Arts & Entertainment
Gary ("Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye") DeCarlo at Downtown Cabaret Theatre
DOWNTOWN CABARET THEATRE
Professional Non-Profit Theatre
Hugh Hallinan, Executive Producer
Find out what's happening in Stratfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Find out what's happening in Stratfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
CONTACT: RICHARD P. PHENEGER
Press Representative for Gary DeCarlo & Heat at DOWNTOWN CABARET THEATRE
203.375.7072 (office)
Bridgeport Native GARY DeCARLO & HEAT Take the Stage at Bridgeport’s DOWNTOWN CABARET THEATRE with Opening Act - The Walter Lewis Blues Trio
DeCarlo Kicks Off the Tour of his book” Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” written with Mary Rose Scinto with a meet & greet & book signing following the performance
Bridgeport native Gary (“Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye”) DeCarlo (now residing in Shelton, Connecticut) & Heat take the stage at Bridgeport’s Downtown Cabaret Theatre with opening act - The Walter Lewis Blues Trio on Saturday, September 29 (2012) at 7:30pm. The Downtown Cabaret Theatre is located at 263 Golden Hill Street in downtown Bridgeport, Connecticut.
It’ll been 43 years this December since “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” went number 1. Gary DeCarlo is very emphatic when he says ”I feel as though I have been in hibernation and it’s finally time to come out and show everyone that I sang the lead vocal on “Na Na.” There are many stories on the internet which are not true. I would like to set the record straight and perform with my band Heat.”
Some of those stories are based on the following information. Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer wrote a version of "Kiss Him Goodbye" in the early 1960s when they were members of a Bridgeport, Connecticut, band The Chateaus, which later disbanded. With Paul Leka as producer,DeCarlo recorded several singles for Mercury Records. The singles impressed the company's executives, who wanted to issue all of them as A-sidesingles. In need of B-side songs, Leka and DeCarlo resurrected an old song from their days as the Chateaus, "Kiss Him Goodbye." According to Leka "I said we should put a chorus to it (to make it longer), so 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," some say it was DeCarlo.
"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" reached number one in the United States and for two weeks, December 6 and 13, 1969; it was Billboard's final multi-week #1 hit and also peaked at #20 on the soul chart. By the beginning of the 21st century, sales of "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" had exceeded 6.5 million records.
In 1971, vocal doo-wop group The Belmonts sang an a cappella cover of the song for one of their albums. Not much later, the song made its debut in the world of sports at the University of Minnesota as a basketball pre-game warm-up routine that took on a Harlem Globetrotters-type of showmanship. In the early 1970s, Texas A&M University played the song in the fourth quarter of home football games whenever it was apparent that a victory was at hand. Since 1977, thanks to the-organist for the Chicago White Sox, the song became a stadium taunt to visiting teams and is still played at U.S. Cellular Field whenever a White Sox player hits a home run or an opposing pitcher is replaced in the middle of an inning. The song was also played at the formerHartford Whalers home games if the team won
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 and became a top ten hit in the United Kingdom.
A disco remake of the song was recorded by original vocalist Gary DeCarlo and another disco version was released by Pattie Brooks in 1977.
In 1987, the Canadian quartet, The Nylons, released an a cappella version as a single under the shortened title "Kiss Him Goodbye" and it became their biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
As recently as 2011, “Na Na” was used in a TV commercial for Kohler Toilets and then most recently sung in Lafayette Park during celebrations of the death of Osama bin Laden.
This song has been remixed, covered and sampled by many other artists, including: The Pioneers (cover) and The Supremes (cover). On television, Bart starts singing the song in an episode of “The Simpsons” when everyone tries to humiliate Mr. Burns in Moe's Tavern
Gary DeCarlo & Heat will take the stage (for one performance only) at Bridgeport’s Downtown Cabaret Theatre with opening act - The Walter Lewis Blues Trio on Saturday, September 29 (2012) at 7:30pm
DeCarlo kicks off the tour of his book “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” written with Mary Rose Scinto. Copies of his book will be for sale following the performance and he will personally be available for a meet & greet & book signing.
All tickets are $29
Tickets may be reserved:
By Phone: Box Office: 203.576.1636
In Person: at box office located 263 Golden Hill Street, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Online at downtowncabaret.org (24/7)
By US Mail:
Gary De Carlo & Heat
c/o Downtown Cabaret Theatre
263 Golden Hill Street
Bridgeport, Ct. 06604
Box Office Hours: 11am to 4:30pm – Sundays thru Saturdays.
Closed Mondays
Box Office opens 90 minutes prior to scheduled performance times
Theatre seating begins 30 minutes prior to performance times
The Downtown Cabaret Theatre is wheelchair accessible. Please inform the box office of any special needs when ordering tickets.
For more information and up-to-date news about the Cabaret, upcoming performances, the performers, seating chart, parking and reserving tickets visit downtowncabaret.org
-30-
