The song is everywhere. It has a fantastic back story, is a #1 one hit wonder and was one of the first songs HERC's three kids learned to sing. His youngest, J, was belting this one from his car seat as soon as he was talking and he put his heart and soul into it. His preferred version was the acapella version by The Nylons and he would shout the slightly shifted breakdown, always accentuating the "Hey!" at the end. Beyond those memories, HERC goes bananas over the breakdown in Steam's version which is rumored to be only half as long as the original recording of the song. "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" is a must for lounging by the pool, taking a Summer road trip or grilling.
I have always liked Bananarama's cover of this song.
ReplyDeleteI too like Bananarama's version, especially the "doo doot, doot, doo doot" part.
ReplyDeleteWhile reasearching this post, I came across the Bananarama cover. Pretty sure I missed it in the 80s - they were only "Cruel Summer" and "Venus" to me. But I listened to it and can honestly say I don't hear what you guys hear.
ReplyDeleteHerc, I like the Bananarama version in part because it reminds me of my senior year of high school/freshman year of college. That was a good time for me, thus the song gets elevated status due to proximity.
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