An online tribute to the work,

the words and the music of hit songwriter

Bobby Hart!

 

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It's estimated that Bobby Hart's solo compositions and collaborative efforts have produced record sales over and above 85 million. With Tommy Boyce he wrote the theme to ?Days of Our Lives?; hits for guys like Andy Williams, Dean Martin, the Animals and Del Shannon. Plus, music for television, movies. They were even instrumental in lowering the voting age to eighteen. And then there’s the "MONKEES."

   

 

 

"Here They Are…
 

Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart!"

The careers of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart coincide as early as the late 1950s.

In those days, before there was color TV, Tommy and Bobby both had established themselves as two of the greatest songwriters to ever come out of the legendary Brill Building.

Bobby was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a Grammy Award.

 

According to Caroline Boyce (Tommy's widow) Boyce & Hart amassed an extraordinary body of work in Motion Picture and Television music.

 

According to Bobby, in 1965 he went on tour as a "Dazzler" with "Teddy Randazzo and the Dazzlers". He co-wrote "Hurt So Bad" with Randazzo, which became the follow-up hit for Little Anthony and the Imperial's "Going Out Of My Head".

 

"Hurt So Bad" would climb the charts three separate times in three separate decades:

·         1965 for Little Anthony and the Imperials

·         1970 for The Letterman

·         and in 1980 for Linda Ronstadt.

In Spring 1965 Bobby joined Tommy in California. One of their first writing assignments together was to compose the theme song for "Days of Our Lives". This theme song was played on the program for over thirty years!

 

By 1966, Boyce and Hart had created the musical sound for four actors who played musicians in a weekly television sitcom.

 

Breaking records around the world, "The Monkees" became a cult phenomenon second only in popularity perhaps (arguably) to "Star Trek".

Boyce and Hart wrote a whopping thirty songs for the foursome, some of which they would later record themselves.

 

When Tommy saw the popularity of the Monkees, he approached Bobby and the duo decided to start an act of their own.

Fueled by their own growing teen magazine popularity for being associated with the Monkees, they signed a record deal with A&M Records.

 

Boyce and Hart the act scored many chart successes including

·         "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight?"

·         "Alice Long"

·         “I'm Gonna Blow You A Kiss In The Wind"

·         and "Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows".

They also appeared on shows like "Bewitched", "I Dream of Jeannie", and "The Flying Nun".

 

In 1968, the duo campaigned to support Robert Kennedy in his 1968 run for the Presidency, and they spearheaded the "Let Us Vote", or "L.U.V." campaign, which ultimately helped to lower the voting age to eighteen in this country.

During the seventies, Bobby continued to write with Tommy from time to time, but also wrote with others such as Danny Janssen and Wes Farrell ("Partridge Family", "Josie and the Pussycats").

 

During this time, Bobby's collaboration with Danny produced two top ten records in one year: "Keep On Singing" for Helen Reddy, and "Something's Wrong With Me" for Austin Roberts.

Bobby would later re-team with Tommy in the newly re-formed Monkees revival, "Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart".  The group actually had its origin while going on a special trip to entertain at Vietnamese internment camps in the early seventies.

According to Bobby’s and Tommy Boyce’s friend and fellow musician Keith Allison, they all travelled down with people like Susan Sarandon, Beau Bridges, and others.

 

 

Later, DJB&H would meet to discuss taking the act out on the road, and "Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart" was born. They recorded two albums for Capital Records in 1976 and embarked on a highly successful world tour to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Monkees.

In 1983, Bobby's continued association with Austin Roberts yielded them an Academy Award nomination for the beautiful ballad "Over You" from the motion picture "Tender Mercies", with Robert Duvall and the wonderfully talented Betty Buckley.

 

In the 1980's, Bobby also collaborated with Richard Eastman for songs such as "Dominoes" by Robbie Nevil, and "My Secret" for The New Edition.

Bobby also contributed a track to the reunited Monkees’ platinum album "Then and Now", with an aptly named song "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere", which was supposed to have been a follow-up to the Monkees’ 1986 hit "That Was Then, This Is Now".

 

Bobby and Tommy remained friends until Tommy's untimely death in 1994.

Bobby and Tommy recorded three albums together:

·         "TEST PATTERNS"

·        
"I WONDER WHAT SHE'S DOING TONIGHT"

·         and "IT'S ALL HAPPENING ON THE INSIDE".

All of these titles are available on CD.

 

Bobby recorded his own solo album in England entitled "THE FIRST BOBBY HART SOLO ALBUM".

Unfortunately, this title is NOT currently available on CD.

Bobby's first wife and he had two sons, Bret and Bobby, Jr. Bobby and his second wife now live in Los Angeles.

Bobby is still very much involved in the business, composing for many varied projects.

45 years later, the impact of Boyce and Hart still resonates.

Tune into any oldies station, and at least once during the course of any given day, you could probably hear a Boyce and Hart composition.

Boyce & Hart recordings available from Amazon.com

This is the "The Boyce & Hart Anthology"  the most definitive collection of Tommy and Bobby's own songs as a duo.

"Betty Buckley Live At Carnegie Hall"
This is a wonderful concert by one of the supreme divas of the stage. It features Betty’s live rendition of Bobby Hart's Academy-Award Nominated song "Over You" (co-written by Austin Roberts)

"Boyce and Hart - Words and Music"
Any fan of Boyce & Hart songs won't want to miss this collection of favorite songs. Added liner notes give a nice look inside Tommy and Bobby's professional relationship.