Sorry to hear that Bobby Hart of "Boyce & Hart" fame, has died.
They had a big hit with "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight" in the 60s, but the duo contributed a lot more than just that hit record.
They were also the authors of tunes like "Hurt So Bad" by Little Anthony and The Imperials, "Come A Little Bit Closer" from Jay & The Americans and Freddy Cannon's terrific "Where The Action Is," the theme song from the ABC afternoon Dick Clark show - just to name a few.
But perhaps their most famous tune was the theme song for The Monkees, followed up by "Take The Last Train To Clarksville," (inspired by the end of the Beatles' "Paperback Writer") "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone," "Valleri," and "I Want To Be Free."
Hart recalled how they came up with the Monkees theme.
"We actually wrote that by walking down the street from our house on Woodrow Wilson down to a little park in the Cahuenga Pass. And while walking, we started snapping our fingers and kinda got that that would be a good groove for the piece. So by the time we got there, we basically had it in our minds that it would be ‘Here we come, walking down the street.’ And then we envisioned the drumroll from the Dave Clark Five record (“Catch Us If You Can”). That would take us into the chorus, ‘Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees.'”
I have a very long distance connection with Bobby Hart, and it happened on this site back in 2020. He was able to answer my question about "Clarksville," although I didn't really get much of one. You can read that post here.
And his Variety obit mentions another composition many here may know - Boyce & Hart wrote the theme for the NBC soap opera "Days of our Lives," which is still used to this day.
Pretty amazing.
Bobby Hart was 86.
Bobby Hart, Who Co-Wrote Monkees Smashes, the ‘Days of Our Lives’ Theme and His Own Hit as a Member of Boyce and Hart, Dies at 86
Bobby Hart website: About Me