Paul Leka
Paul Leka (February 20, 1943 – October 12, 2011) was an American songwriter, composer, and record producer renowned for his contributions to popular music in the 1960s and 1970s, most notably co-writing and producing the number-one hit "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" for the group Steam in 1969, which became a lasting sports anthem.[1][2][3] Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Albanian immigrant parents Theodore, a short-order cook, and Dhimitra Leka, Paul was one of four children and developed an early passion for music, beginning to write songs in his youth.[1][2] A graduate of Bassick High School, Leka briefly recorded as a member of the group the Chateaus before moving to New York City in his early 20s to pursue songwriting in the Tin Pan Alley tradition, initially peddling songs to publishers in the early 1960s.[2][3][4] Leka's breakthrough came in 1967 when he co-wrote (with Shelley Pinz) and produced "Green Tambourine" for the psychedelic rock band the Lemon Pipers, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart; he also produced their follow-up hit "Rice Is Nice."[1][2][4] In 1969, he co-authored "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" with Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer, recording it under the Steam pseudonym and achieving another Billboard number-one single that sold over three million copies worldwide.[1][3][2] He further expanded his production credits by signing REO Speedwagon to their first record deal and helming bubblegum tracks like "1, 2, 3 Red Light" for the 1910 Fruitgum Company.[1][4] Throughout the 1970s and beyond, Leka worked with major labels including Mercury, Elektra, and CBS Records, producing four albums for folk-rock artist Harry Chapin—including the 1974 platinum-certified Verities & Balderdash, which featured the number-one single "Cat's in the Cradle"—as well as projects for Gloria Gaynor, Kris Kristofferson, and Peter Nero.[1][3][4] In 1972, he opened his own Connecticut Recording Studios in Bridgeport, where he hosted sessions for platinum-selling acts and continued his career spanning over four decades until his death from lung cancer at age 68 in a hospice near Sharon, Connecticut.[2][4] Leka was married twice, first to Rosemary (with whom he had two children, Derek and Heather) and later to Engjellushe Qafa, with whom he had a son, Alexander; he was survived by his family, including his sister Evelyn Kreta and brother George.[2][3]Early Life
Family and Background
Paul Leka was born on February 20, 1943, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Albanian immigrants Theodore M. Leka and Dhimitra (née Pani) Leka.[1][5] His mother, born in 1918 in Korçë, Albania, immigrated to the United States in 1937 after marrying Theodore that year, and she remained active in Albanian cultural organizations such as the Teuta Ladies Society.[6] The Lekas raised their family in a working-class immigrant household in Bridgeport, where Theodore worked as a short-order cook to support them.[1][5] Paul was the second of four children, with siblings Michael R. Leka, George Leka, and Evelyn Leka Kreta; the family maintained close-knit ties, as reflected in their shared Albanian Orthodox faith and community connections, including affiliations with St. George Orthodox Church.[6][5] The family's Albanian heritage shaped their daily life and values, with Dhimitra's traditional skills in embroidery and crochet passed down as part of their cultural continuity amid the challenges of assimilation in mid-20th-century America.[6] This supportive environment encouraged Paul's early personal development, fostering a sense of resilience and familial devotion that influenced his lifelong priorities.[5] Leka was married twice: first to Rosemary Angela Gajnos (1964–1988), with whom he had three children—Derek, Heather, and Theodore (the latter predeceased him)—and later to Engjellushe Qafa (from 2005), with whom he had a son, Alexander.[5][1][2][7]Musical Beginnings
