I was in high school in the 1980's and was in marching band for the first 2 years. We performed " Na Ha Hey Hey" as one of the songs. I took a liking to that song.
HA!, HA!....So who's getting rich from all those royalties? This little bit of surprising minutia on a 'throw-away' song that refused to die and then became (let's face it!) iconic - even decades later - had me in stitches. Listening to you going through the various personnel iterations was hysterical! And, all because a rascally DJ played the wrong side of a demo. Who knew!? Very entertaining! 👏
This is great. I was pretty sure I knew by the title what song this was about. You gave me way more info than I've ever found on my own. Thank you. You've got a happy new subscriber.
I love the backstory of this 1969 song by STEAM how about doing a video on SUGAR SUGAR also 1969 by the ARCHIES it was also a studio group that never was and also a Cartoon Series on TV back in 1969. The Monkees were offered it first but thought it was too bubble gummy for them. But it became the #1 song of the year. I also would like to suggest another 1969 hit Will You Be Staying After Sunday. It was a answer record to Spanky And Our Gang's Song Sunday will Never be the same. But the group was called Peppermint Rainbow. A one hit wonder group I will never understand that because they had a really good sound for there time. A Sunshine pop record. They should have had more hits at that time.
Looks like you covered it! LOL. The whole Archie’s thing is on the development list but not as yet scheduled. Thanks for watching!! Please help me to spread the love 💕 by sharing the channel and the videos!!
Being from the New Haven area i'm quite familiar with the Na Nan Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye song and that's quite a story you unveiled. Had no idea that 'Steam' never really existed. Very Interesting and I can relate to your stories as I'm 70 years old and very much still a music lover. It must have taken a long to put all the info together - great job. Dennis A
I think it's pushing your narrative to say they deliberately tried to make it a terrible song. If that was true then the lead vocal wouldn't be so pretty and melodic. And the backing vocals and the chorus would not have been sung so in key. The song clearly has classic hooks, including the verse melody, an outstanding vocal with lots of great phrasing, & the the melodic arc of the chorus is classic hit songwriting. All that overcomes the weirdness of the someone artificial rhythm track which at the time was a new thing , which also fits the category of being a fresh sound innovation - which is also a classic earmark of a hit record. At least three of the most important boxes were checked as far as being a memorable record, and that's what's the producer and others instantly heard. Maybe they naively thought they were making a b-side, but there's no way anyone would deliberately make a terrible record regardless of what side it was on if they were trying to make a break through as an artist.
I don't know what the turn out of this video will be but, before I learn about the final results, my immediate thoughts are ' It's Sugar, Sugar by the Archies'. I do know that Archies was a fictional band and the song that nobody wanted eventually, sold many Millions of copies and in Britain, it toped the singles chart and stayed at no1 position for an incredible Nine weeks.
I remember so well when this song came out, I was a senior in High School....and man, it was very popular.... it reminds me of my best friend Marty at the time who stayed a great friend until his passing a few years ago.....Wow... Thank You so much Guitar Trooper....
You sure like to hear yourself talk, huh? It would sure be nice if you played a few lics of the songs your talking about. Don't get me wrong, the history is great, the name of a song means nothing to me, but the song does, so lets divide your talk time with some song time!
Thanks for watching! Yeah - this is a history narrative channel. On long form videos like these, I can’t play clips longer than five seconds without a copyright violation. As a RU-vid revenue sharing partner, I am prohibited from playing long clips of copyrighted content within videos that exceed 1 minute in length.
I remember when all this happened but never got the real backstory. I recall hearing the song was performed by ‘studio musicians’ rather than ‘a band. Thanks for clarifying it all and for your great presentations.
interesting, whoever it was came through Salem, Or. / I think it was like a Dick Clark Caravan. Sadly they were terrible. Out of tune & struggled with timing.
Thank you for clarifying the history of Na Na Hey Hey. It was the song that was used as the soundtrack from the cheerleaders to learn their moves when I was in jr high school in 1970.
Thank you very much for this story! The song was also covered by The Supremes, and included in their 1970 album, "New Ways but Love Stays", with a rare solo part by the late Mary Wilson.
Hay Old Fella, I enjoy your content. I especially admire your command of the English language. As a confirmed heterosexual I will risk saying that you have a great head of hair! All the best.
Sir, I am subscribed, just recently! This is your newest post. I'm very happy to hear you speak! Some people try and should not. Your knowledge is awesome. I am so glad I am subscribed. I am a lead vocalist, a long way from number 1, still doing covers to get noticed. 26, God bless you, sir , Joey in Cleveland
Of course, I am fully aware of this song. If you grew up in the 60s/70s as I did, and you listened to the radio, you couldn't NOT be aware of it. But I never knew the story behind it ... until now. Great tale! Thanks for putting it out there.
