LEGEND ON LAST TRAIN

Iconic Songwriter Dies at 86

The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz credited him with helping create the band’s sound.

Bobby Hart, best known for writing some of the Monkees’ biggest hits, has died at the age of 86. Friend and co-author Glenn Ballantyne said he passed away at his home in Los Angeles, having been suffering from poor health since he broke his hip last year, according to the Associated Press. Alongside collaborator Tommy Boyce, the writer and producer was behind some of the band’s biggest tracks, penning six of the songs in their smash-hit eponymous debut album. In a testament to their importance, the band’s Micky Dolenz wrote in a foreword to Hart’s 2015 memoir, “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.” Together they were behind the band’s first number one hit, “Last Train to Clarksville,” as well as “I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone,” with Hart credited too for the band’s theme tune, which includes the iconic line “Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees.” Boyce died in 1994, but a documentary called The Guys Who Wrote ‘Em was made about the pair in 2014. Hart married twice, latterly to Mary Ann Hart, and had two children in his first marriage. Hart and Boyce campaigned for JFK in 1968 and, reaching their own fame, also appeared in sitcoms and released their own albums.