Boyce and Hart

Early years

Hart's father was a church minister, and Hart served in the Army after high school before moving to Los Angeles to pursue singing. Boyce was separately trying to become a songwriter. After many rejections, Boyce followed his father's suggestion and wrote "Be My Guest" for Fats Domino, waiting six hours at Domino's hotel to present the demo. Released in 1959, the song reached No. 8 in the US and No. 11 in the UK, selling over a million copies.

Boyce also co-wrote Curtis Lee's 1961 hits "Pretty Little Angel Eyes" and "Under the Moon of Love". Boyce met Hart in 1959, and the next year played guitar on Hart's single "Girl in the Window", which flopped but marked Hart's first use of the name Bobby Hart, shortened by his manager. Their partnership broke through with "Lazy Elsie Molly", recorded by Chubby Checker in 1964. They went on to write hits for Jay & the Americans, Paul Revere & the Raiders, and the Leaves.

The duo also wrote the theme for the soap opera Days of Our Lives. Hart co-wrote "Hurt So Bad" for Little Anthony & the Imperials with Teddy Randazzo and Bobby Weinstein. Boyce co-wrote "Hello Pretty Girl" with Wes Farrell and "Peaches 'N' Cream" by the Ikettes.

The Monkees

In late 1965, Boyce and Hart wrote, produced, and performed the soundtrack for The Monkees pilot, singing lead vocals that were later replaced after the show was cast. Despite conflicts with musical supervisor Don Kirshner, they were retained for the first season, writing, producing, and recording backing tracks with their band the Candy Store Prophets for much of the season and the debut album. The Monkees re-recorded vocals over Boyce and Hart's tracks, including "(Theme from) The Monkees" and the hit "Last Train to Clarksville".

Kirshner removed them as producers, claiming they used studio time booked for Monkees songs for their own solo project. After negative publicity about the Monkees not playing instruments, Boyce and Hart attended a concert where Davy Jones invited them onstage, introducing them as the writers of the band's hits. Every original Monkees album except Head, Justus, and Christmas Party included Boyce and Hart songs.

Other successes

While working with the Monkees, Boyce and Hart released three albums on A&M Records: Test Patterns, I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight, and It's All Happening on the Inside (released in Canada as Which One's Boyce and Which One's Hart?). They had five charting singles, with "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight" reaching No. 8 in early 1968, selling over a million copies and earning a gold disc. Their other Top 40 hits were "Out & About" (No. 39) and "Alice Long" (No. 27).

The duo appeared on television shows including Bewitched, The Flying Nun, and I Dream of Jeannie, all produced by Screen Gems. They filmed video promos for "Out and About" and "Alice Long". Boyce and Hart produced music for Columbia Pictures films such as The Ambushers, Murderers' Row, Winter A-Go-Go, and Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows, and scored the TV movie Three's a Crowd. They created promos for the U.S. Army Reserve and Coca-Cola, including two Coca-Cola jingles: "Wake Up Girl" and a version of their single "Smilin'".

The 1971 sitcom Getting Together was reportedly based loosely on their partnership. They then worked on solo projects; Hart co-wrote Helen Reddy's 1974 hit "Keep On Singing" with Danny Janssen.

Discography

Boyce and Hart released three albums on A&M Records: Test Patterns (A&M LP 126/SP 4126, 1967, US No. 200), I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite? (A&M LP 143/SP 4143, 1968, US No. 109), and It's All Happening On The Inside (A&M SP 4162, 1968), which was released in Canada as Which One's Boyce & Which One's Hart?. Later albums include Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart (Capitol ST-11513, 1976) and Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart – Live in Japan (Capitol/Toshiba-EMI ECS-91018, 1981).

A bootleg titled 16 Rarities was released in 1981, and The Anthology appeared on A&M Records Australia/Polygram in 1995. Notable singles include "L.U.V. (Let Us Vote)", the official campaign song for the Let Us Vote movement; "P.O. Box 9847" and "I Wanna Be Free", originally by the Monkees; and "I'll Blow You A Kiss In The Wind", featured on Bewitched. Tommy Boyce had solo singles including "Along Came Linda" (1962, US 118) and "I'll Remember Carol" (1962, US 80). Bobby Hart's solo single "Lovers for the Night" charted in 1980 (US 110).

Did You Know?

• In the mid-1970s, Boyce and Hart reunited with Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz as Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart, becoming the first American band to play in Thailand.
• Boyce released an album under the pseudonym Christopher Cloud in 1973.
• In 1983, Hart was nominated for an Oscar for his song "Over You", written for the film Tender Mercies.