Boyce and Hart

Sidney Thomas Boyce (September 29, 1939 – November 23, 1994) and Robert Luke Harshman (February 18, 1939 – September 10, 2025), known professionally as Bobby Hart, were an American duo of singer-songwriters. In addition to three top-40 hits as artists, the duo is well known for its songwriting for the Monkees.

Hart's father was a church minister and he himself served in the Army after leaving high school. Upon discharge, he travelled to Los Angeles seeking a career as a singer. Boyce was separately pursuing a career as a songwriter. After being rejected numerous times, Boyce took his father's suggestion to write a song called "Be My Guest" for rock and roll star Fats Domino. He waited six hours at Domino's hotel room to present him with the demo, and got Domino to promise to listen to the song. Released in 1959, the song hit No. 8 in the US and No. 11 in the UK, becoming Domino's biggest hit there in several years, and sold over a million copies. Boyce also found success as the co-writer, with Curtis Lee, of Lee's 1961 hits "Pretty Little Angel Eyes" and "Under the Moon of Love".

Boyce met Hart in 1959, and the following year played guitar on Hart's single "Girl in the Window", which flopped, but marked the first time he used the name Bobby Hart, since his manager shortened his surname from Harshman to fit the label. Their partnership made a breakthrough with a song recorded by Chubby Checker, "Lazy Elsie Molly", in 1964. They went on to write hits for Jay & the Americans ("Come a Little Bit Closer"), Paul Revere & the Raiders ("(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone"), and the Leaves ("Words"). The latter two songs provided the Monkees with hit B-sides in 1967. The duo also wrote the theme song of the daytime soap Days of Our Lives. At one point in this period, Hart also co-wrote "Hurt So Bad" for Little Anthony & the Imperials with Teddy Randazzo and his regular songwriting partner Bobby Weinstein. Boyce co-wrote the song "Hello Pretty Girl", which was a minor hit for singer Ronnie Dove, with Wes Farrell. Boyce also co-wrote the hit "Peaches 'N' Cream" by the Ikettes.

In late 1965, they wrote, produced and performed the soundtrack of the pilot for The Monkees, including singing lead vocals (which were later replaced, once the show was cast). In 1966, despite some conflicts with Don Kirshner, who was the show's musical supervisor, they were retained in essentially the same role. It was Boyce and Hart who wrote, produced and recorded, accompanied by their backing band, the Candy Store Prophets, backing tracks for a large portion of the first season of The Monkees, and the band's accompanying debut album.

The Monkees themselves re-recorded their vocals over Boyce and Hart's when it came time to release the songs, including both "(Theme from) The Monkees" and "Last Train to Clarksville", the latter being a huge hit. Kirshner suddenly relieved Boyce and Hart as producers, by claiming they were using studio time booked for Monkees songs to record tracks for their own solo project.

After their departure from the Monkees, and the negative publicity that erupted when word got out that the band had not played the instruments on their early records, Boyce and Hart were unsure how the Monkees felt about them personally. Attending one of their concerts, though, the duo was spotted in the audience, and singer Davy Jones invited them onstage to introduce them: "These are the fellows who wrote our great hits — Tommy and Bobby!" Every original Monkees album (except for the Head soundtrack, Justus, and Christmas Party) included Boyce and Hart songs.

While working with The Monkees, Boyce and Hart embarked on a successful career as recording artists in their own right, releasing three albums on A&M Records: Test Patterns, I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight, and It's All Happening on the Inside (released in Canada as Which One's Boyce and Which One's Hart?). The duo also had five charting singles; the most well-known of these was "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight", which reached No. 8 in early 1968. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. "Out & About" (#39) and "Alice Long" (#27) were their other Top 40 hits.

The duo also performed "I'll Blow You a Kiss in the Wind" on the television show Bewitched, in one of several TV series appearances that included guest spots on The Flying Nun and I Dream of Jeannie ("Jeannie the Hip Hippie" performing "Girl, I'm Out To Get You"). All of these shows were produced by Screen Gems, the television subsidiary of Columbia Pictures. Each of the three sitcom guest appearances featured their music, including two unreleased covers they performed on The Flying Nun.