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/ News

Hey Hey! They're Boyce and Hart - And You Can Help Complete Their Documentary!

April 14, 2014 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

Boyce and Hart Movie Poster

For a few years in the halcyon days of the sixties, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart were on top of the world. Singers, songwriters and producers, Boyce and Hart - individually or collectively - were behind some of the most enduring hits of that era or any other: "Last Train to Clarksville," "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone," "Come a Little Bit Closer," "Hurt So Bad," "I Wanna Be Free," "Valleri," "Pretty Little Angel Eyes," and of course, the immortal "Theme from The Monkees." As if turning out hits for The Monkees and so many others wasn't enough, Tommy and Bobby recorded three hip albums for A&M Records as a performing duo.  They reached the Top 10 in 1967 with "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite," which crackles with youthful abandon, energy and, frankly, a killer AM radio-ready hook. Yet the Boyce and Hart story isn't as well-known as the team's most famous songs. That's all about to change, however, with the upcoming release of Boyce and Hart: The Guys Who Wrote 'Em. And this feature-length documentary needs your help.

The Guys Who Wrote 'Em, for the first time, fixes the spotlight on the lives and career of Tommy Boyce (who died in 1994) and Bobby Hart (who is very much alive and a key participant/narrator in the film). It's not Boyce and Hart's first brush with the silver screen; the team wrote music for such motion pictures as The Ambushers and Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows. On television, the duo also had a high profile. Not only were they The Monkees' favorite and most recorded songwriters, but the telegenic tunesmiths made appearances on I Dream of Jeannie (opposite no less a personage than Phil Spector!), The Flying Nun and Bewitched. On the latter sitcom, Tommy and Bobby played what was arguably their grooviest concert ever - at the otherworldly affair for the elite "in crowd" of witches and warlocks, The Cosmos Cotillion! Elizabeth Montgomery even joined them during the episode to perform their 1969 single "A Kiss in the Wind" as good witch Samantha's deliciously scheming cousin Serena. Samantha hoped to send those "howling hippies" back to Earth, but even she couldn't help dancing along!

In addition to their work onscreen and on record, Boyce and Hart also were active participants in the sixties political revolution. Their final A&M single was entitled "L.U.V. (Let Us Vote)," and advocated for the right of teenagers to vote and the voting age to be reduced to eighteen. But by the end of the decade, the duo had broken up, torn apart by personal and professional conflicts. In the mid-seventies, however, they were reunited with The Monkees' Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz as Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart, touring around the world and releasing both a studio and a live album. After the new group disbanded, they turned their attention once again to solo endeavors. Hart went on to receive an Academy Award nomination in 1983 for his song "Over You" for the film Tender Mercies; Boyce contributed to a number of recordings by artists including Iggy Pop and Darts.

The Guys Who Wrote 'Em is a labor of love for writer-subject Hart, writer-producer-director Rachel Lichtman and writer-producer Andrew Sandoval. On such indispensable projects over the years as Varese Sarabande's 1995 various-artists compilation The Songs of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart and 2005's A&M anthology I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight: The Best of Boyce and Hart - not to mention the numerous Monkees projects which he has spearheaded for the Rhino label - Sandoval has kept the B&H flame burning bright.  The Guys Who Wrote 'Em promises to raise the duo's profile even higher. According to the film's official information, it has been compiled from "never-before-seen home movies, photographs and audio interviews combined with one-of-a-kind archival television clips, set against the Boyce and Hart songs that outsold both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined in 1967." No, that's not a misprint! Narrator Bobby Hart is joined in the film by Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Michael Nesmith, Kim Fowley and Keith Allison, all of whom have given new interviews. (Paul Revere and the Raiders' Allison is also the subject of Real Gone Music's recent release In Action: The Complete Columbia Sides Plus! for which I provided the liner notes based on an interview with Keith. It features "Action Action Action" and "I Wanna Be Free," both penned by Boyce and Hart!) Vintage commentary from the late Boyce is also featured as an integral part of the film.

Where do you come in? Hit the jump for full information on how you can be a part of this important undertaking!

The Guys Who Wrote 'Em has established a fundraising page at Indiegogo. According to the production team, "this film is now near completion and almost ready for release. As a self-funded project it is set for festival screenings and public distribution, but not without your help. The film requires the finishing funds to license the rare television footage and music, mix the sound and complete final editing.  This is a brief but crucial campaign to get this project to the screen. Time is of the essence; without your help this film cannot be completed. Fans of The Monkees, songwriting, the 1960s, vintage popular culture, Los Angeles and music history - we need your support!"

The campaign to support The Guys Who Wrote 'Em concludes tomorrow evening, Tuesday, April 15 at 11:59 p.m. PST. Incentives are offered at levels from $25 to $1,000.00 including rare, out-of-print t records and books, and autographed swag from Micky Dolenz and Bobby Hart himself! You could even find yourself on the receiving end of a phone call from Bobby! Don't miss that last train to Clarksville; check out the documentary's Indiegogo page right here to see how you can contribute and to view the movie trailer. The team behind this exciting new film might even blow you a kiss in the wind!

For more on Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, you can visit the official Boyce and Hart website! We also recommend the following releases:

Action! The Songs of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart (Details here) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite: The Best of Boyce and Hart (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

The Songs of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart (Amazon U.S.)

Keith Allison, In Action: The Complete Columbia Sides Plus! (Details here) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Pop Tags: Bobby Hart, Boyce and Hart, Keith Allison, The Monkees, Tommy Boyce

Avatar photo

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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Comments

  1. Bradley Skistimas says

    April 14, 2014 at 3:40 pm

    Glad you are sharing this! I contributed to the project last week 🙂

    Reply
  2. Caroline Boyce says

    April 14, 2014 at 9:04 pm

    Reblogged this on What's On My Mind / Boyce & Hart, Monkees and More and commented:
    Bobby and I thank everyone for supporting this film ...

    Reply
  3. Caroline Boyce says

    April 14, 2014 at 9:05 pm

    Bobby & I thank you for your support ...

    Reply
  4. Zubb says

    April 14, 2014 at 10:20 pm

    Dang! I wish I had known sooner. I would have loved getting one of the Monkees books.

    Reply
    • Ernie says

      April 15, 2014 at 7:28 am

      You can find copies on Amazon.com even though it's out of print.

      Reply
  5. JosephNZ (@joey_nz) says

    April 15, 2014 at 2:31 am

    Cool 🙂
    I have the book by Tommy Boyce, How To Write A Hit Song And Sell It

    Reply
  6. John H says

    April 15, 2014 at 10:28 am

    These guys were really talented, wrote so many songs and recorded classics of their own, but never quite entered the public consciousness to the same extent as many of their songwriting and performing peers. I always thought theirs must be a pretty interesting story, and I'm pleasantly surprised that now it'll be told. I'm going to pledge something today, and I wish them the best of luck!

    Reply
  7. Zubb says

    April 15, 2014 at 12:50 pm

    I just saw the I Dream Of Jeannie episode guest starring Boyce & Hart. Not to mention, Phil Spector! Very fun. Their single Out And About should have charted higher. I wonder what happened?

    Reply

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