Saying Goodbye to the Connecticut Man Behind the Song ‘Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye’

His song "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” has sold nearly eight million copies, but few really knew Shelton Connecticut resident Gary Decarlo for that.

You can’t help but sing along to it, a number one hit in the US and top ten in just about every country in the world. It’s been recorded in a slew of languages including German, Italian, Japanese, and Portugese according to the Connecticut Post. It also has been arranged in rap, reggae, Motown, disco, and heavy metal renditions. JAY-Z and Lady Gaga have used the hook among others, and it echoes in stadiums world wide as a sports anthem. Thank goodness Gary got the writers credit for the song , because especially back then, in 1969, record companies would somehow conveniently forget to pay their recording artists. He didn’t get super rich from "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye", but he did make some money from it.

We heard the song in movies like “Remember the Titans,” on ESPN, TV shows like the Simpsons and Cheers, and even featured in a Kohler toilet commercial. According to TMZ most recently the song was even famously sung in Congress, after the House passed the Obamacare repeal bill. Personally over the years I've gotten to play it on many stations because it seemed to fit in so many different formats.

Gary was born in Bridgeport Connecticut and resided in Shelton with his wife and family there until being treated recently in his final weeks by hospice care. Gary was 75 and passed from the same thing my dad passed away from, Lung Cancer.

Saying goodbye to Connecticut's Gary Decarlo of the group Steam with fond memories.