Tommy Boyce(1939-1994)
- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
It's estimated that Tommy Boyce's solo compositions and collaborative
efforts have produced record sales over and above 85 million. Tommy and
his partner Bobby Hart wrote the
theme to Days of Our Lives (1965) and hits for guys like
Andy Williams,
Dean Martin,
The Animals and
Del Shannon in addition to scores and songs
for television and films. They were even instrumental in lowering the
voting age to 18. And then there's
The Monkees.
The career of Tommy Boyce begins as early as the late 1950s. In those
days--before there was color TV--Tommy had established himself as one
of the brightest young writers to ever come out of the legendary Brill
Building days. His 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 are available on the CD "The Best Of Curtis Lee"). In the spring
of 1965 Bobby joined Tommy in California. One of their first writing
assignments together was to compose the theme song for "Days of Our
Lives", which has been running on the program for over 30 years now. 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 (1966). Boyce and Hart
wrote a whopping 30 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 deal with A&M Records. The
two scored many chart successes of their own, 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 (1964),
I Dream of Jeannie (1965)
and The Flying Nun (1967).
In 1968 the duo campaigned to support
Robert F. Kennedy in his 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 18 in the
US (it had been 21).
During the 1970s 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". It's well known that Tommy would
later re-team with Bobby in the newly re-formed Monkees revival,
"Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart". What is NOT well known is that the group
had its origin while going on a special trip to entertain at Vietnamese
internment camps in the early 1970s. According to long-time friend and
fellow musician Keith Allison, they went
down there 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
Capitol Records in 1976 and embarked on a highly successful world tour
to commemorate the tenth anniversary of The Monkees.
During the late 1970s 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 1980s he moved back to the United States and
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: "Christopher Cloud - Blown Away", featuring members of
the group AIM, and the Australian four-track EP "Tommy Boyce and His
Rockin' Sixties Band" (as of 2019, these titles are NOT available on CD).
Bobby is still very much involved in the business, composing for many
varied projects.
Forty 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 will very likely hear a Boyce and Hart composition.
efforts have produced record sales over and above 85 million. Tommy and
his partner Bobby Hart wrote the
theme to Days of Our Lives (1965) and hits for guys like
Andy Williams,
Dean Martin,
The Animals and
Del Shannon in addition to scores and songs
for television and films. They were even instrumental in lowering the
voting age to 18. And then there's
The Monkees.
The career of Tommy Boyce begins as early as the late 1950s. In those
days--before there was color TV--Tommy had established himself as one
of the brightest young writers to ever come out of the legendary Brill
Building days. His 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 are available on the CD "The Best Of Curtis Lee"). In the spring
of 1965 Bobby joined Tommy in California. One of their first writing
assignments together was to compose the theme song for "Days of Our
Lives", which has been running on the program for over 30 years now. 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 (1966). Boyce and Hart
wrote a whopping 30 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 deal with A&M Records. The
two scored many chart successes of their own, 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 (1964),
I Dream of Jeannie (1965)
and The Flying Nun (1967).
In 1968 the duo campaigned to support
Robert F. Kennedy in his 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 18 in the
US (it had been 21).
During the 1970s 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". It's well known that Tommy would
later re-team with Bobby in the newly re-formed Monkees revival,
"Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart". What is NOT well known is that the group
had its origin while going on a special trip to entertain at Vietnamese
internment camps in the early 1970s. According to long-time friend and
fellow musician Keith Allison, they went
down there 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
Capitol Records in 1976 and embarked on a highly successful world tour
to commemorate the tenth anniversary of The Monkees.
During the late 1970s 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 1980s he moved back to the United States and
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: "Christopher Cloud - Blown Away", featuring members of
the group AIM, and the Australian four-track EP "Tommy Boyce and His
Rockin' Sixties Band" (as of 2019, these titles are NOT available on CD).
Bobby is still very much involved in the business, composing for many
varied projects.
Forty 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 will very likely hear a Boyce and Hart composition.