Boyce & Hart
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Biography:
Boyce && Hart, the songwriting and (later) performing team of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, are most famous for writing several of the Monkees' big hits, including &"Last Train to Clarksville," &"Valleri," and &"(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone." Together and separately, they also wrote or contributed to hits by several other acts in the 1960s, including Freddy Cannon, Curtis Lee, Little Anthony && the Imperials, and Jay && the Americans. In 1967 they began recording on their own as a duo, landing a Top Ten hit the same year with &"I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite." Based in Los Angeles, Boyce && Hart were a West Coast equivalent to the kind of craftsmanship and methodology espoused by Brill Building songwriting teams, although their material was less meaningful and enduring than Goffin-King's or Barry-Greenwich's. They emphasized bright, happy, AM radio melodies with room for lots of vocal harmonies, an appropriate vibe for the Monkees and other acts; it was typical of the L.A. late-'60s pop/rock that would retroactively be dubbed "sunshine pop."
Boyce, the older of the pair, had a history that long predated the Monkees, co-writing a Top Ten hit for Fats Domino in 1959 (&"Be My Guest"). Around the early '60s, he met Hart and the pair spent some time in New York in the mid-'60s, where they (with Wes Farrell) wrote the Jay && the Americans hit &"Come a Little Bit Closer." Throughout the first half of the 1960s Boyce wrote or helped write material without any Hart involvement, including hits by Cannon (&"Action") and Lee (&"Pretty Little Angel Eyes"), while Hart had a piece of the songwriting for Little Anthony && the Imperials' &"Hurt So Bad." It wasn't until 1965 that the Boyce-Hart partnership took off in earnest, as they were signed to the Screen Gems publishing company. They knocked off some energetic pop/rockers that were recorded by bands like Paul Revere && the Raiders (&"[I'm Not Your) and the Leaves (&"Words"), as well as the theme for the soap opera Days of Our Lives.
They found themselves in the right place at the right time when they were commissioned to write a few songs for the pilot episode of The Monkees (including its famous theme song). Because the Monkees were going to be on TV every week, they needed a steady supply of songs fast, which helped assure that Boyce && Hart placed many of their tunes with the group. These included not only a few hits, but also many album tracks; about half the songs on the Monkees' first album were Boyce-Hart tunes. The Monkees even redid some Boyce-Hart songs, such as &"(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone," &"Words," and &"Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day."
Boyce && Hart's material may not have been the first choice of what the group -- and specifically their most experienced songwriter, Mike Nesmith -- wanted to record. But Boyce-Hart's knack for AM-friendly pop hooks and chipper, just-this-side-of-bubblegum arrangements were very much in tune with the image projected by the group on their show. Boyce && Hart were also involved in the Monkees' first two albums as producers, a role they returned to on the Monkees' albums in 1969 and 1970.
Starting in 1967, Boyce && Hart also recorded on their own for A&&M Records. Aside from &"I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite," however, none of their efforts made the Top 20 or came close to that song in quality, although &"Alice Long (You're Still My Favorite Girlfriend)" and &"Out && About" both made the Top 40 and &"We're All Going to the Same Place" and &"Goodbye Baby" charted in lower positions. Boyce && Hart split up, both as songwriters and performers, at the end of the 1960s, although they teamed up with ex-Monkees Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones to perform and record for a while in the mid-'70s as Dolenz, Jones, Boyce && Hart. Boyce committed suicide in November 1994 after a lengthy struggle with illness and depression. Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
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Group Members: Bobby Hart Tommy Boyce More >> Similar Artists: The Monkees The Five Americans The Association Sundowners The Osmonds More >> |
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