' 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
. 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,
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
's. They emphasized bright, happy, AM radio melodies with room for lots of vocal harmonies, an appropriate vibe for
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] Stepping Stone") 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, Rovi