December 6, 1969: "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," as the title of the song appears on the record label, Fontana Records release number F 1667, hits Number 1 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart. This song would still be Number 1 in America when I was born, 12 days later.
It was written and recorded at Mercury Sound Studios in New York, by Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer, formerly a Connecticut-based doo-wop group called The Glenwoods. This time, they recorded under the name "Steam." DeCarlo was the lead singer.
When the song became a hit, they were faced with the same problem as fake "studio groups" The Strangeloves (who had a Number 11 hit with "I Want Candy" in 1965) and The Archies (who hit Number 1 earlier in 1969 with "Sugar, Sugar"): They had to send out a touring group, so they put one together. None of this group's members had anything to do with the recording, but played concerts and made a promotional clip of the song. (They didn't call these clips "music videos" back then.)
Bananarama had a British hit with "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" in 1983, and The Nylons had a U.S. hit with it in 1987. But the best-known version might be the one improvised in 1977 by Chicago White Sox organist Nancy Faust, played for when an opposing pitcher was taken out of the game, so the home fans could mock-serenade him. As a result, it has become an about-to-win standard for fans in all sports, some of whom have no idea that they're only singing the chorus, or that it has verses at all – much like "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Leka also wrote "Green Tambourine," a Number 1 hit for The Lemon Pipers in 1968, often credited with starting the "bubblegum music" trend; and produced REO Speedwagon's 1st 2 albums. He died in 2011, at age 68. DeCarlo, who never had another hit in any capacity, died in 2017, at 75. Frashuer never had another hit, either. He became a composer for films, and then for video games, and died in 1998, at 59.
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December 6, 1969 was a Saturday. This was the day of the disastrous rock music festival at the Altamont Speedway in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have a separate entry for this event.
It was the off-season for baseball. There was 1 game played in the NFL that day, and it was also in the Bay Area: The San Francisco 49ers beat the Chicago Bears, 42-21 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. And there was 1 game played in the AFL: The New York Jets beat the Houston Oilers, 34-26 at the Astrodome in Houston.
The big story in America that day was not expected to be Altamont. It was expected to be a college football game that was moved to the Saturday after the intended last week of the regular season, because it looked like the teams involved would be ranked the top two in the nation. In this "Game of the Century," Number 1 Texas beat Number 2 Arkansas, 15-14 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I have a separate entry for this event.
There was 1 other college football game played that day: The Pasadena Bowl, held at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena. San Diego State beat Boston University, 28-7.
Also that day, there were 5 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 124-99 at what was still being called "The New Madison Square Garden Center." Walt Frazier and Bill Bradley each scored 29 points for the Knickerbockers, who advanced to 26-2 on the season that would end with their 1st NBA title. In a losing cause, Lew Alcindor (he changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1972) scored 26, and Len Chappell scored 24.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cincinnati Royals, 120-102 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Baltimore Bullets, 132-129 in overtime at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena).
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics, 116-114 in overtime at the Chicago Stadium.
* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Diego Rockets, 128-115 at the San Diego Sports Arena. Wilt Chamberlain did not play for L.A., but Jerry West scored 30, and Elgin Baylor 25. Elvin Hayes scored 40 in a losing effort. The Rockets moved to Houston in 1971, and the arena is now named the Pechanga Arena.
Two games were played in the American Basketball Association:
* The Denver Rockets beat the Washington Caps, 108-97 at the Washington Coliseum. The Rockets would become the Denver Nuggets in 1974, renaming themselves for the city's 1st NBA team, which were founded in 1935, joined the NBA in 1948, and folded in 1950. After the 1969-70 season, the Caps moved to Norfolk, and became the Virginia Squires. The Nuggets, the New York Nets, the Indiana Pacers and the San Antonio Spurs were merged from the crumbling ABA into the NBA in 1976. The Squires were not.
* And the New Orleans Buccaneers beat the Miami Floridians, 112-104 at the Miami Beach Convention Hall.
* Five games were played in the NHL. The New York Rangers, the only NHL team in the Tri-State Area at the time, were not involved in any of them:
* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3 at the Montreal Forum.
* The Boston Bruins beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 6-1 at the Boston Garden.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-1 at the St. Louis Arena.
* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Oakland Seals, 5-3 at The Forum in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California.
Also, Arsenal drew with Southampton, 2-2 at Highbury in North London.
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