Paul Theodore Leka graduated from Bassick High School in Bridgeport.[2] Leka's musical journey began in childhood when he started taking piano lessons, quickly developing a passion for composition that led him to write his own songs shortly thereafter.[1] By the age of 16, around 1959, he was actively attempting to sell these early works to music publishers in New York City, demonstrating his budding skills as a pianist and songwriter.[2] During his teenage years, Leka immersed himself in Bridgeport's local music scene, playing in the band The Chateaus alongside fellow musicians Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer.[4] This group provided his initial platform for performances and collaborative experimentation in the vibrant, emerging rock and pop environment of the early 1960s.[8] Leka's first professional forays came in the early 1960s through session work and minor arrangements, marking the transition from amateur pursuits to industry involvement while honing his arranging abilities.[4]Professional Career
Entry into Industry
In the early 1960s, Paul Leka entered the music industry as a member of the doo-wop group The Chateaus, based in his hometown of Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he performed alongside Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer. The band recorded a handful of singles for labels including Coral and Warner Bros., but these efforts yielded no commercial breakthroughs, marking Leka's initial foray into professional recording amid the shifting landscape of early rock and pop.[9][10] By the mid-1960s, Leka had relocated to the New York music scene to pursue songwriting opportunities, leveraging his childhood piano training to create demos and pitch material to publishers in the Tin Pan Alley tradition. He encountered typical newcomer challenges, such as limited recognition for his compositions and the need to juggle aspiring roles as a pianist and arranger with unstable session gigs in a competitive environment.[10][1] Leka's first significant industry associations emerged around 1967–1968, including production and arrangement work at Mercury Records in New York, where he contributed piano and string arrangements to sessions. A key early collaboration was with The Left Banke on their 1968 album The Left Banke Too, for which he handled production, conducting, and arrangements on multiple tracks, helping to blend orchestral elements with the band's baroque pop sound.[11][12]Breakthrough Hits
Paul Leka achieved his initial major successes as a songwriter in the late 1960s through collaborations with emerging pop acts, leveraging his position at Buddah Records to craft hits that blended psychedelic elements with catchy hooks. His first breakthrough came with "Green Tambourine," co-written with Shelley Pinz and recorded by the Ohio-based band The Lemon Pipers in 1967. Released as a single in late 1967, the track featured ethereal, tambourine-driven rhythms and whimsical lyrics evoking busking street performers, marking an early fusion of psychedelic pop with bubblegum accessibility. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in February 1968 and was certified gold by the RIAA for sales exceeding one million copies, solidifying Leka's reputation in the industry.[13][14][15] Building on this momentum, Leka co-wrote "Blueberry Blue" with Pinz for The Lemon Pipers' 1968 debut album Green Tambourine. Intended as the B-side to the single "Rice Is Nice," the song showcased a more introspective psychedelic vibe with lush, dreamlike imagery of lavender skies and hidden castles, reflecting Leka's process of drawing from fantastical themes to complement the band's evolving sound. While "Rice Is Nice" peaked at number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100, "Blueberry Blue" contributed to the album's overall reception, highlighting Leka's versatility in crafting album tracks that enhanced the psychedelic aesthetic without chasing immediate chart dominance.[16][17] Leka's most enduring breakthrough arrived in 1969 with "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," co-written with longtime friends Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer and released under the pseudonym Steam. The song originated from a late-night studio session at Mercury Records in New York, where the trio, facing a deadline for a B-side, improvised the iconic "na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" chant as a placeholder when lyrics stalled; Leka later recalled using such nonsense syllables as a common songwriting crutch to maintain momentum. Intended initially as filler, it unexpectedly became the A-side, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks starting December 6, 1969, and earning RIAA gold certification. Its simple, anthemic structure has since permeated popular culture, particularly as a taunt in sports arenas since the 1970s, underscoring Leka's knack for creating universally chantable hooks.[18][19][20][21] These two number-one hits, alongside supporting tracks like "Blueberry Blue," established Leka as a key figure in the bubblegum and psychedelic pop scenes, with his early connections at Buddah Records providing crucial access to recording opportunities for acts like The Lemon Pipers.[22][23]Songwriting and Production
