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- Bobby Hart, who co-wrote ‘Last Train to Clarksville’ and other Monkees hits, dies at 86 (nbcnews.com)
Monkees Songwriter Bobby Hart Dies at 86
Legendary songwriter Bobby Hart, best known for crafting numerous hits for the 1960s pop sensation the Monkees, has passed away at his Los Angeles home. He was 86. A close friend and collaborator, Glenn Ballantyne, confirmed Hart’s passing, noting his declining health following a hip fracture last year.
Hart, along with his songwriting partner Tommy Boyce, penned some of the Monkees’ most iconic tracks, including their debut No. 1 hit “Last Train to Clarksville” and the enduring theme song, instantly recognizable for its opening line, “Here we come, walkin’ down the street.” The duo’s prolific partnership shaped the Monkees’ signature sound, contributing six songs to the group’s self-titled, million-selling debut album.
They also served as producers for the album, utilizing their own backing band, the Candy Store Prophets. Monkees member Micky Dolenz praised Boyce and Hart in the foreword to Hart’s 2015 memoir, “Psychedelic Bubblegum,” crediting them with not only writing many of the group’s biggest hits, but also with shaping their unique sound.
Beyond their work with the Monkees, Boyce and Hart enjoyed a successful career in their own right, releasing albums like “Test Patterns” and “I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonite,” and making appearances on popular television shows like “I Dream of Jeannie” and “Bewitched.” They also demonstrated a commitment to social activism, campaigning for Robert F.
Kennedy’s presidential run and penning the politically charged anthem “L.U.V. (Let Us Vote)” in support of lowering the voting age.
Their diverse catalog includes the poignant Monkees ballad “I Wanna Be Free” and the theme song for the long-running soap opera “Days of Our Lives.” Their music transcended genres, with artists from Dean Martin to the Sex Pistols covering their work.
Hart’s career continued to flourish in the following decades. He collaborated with various artists, contributing to hits like Austin Roberts’ “Over You” (featured in the film “Tender Mercies”) and Dick Eastman’s “My Secret (Didja Gitit Yet?)”
for New Edition. He even wrote for another manufactured-for-TV group, the Partridge Family.
Hart, Boyce, Dolenz, and fellow Monkee Davy Jones toured and released an album together in the 1970s, enjoying renewed success with the Monkees’ resurgence in the 1980s. The story of Boyce and Hart, who passed away in 1994, was documented in the 2014 film “The Guys Who Wrote ‘Em.”
Born Robert Luke Harshman in Phoenix, Arizona, the son of a minister, Hart described himself in his memoir as a shy child with a strong desire to stand out. Music provided that outlet.
By high school, he was proficient in piano, guitar, and the Hammond B-3 organ, even establishing his own amateur radio station. After high school and a stint in the Army reserves, he moved to Los Angeles in the late 1950s, initially aspiring to be a disc jockey but quickly finding his niche as a songwriter and session musician.
He shortened his name to Bobby Hart, toured with Teddy Randazzo and the Dazzlers, and co-wrote “Hurt So Bad” with Randazzo and Bobby Weinstein.
Hart’s fateful meeting with Tommy Boyce, a singer-songwriter from Virginia, led to a fruitful partnership. They co-wrote the Top 10 hit “Come a Little Bit Closer” for Jay and the Americans, catching the attention of music producer Don Kirshner, who recruited them to write for his latest project: a band inspired by the Beatles, called the Monkees.
Tasked with creating music for this new group, Boyce and Hart drew inspiration from the Beatles’ “Paperback Writer” to create “Last Train to Clarksville.” Another suggestion from Kirshner, to include a girl’s name in a song title, resulted in the hit “Valleri.”
Even a simple walk outside inspired the now-iconic theme song for the Monkees’ television show, a testament to the duo’s creative synergy. Hart recounted in his memoir how the song originated from Boyce strumming his guitar and Hart mimicking a hi-hat cymbal with his mouth, leading them to sing about their very action: “Walkin’ down the street.”