Today: Great fortune may come to you when you least expect it.

In 1969, musicians Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer recorded for Mercury Records what they and Mercury thought could become four huge hit records and everyone was excited.

But to release the 1st of those hits, Mercury needed a flip-side, a “throw-away” song to be used to complete the other side of the record. So Paul, Gary and Dale went into a New York recording studio and put something together. When song writers haven’t yet thought of the lyrics they intend to write, they use filler such as “Na Na Na” until they think of the words.

Quickly piecing together a song with a catchy melody, they recorded what they named “Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na. Hey Hey Hey. Goodbye.” But when a Mercury Records executive heard it, he thought it could be a hit and wanted to release it as a single. However the guys thought it was so bad, they agreed to release it but only under a fictitious band name, Steam.

The song was released in 1969 and shot up to No. 1 on the record charts, a huge hit. Since then the song has taken on a life of its own, popular on oldies stations and it continues to sell to this day. It is also used as an anthem played during sports events all over the world as fans sing it to opposing teams to say goodbye to them. In Italy, instead of “goodbye” they sing “Ciao! Ciao!” In Japan, they sing “Sayonara!,” in France “Au Revoir!” and in Spain, “Adios!” and it is likely sung in some form at sports events where you are.

Ironically, the four songs the guys and Mercury thought would be big hits never caught on. But it didn’t matter. Under the name of Steam, they had the hit of a lifetime.