Friday, February 25, 2011

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Boyce & Hart

Artist:Boyce & Hart
Song:I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight
Album:The Songs Of Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart





The songwriting duo of Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart are best known for writing hits for The Monkees including Last Train To Clarksville. But they also had brief success as performers with the 1968 top ten hit I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight. Sidney Thomas Boyce was born Sept. 29, 1939 in Charlottesville, VA. Bobby Hart was born Robert Luke Harshman Feb. 18, 1939 in Phoenix. Boyce wrote the 1959 top ten hit Be My Guest for Fats Domino. He met Hart in 1959 and played guitar on his single Girl In The Window. Boyce charted with his 1962 single I'll Remember Carol and co-wrote the hit Pretty Little Angel Eyes with Curtis Lee. Hart wrote the song Dr. Heartache for Tommy Sands. After the duo recovered from a near fatal car accident, they moved to New York and decided to work together. Their breakthrough hit was the 1964 top five hit Come A Little Bit Closer for Jay & The Americans. After Hart co-wrote the 1965 Little Anthony & The Imperials hit Hurt So Bad, they signed as staff songwriters for Screen Gems Music, the publishing division of Columbia Pictures. They wrote songs for others including Paul Revere & The Raiders but then became involved in the TV series The Monkees. They wrote and produced all the songs in the first season of the show including the smash hit Last Train To Clarksville. Conflict with musical supervisor Don Kirshner force Boyce & Hart to leave The Monkees and they signed a recording deal with A & M Records. I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. They also appeared on Columbia TV shows like Bewitched and I Dream Of Jeannie and produced music for several Columbia films. Boyce & Hart split up in 1971. This Varese comp mostly features Boyce & Hart songs recorded by other but does include I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight. In the mid-70s, they formed Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart with Mickey Dolenz and Davy Jones of The Monkees. Bobby Hart continues to work as a producer and songwriter and was nominated for an Oscar for the song Over You from the 1983 film Tender Mercies. Tommy Boyce moved to Nashville and struggled with depression and suffered a brain aneurysm. He committed suicide on Nov. 23, 1994 at age 55. Here's Boyce & Hart performing I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight on The Hollywood Palace 1968.

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