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Omaha Steve

(108,099 posts)
Sun Sep 14, 2025, 10:04 PM Sep 14

Bobby Hart, co-wrote 'Last Train to Clarksville' and other hits for the Monkees, dead at 86

Source: AP

By HILLEL ITALIE
Updated 8:22 PM CDT, September 14, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — Songwriter Bobby Hart, a key part of the Monkees’ multimedia empire who teamed with Tommy Boyce on such hits as “Last Train to Clarksville” and “I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone,” has died. He was 86.

Hart died at his home in Los Angeles, according to his friend and co-author, Glenn Ballantyne. He had been in poor health since breaking his hip last year.

Boyce and Hart were a prolific and successful duo in the mid-1960s, especially for the Monkees, the made-for-television group promoted by Don Kirshner. They wrote the Monkees’ theme song, with its opening shot, “Here we come, walkin’ down the street,” and enduring chant, “Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees,” and their first No. 1 hit, “Last Train to Clarksville.” The Monkees’ eponymous, million-selling debut album included six songs from Boyce and Hart, who also served as producers and used their own backing musicians, the Candy Store Prophets, as session players.

“I always credit them not only with writing many of our biggest hits, but, as producers, being instrumental in creating the unique Monkee sound we all know and love,” the Monkees’ Micky Dolenz wrote in a foreword to Hart’s memoir, “Psychedelic Bubblegum,” published in 2015.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/bobby-hart-dead-86-monkees-b1fdf152699443429d21360d5a3d95fb

14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Bobby Hart, co-wrote 'Last Train to Clarksville' and other hits for the Monkees, dead at 86 (Original Post) Omaha Steve Sep 14 OP
... SheltieLover Sep 14 #1
I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight Tommy Boyce & Bobby ... turbinetree Sep 14 #2
I remember watching this on TV RazorbackExpat Sep 14 #4
Here is the B-Side............. turbinetree Sep 15 #8
There is a Monkees vibe to this song RazorbackExpat Sep 16 #12
They wrote about 30 songs total for the Monkeys.............. turbinetree Sep 16 #13
So cute, so young, so well-scrubbed💕 Hekate Sep 15 #10
I like the bass player bringing the snow shovel at the end............. turbinetree Sep 16 #14
I'm losing all my contemporaries! :( slightlv Sep 14 #3
Last Train to Clarksville was a wonderful tune! C Moon Sep 15 #5
Ahhh, end of an era... hlthe2b Sep 15 #6
Bobby Clouds Passing Sep 15 #7
Very sad news. BlueKota Sep 15 #9
Minor Threat - Steppin' Stone (1981) Celerity Sep 16 #11

turbinetree

(26,805 posts)
2. I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight Tommy Boyce & Bobby ...
Sun Sep 14, 2025, 10:25 PM
Sep 14


This song is one of many from my teen years.............and the best from them as far as I am concern............

Hekate

(100,130 posts)
10. So cute, so young, so well-scrubbed💕
Mon Sep 15, 2025, 11:01 PM
Sep 15

I myself was a folkie, but no matter. Their music sticks with me too.

C Moon

(13,368 posts)
5. Last Train to Clarksville was a wonderful tune!
Mon Sep 15, 2025, 01:10 AM
Sep 15

I'm just noticing how much it was like Ticket to Ride.

BlueKota

(4,961 posts)
9. Very sad news.
Mon Sep 15, 2025, 05:27 PM
Sep 15

I loved their songs especially for the

?si=FU4KzBNwLX4__kznMonkees. Didn’t even realize they had written another song I loved until years later. This one by Helen Reddy.

Celerity

(53,247 posts)
11. Minor Threat - Steppin' Stone (1981)
Tue Sep 16, 2025, 03:14 AM
Sep 16

Label: Dischord Records – Dischord 5
Format: Vinyl, 7", Red
Country: US
Released: Dec 1981
Genre: Rock
Style: Hardcore, Punk



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