Yep! They are already in the research queue, but not as yet scheduled. I may not get to them this year, though. Thanks for the suggestion! It’s good to know that they have some fans still!!
First thought when I saw clickbait thumb: 'Na na hey Hey Hey' Nailed it! Thank you for this. I grew up near Bridgeport, and always knew of the relation. Did NOT know the entire story. Now I do.
Thank you for watching! I’ve had quite a few people from the area respond on this, which kind of surprised me. I don’t know why, but it did. Please help me to spread the love 💕 by sharing the channel and the videos!
Someone gave the graduating class of 1977 a graduation party at a huge farm. I can remember standing poolside with the rest of my graduation class and belting out this song along with everyone else.
I believe Gary DeCarlo sang this song live, on one of those PBS Oldies Concert Shows. This would've been about 15-20 years ago I believe. The guy who organized the concerts, is named Lubinsky or something like that. I can't recall his first name. 😊
He did sing it for charity events when asked to do so. He had a generous heart. Thanks for watching! Please help me to spread the love 💕 by sharing the channel and the videos!!!
Try Chase and their only hit Got to Get It On. One thing I know is that first track o. Their first album I s Open up Wide and the final cut on their 4th and final album is Close Down Tight.
Ha! Growing up in Long Island in the late 60’s / early 70’s this song was not only on AM radio all the time but my brother and I played the 45 very often. I clearly remember that light blue Fontana label spinning around on our fold-down record player as it was playing. Wasn’t this kind of like the story behind the band Boston?
Very close to Boston. One guy in his basement studio. Multitracking a demo over several months. Presents it and sells it, then scrambles for a performance band. Thanks for the view and the comments! Please help me to spread the love 💕 by sharing the channel and the videos!!!
Thanks for the view! Yeah, since the group was amorphous, it could have been anybody. Please help me out by sharing the channel and the videos with your friends!!
Ha! I’ll have to try that. Thanks A MILLION for the view! Please help me to spread the love 💕 by sharing the channel link and the videos with your friends!
Smith did a rendition of Baby Its You in late 1969 and was the only hit they had...Also the description photo is Steam who also had a hit in late '69 with Na Na Na Hey Goodbye 😊
So Paul Leka co-wrote two absolutely iconic 1960s #1 hits, and he's a virtual unknown? Only in Pop music I guess. But Pop is densely populated (yuk yuk) with stories like Steam: Group made up of session musicians cuts record, record becomes hit, record company scrambles to put together a touring version of said group... happened quite often. The T-Bones, B. Bumble & the Stingers... weren't 1910 Fruitgum Company and The Ohio Express two different names for the same aggregation of session musicians, backing up lead vocalist Joey Levine? I believe they were the same musicians who backed up Kasenetz-Katz and The Archies as well, although The Archies had three different lead singers: Ron Dante, Toni Wine and Andy Kim.
You could also go along the same lines as lead singers too. Tony Burrows was a lead singer for four different groups in the early '70's that had hits on the Billboard Charts. Edison Lighthouse, White Plains, Brotherhood Of Man, and FIrst Class.
@@amb2745 Don't forget The Pipkins. Burrows and songwriter Roger Greenaway sang a duet on "Gimme Dat Ding". Burrows was the low voice and Greenaway was the high voice.
@@amb2745 THANKS! I don’t know if I’m good enough to make a video like that interesting, but there could be a tangential story line for a surprise ending.
What??? This is such a fascinating story - thank you. I loved that song back then, never had a clue about it's origins. What a great channel this is and YOU are a great story teller. I gotta' share this video. Thank you...!!! ❤✌
It's interesting that there wasn't any group called Steam but the song became a big hit anyway. I'm really surprised that the guys who originally recorded it and the guy or guy's who wrote it saw it as a throw away song and didn't want any part of it. It's not my favorite song at all but it's catchy but it's way too long and repetitious for my taste. It was a big hit though and it can still be heard at sporting events. Unbelievable right ? Later folks !
Yeah this thing was around forever. Never liked it that much, but it became the theme song for the other side when your team was losing at football. Then I liked it even less.
We would sing that chorus when we left a rival high school that we solidly beat in football that year. The whole bus of players were singing it…..Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na……….hey hey kiss’em good bye!
I don't know where the Guitar Trooper came from but I must say you are the CHARLES KURALT of pop and rock history. I grew up in the 50's and 60's and saw it all happen and also produced my share of rock groups starting with the British Invasion. Now, I don't miss watching a Guitar Trooper video every day. Even though I lived it while it was happening...I learn something new everyday.
I remember the song was used for losing contestants on the game show "Remote Control" on MTV. Someone would throw a switch and the contestant would get pulled backwards off the set.
Love it! Thanks for the memories. We used to play that at our high school football and basketball games, exactly as you describe, back in the early 70s. I even have it in my iTunes library. That said, I never knew any more about the song or the group so your video was a true revelation about one part of my life from so very long ago.
