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

[Omaha Steve]

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

[SheltieLover]

1. ...

[turbinetree]

2. I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight Tommy Boyce & Bobby ...

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

[RazorbackExpat]

4. I remember watching this on TV

Ah, memories

[turbinetree]

8. Here is the B-Side.............

The Ambushers (1967) Song by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart

[RazorbackExpat]

12. There is a Monkees vibe to this song

[turbinetree]

13. They wrote about 30 songs total for the Monkeys..............

[Hekate]

10. So cute, so young, so well-scrubbed💕

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

[turbinetree]

14. I like the bass player bringing the snow shovel at the end.............

[slightlv]

3. I'm losing all my contemporaries! :(

[C Moon]

5. Last Train to Clarksville was a wonderful tune!

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

[hlthe2b]

6. Ahhh, end of an era...

RIP Mr. Hart

[Clouds Passing]

7. Bobby

[BlueKota]

9. Very sad news.

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]

11. Minor Threat - Steppin' Stone (1981)

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