Key Songwriting Credits
Paul Leka's songwriting career encompassed numerous credits, spanning bubblegum pop, sunshine pop, and beyond, often emphasizing catchy hooks and melodic structures suited to 1960s radio formats. His collaborations were pivotal, particularly with Shelley Pinz, with whom he co-wrote multiple tracks for the Lemon Pipers, blending psychedelic elements with pop accessibility; their partnership began in the mid-1960s and produced several chart successes, including the process of crafting lyrics around simple, repetitive refrains to enhance commercial appeal.[24][22] Leka also teamed with Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer on key compositions, focusing on anthemic choruses that lent themselves to group sing-alongs, as seen in their iterative writing sessions for Steam's material.[25] Early credits highlighted Leka's bubblegum pop roots, such as "Pretty Thing" (co-written with Shelley Pinz, performed by Donna Marie, 1967), a lighthearted track featuring playful lyrics about infatuation.[26] He contributed "Run Like the Devil" (co-written with Irwin Schuster, first by Bobby Vee, 1965), an upbeat rocker with driving rhythms that influenced later covers by acts like the Peppermint Rainbow.[26] For the Lemon Pipers, Leka and Pinz delivered a string of hits: "Green Tambourine" (1967, No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100), which used tambourine percussion as a central motif in its composition; "Rice Is Nice" (1968, No. 46 US); "Blueberry Blue" (1968); "Shoeshine Boy" (1968); "The Shoemaker of Leatherwear Square" (1968); and "Jelly Jungle (Of Orange Marmalade)" (1968, No. 36 US), all characterized by whimsical, food-themed imagery in the lyrics to evoke youthful whimsy.[27][22] These songs often incorporated orchestral flourishes in their arrangements, with Leka envisioning string sections to add depth to the pop framework, as in the layered backing on "Green Tambourine."[24] Leka's work with the Peppermint Rainbow showcased his sunshine pop versatility, co-writing "Pink Lemonade" with Shelley Pinz (1968) and "And I'll Be There" with Denise Gross (1969, from their debut album), both emphasizing harmonious vocals and optimistic themes of romance.[26] He extended this to lesser-known tracks like "I Need Someone (The Painter)" (co-written with Pinz, by The Music Asylum, 1968) and "You Are the One I Love" (co-written with Pinz, by Adam's Apples, 1968), which explored introspective narratives within pop constraints.[24] Other significant credits include "Little Red Boat by the River" (co-written with Denise Gross, by The Brooklyn Bridge, 1968), a gentle ballad with nautical metaphors.[26] Building on breakthrough hits like "Green Tambourine," Leka's portfolio diversified into more mature styles later in his career. His collaboration with DeCarlo and Frashuer yielded "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" (Steam, 1969, No. 1 US), a farewell anthem born from improvisational studio jams that prioritized rhythmic repetition for emotional release.[25][1] In the 1970s, he shifted toward adult contemporary influences, co-writing "Rolling Dice" with Billy Rose II (Jimmy Jackson, 1976; later by Hitchhikers) and "Sometimes I Wonder Why I Stay with You" with Denise Gross (Karen Wyman, 1973), tracks that delved into relational complexities with subtle orchestration enhancing lyrical introspection.[24] Lesser-known efforts, such as orchestral-infused compositions for niche acts, underscored his range, including contributions to bubblegum compilations and one-off singles that maintained pop craftsmanship amid genre evolution.[24]| Song Title | Co-Writer(s) | Artist (First Release) | Year | Notable Achievement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Tambourine | Shelley Pinz | The Lemon Pipers | 1967 | No. 1 US Billboard Hot 100[22] |
| Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye | Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer | Steam | 1969 | No. 1 US; over 76 covers[25] |
| Jelly Jungle (Of Orange Marmalade) | Shelley Pinz | The Lemon Pipers | 1968 | No. 36 US[22] |
| And I'll Be There | Denise Gross | The Peppermint Rainbow | 1969 | Album track; 3 covers[26] |
| Rice Is Nice | Shelley Pinz | The Lemon Pipers | 1968 | No. 46 US[22] |