Post by Rob Durkee on Oct 25, 2011 13:13:48 GMT -5
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
SHARON, CONNECTICUT (RTDP) -- Paul Leka, best known for co-writing and producing the late 60's hits "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" and "Green Tambourine," died October 12, 2011 at a hospice care facility near his home in Sharon. According to George Leka, Paul's brother, the New York Times and writer Cameron Matthews, Paul Leka died of lung cancer. He was 68.
According to writer Fred Bronson, Paul Leka got his big break while working for Circle Five Productions in New York City around late 1967. He was introduced to Shelly Prinz, who'd written a number of songs.
One Prinz-written song in particular intrigued Paul. It was about an elderly singer who was his own one-man band performing in front of a bank in England. On the ground in front of him was a tambourine used to collect donations. Leka offered the song to a struggling group, which initially turned it down. However, after telling the group that it was about to be dropped by the Buddah label, the members thought about it overnight, then decided to record it the next day. Thus, "Green Tambourine" the Lemon Pipers shot to #1 on the Cash Box pop chart in February, 1968. It would go on to be ranked #8 on the 1968 Cash Box year-end rankings.
The Lemon Pipers went on to have two more pop chart hits. Leka co-wrote and produced both of them: "Rice Is Nice" and "Jelly Jungle (Of Orange Marmalade)." To this day, this writer considers "Rice Is Nice" to be the best song to hear when a newly-wed couple is coming out of the church...with rice being thrown at the two.
By the late 60's, Leka had joined Mercury Records. It was there that he was reunited with two members of his former Bridgeport group, the Chateaus. Together, Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer co-wrote a song originally called "Kiss Him Goodbye" that they had started writing it in 1961. Paul took the tape of a drum track from another of DeCarlo's songs and played keyboards on the song. They intended it to be only the B side of another song. The B side tune was originally only two minutes long. Believe it or not, Paul added a drawn out chorus to double the song's length in order to further discourage DJ's from playing it. The move didn't matter. The song would still become a hit that would become a classic...and heard at many sporting events to this day.
"I started writing while I was sitting at the piano, going 'na na na na, na na na na'," Leka recalled. "Everything was 'na-na' when you didn't have a lyric."
The song's title was renamed to "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," it was recorded by a group called Steam on the Fontana label and the result was a #3 song on the Cash Box pop chart. The song reached #1 on another magazine's chart.
"It's a song where a guy wants a girl, but she's going out with someone else" DeCarlo once told the New York Times. "It's basically a sad situation, but we made it upbeat. The guy sounds like he's going to come out ahead. That's why I think it caught on. It gives you a lift."
Eighteen years later in 1987 and back to its original title of "Kiss Him Goodbye," the Canadian a cappella group the Nylons took a remake of the song to #15 on the Cash Box chart.
Steam, meanwhile, had one more Cash Box pop chart hit in early 1970, when "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" reached #38.
The exact number of Steam members differs according to sources. Some say the act was a duo of Leka and DeCarlo. However, Bronson's highly acclaimed book, "The Billboard Book of #1 Hits," shows a photo of Steam having six members.
Leka also worked with the group the Left Banke although he didn't write or produce its only two top 40 hits, "Walk Away Renee" and "Pretty Ballerina." Leka also worked with the Peppermint Rainbow of "Will You Be Staying After Sunday" fame, produced some Harry Chapin albums and helped get REO Speedwagon get signed to its first label, Epic Records, in 1971.
According to Wikipedia, Paul Leka was born February 20, 1943, in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
SHARON, CONNECTICUT (RTDP) -- Paul Leka, best known for co-writing and producing the late 60's hits "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" and "Green Tambourine," died October 12, 2011 at a hospice care facility near his home in Sharon. According to George Leka, Paul's brother, the New York Times and writer Cameron Matthews, Paul Leka died of lung cancer. He was 68.
According to writer Fred Bronson, Paul Leka got his big break while working for Circle Five Productions in New York City around late 1967. He was introduced to Shelly Prinz, who'd written a number of songs.
One Prinz-written song in particular intrigued Paul. It was about an elderly singer who was his own one-man band performing in front of a bank in England. On the ground in front of him was a tambourine used to collect donations. Leka offered the song to a struggling group, which initially turned it down. However, after telling the group that it was about to be dropped by the Buddah label, the members thought about it overnight, then decided to record it the next day. Thus, "Green Tambourine" the Lemon Pipers shot to #1 on the Cash Box pop chart in February, 1968. It would go on to be ranked #8 on the 1968 Cash Box year-end rankings.
The Lemon Pipers went on to have two more pop chart hits. Leka co-wrote and produced both of them: "Rice Is Nice" and "Jelly Jungle (Of Orange Marmalade)." To this day, this writer considers "Rice Is Nice" to be the best song to hear when a newly-wed couple is coming out of the church...with rice being thrown at the two.
By the late 60's, Leka had joined Mercury Records. It was there that he was reunited with two members of his former Bridgeport group, the Chateaus. Together, Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer co-wrote a song originally called "Kiss Him Goodbye" that they had started writing it in 1961. Paul took the tape of a drum track from another of DeCarlo's songs and played keyboards on the song. They intended it to be only the B side of another song. The B side tune was originally only two minutes long. Believe it or not, Paul added a drawn out chorus to double the song's length in order to further discourage DJ's from playing it. The move didn't matter. The song would still become a hit that would become a classic...and heard at many sporting events to this day.
"I started writing while I was sitting at the piano, going 'na na na na, na na na na'," Leka recalled. "Everything was 'na-na' when you didn't have a lyric."
The song's title was renamed to "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," it was recorded by a group called Steam on the Fontana label and the result was a #3 song on the Cash Box pop chart. The song reached #1 on another magazine's chart.
"It's a song where a guy wants a girl, but she's going out with someone else" DeCarlo once told the New York Times. "It's basically a sad situation, but we made it upbeat. The guy sounds like he's going to come out ahead. That's why I think it caught on. It gives you a lift."
Eighteen years later in 1987 and back to its original title of "Kiss Him Goodbye," the Canadian a cappella group the Nylons took a remake of the song to #15 on the Cash Box chart.
Steam, meanwhile, had one more Cash Box pop chart hit in early 1970, when "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" reached #38.
The exact number of Steam members differs according to sources. Some say the act was a duo of Leka and DeCarlo. However, Bronson's highly acclaimed book, "The Billboard Book of #1 Hits," shows a photo of Steam having six members.
Leka also worked with the group the Left Banke although he didn't write or produce its only two top 40 hits, "Walk Away Renee" and "Pretty Ballerina." Leka also worked with the Peppermint Rainbow of "Will You Be Staying After Sunday" fame, produced some Harry Chapin albums and helped get REO Speedwagon get signed to its first label, Epic Records, in 1971.
According to Wikipedia, Paul Leka was born February 20, 1943, in Bridgeport, Connecticut.