An online tribute to the life, words and music
of composer TOMMY BOYCE

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It's estimated that Tommy Boyce's solo compositions and collaborative efforts have produced record sales over and above 85 million. Tommy and Bobby Hart wrote the theme to “Days of Our Lives”; hits for major recording acts including Andy Williams, Dean Martin, the Animals and Del Shannon. Plus, music for television, movies. They were even instrumental in lowering the voting age to eighteen. And then there’s the "MONKEES."

 

"Here They Are, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart!"

The career of Tommy Boyce begins as early as the late 1950s.

In those days, the days before there was color television, Tommy had early on established himself as one of the brightest young writers to ever come out of the legendary Brill Building days."

According to Caroline Boyce (Tommy's widow) Boyce & Hart have also amassed an impressive body of work in the areas of Motion Picture and Television music.

Tommy's first big break came when he wrote "Be My Guest" for Fats Domino. He wrote the song alone but gave writing credit to the artist, as well as the person who helped him get the song to the artist. According to Caroline Boyce, Tommy said he never regretted sharing the writer's income because it got his proverbial foot in the door.

In 1962, Tommy accepted an opportunity to move to New York and write for Ray Peterson and Curtis Lee. His collaboration with Lee resulted in Boyce's second top ten song "Pretty Little Angel Eyes". They followed this up with the single "Under The Moon Of Love". Both songs are available on the CD "THE BEST OF CURTIS LEE".

In Spring 1965 Bobby joined Tommy in California. One of their first writing assignments together was to compose the theme song for "Days of Our Lives". This theme song has been running on the program for over thirty years!

By 1966, Boyce and Hart had created the musical sound for four actors who played musicians in a weekly television sitcom. Breaking records around the world, "The Monkees" became a cult phenomenon second only in popularity perhaps (arguably) to "Star Trek". Boyce and Hart wrote a whopping thirty songs for the foursome, some of which they would later record themselves.

When Tommy saw the popularity of the Monkees, he approached Bobby and the duo decided to start an act of their own. Fueled by their own growing teen magazine popularity for having been associated with the Monkees, they signed a record deal with A&M Records.

Boyce and Hart the act scored many chart successes including:

·         "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight?"

·         "Alice Long"

·         “I'm Gonna Blow You A Kiss In The Wind"

·         and "Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows".

They also appeared on shows like "Bewitched", "I Dream of Jeannie", and "The Flying Nun".

In 1968, the duo campaigned to support Robert Kennedy in his 1968 run for the Presidency, and they spearheaded the "Let Us Vote", or "L.U.V." campaign, which ultimately helped to lower the voting age to eighteen in this country.

During the seventies, Tommy wrote the book "HOW TO WRITE A HIT SONG AND SELL IT" (published by Wilshire Books), which has inspired generations of new songwriters. His songwriting collaboration with Melvin Powers resulted in two songs hitting the country charts: "WHO WANTS A SLIGHTLY USED WOMAN" and "MR. SONGWRITER".

Tommy would later re-team with Bobby in the newly re-formed Monkees revival, "Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart".  The group actually had its origin while going on a special trip to entertain at Vietnamese internment camps in the early seventies.

According to Bobby’s and Tommy Boyce’s friend and fellow musician Keith Allison, they all travelled down with people like Susan Sarandon, Beau Bridges, and others.

 

Later, DJB&H would meet to discuss taking the act out on the road, and "Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart" was born. They recorded two albums for Capital Records in 1976 and embarked on a highly successful world tour to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Monkees.

 

 

During the late seventies, Tommy moved to England where he continued his success as a writer/producer. He made a dynamic impact in the UK music world producing such artists as Iggy Pop, Meat Loaf, The Pleasers, The Darts, and Showaddywaddy. Tommy once again witnessed his songs hit the charts.

In the 1980's, Tommy moved back to America. He eventually settled in Nashville, Tennessee, where he continued to write songs and delight audiences with surprise guest performances in the local clubs.

 

Bobby and Tommy remained friends until Tommy's untimely death in 1994.

Bobby and Tommy recorded three albums together:

·         "TEST PATTERNS"

·        
"I WONDER WHAT SHE'S DOING TONIGHT"

·         and "IT'S ALL HAPPENING ON THE INSIDE".

All of these titles are available on CD.

Tommy recorded two solo albums: The first was entitled "Christopher Cloud - Blown Away", featuring members of the group AIM, and then there was the Australian 4-track EP "Tommy Boyce and His Rockin' Sixties Band". Unfortunately, these titles are NOT currently available on CD.

Tommy's wife, Caroline, still lives in Tennesse and runs Magic Dolphin Music. Appreciation is extended to Caroline for her biographies of both the Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart websites. If you want to read Bobby's bio, please visit www.BobbyHart.net

Bobby is still very much involved in the business, composing for many varied projects.

 

Caroline Boyce handles much of the licensing of Boyce & Hart material and does licensing for other recording artists, as well. She runs the official Boyce & Hart Facebook and MySpace pages and does a wonderful job keeping interest in Boyce & Hart alive.

After 45 years later, the impact of Boyce and Hart still resonates.

Tune into any oldies station, and at least once during the course of any given day, you could probably hear a Boyce and Hart composition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boyce & Hart recordings available from Amazon.com

 

This is the "The Boyce & Hart Anthology" is the most definitive collection of Tommy and Bobby's own songs as a duo.

 

"Betty Buckley Live At Carnegie Hall"
is a wonderful concert by one of the supreme divas of the stage. It featues her live rendition of Bobby's song "Over You" (co-written by Austin Roberts)

 

 

"Boyce and Hart - Words and Music"
Any fan of Boyce & Hart songs won't want to miss this collection of favorite songs. Added liner notes give a nice look inside Tommy and Bobby's professional relationship.