NEW YORK (AP) — Bobby Hart, a key part of The Monkees’ multimedia empire who teamed with Tommy Boyce on such hits as “Last Train to Clarksville” and “I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone,” has died. He was 86.
Hart, a a minister’s son born Robert Luke Harshman in Phoenix, died at his home in Los Angeles, according to his friend and co-author, Glenn Ballantyne. He had been in poor health since breaking his hip last year.
Boyce and Hart were a prolific and successful team in the mid-1960s, especially for The Monkees, the made-for-television group promoted by Don Kirshner. They wrote The Monkees’ theme song, with its opening shot, “Here we come, walkin’ down the street,” and enduring chant, “Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees,” and their first No. 1 hit, “Last Train to Clarksville.”…