Boyce and Hart - I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight (1968)

In the late '50s, Tommy Boyce (born Sidney Thomas Boyce, 1939) was rejected numerous times when trying to start a career as a singer in Los Angeles. Thinking he maybe ought to focus his talents elsewhere, he took the advice of his father and decided to focus on his songwriting. He wrote a song called “Be My Guest” and waited in a hotel for six hours waiting to give it to the man staying there, Fats Domino. He was able to persuade Domino to promise to give the song a listen, and Domino liked it enough to record it in October 1959. With his foot in the door, Boyce eventually met Bobby Hart (born Robert Luke Harshman, 1939) in 1959. The duo began writing songs together and finally got their break in 1964, writing “Lazy Elsie Molly” for Chubby Checker. Developing a bit of a reputation, the duo would go on to write successful songs for Jay and the Americans (“Come a Little Bit Closer”), Paul Revere and the Raiders (“(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone”), The Leaves (“Words”), and The Monkees (“(Theme from) The Monkees,” “Last Train to Clarksville,” and many others).

The duo was responsible for most of The Monkees’ earliest songs, often being the musicians heard playing on their earliest albums. While Boyce and Hart were using studio time to create Monkees songs, they were also working on songs to build their own career. The song heard below was written by Boyce and Hart, produced by Boyce and Hart, and featured vocals from both of them. It was recorded in 1968, released as a single, and was later featured on the duo’s second album, I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonite?. The song reached number seven on the Cash Box charts and number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. It was by no means the most popular song they wrote, but it was the most popular song they released under their own name.



Boyce and Hart - I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight (1968)

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Lyrics:

If I had told her that I loved her
She would have stayed ‘til who knows when
But I guess she couldn't understand it
When I said, “I want to be your friend”
Because a friend would never doubt you
Or ever put you uptight
And now I wonder
What she's doing tonight

Oh yes, I wonder
What she's doing tonight
Oh, I wonder what she's doing tonight

We were so close, but we should've been closer
And it's making me feel so sad
But I tell myself I didn't lose her
Because you can't lose a friend you never had
(Come on now)
Because a friend won't say it's over
And go out just for spite
And now I wonder
What she's doing tonight

Oh yes, I wonder
What she's doing tonight
Oh, I wonder what she's doing tonight

(Alright, Bobby, let's go)

Because a friend will always be there
If you're wrong or if you're right
And now I wonder
What she's doing tonight

Oh yes, I wonder
What she's doing tonight
Oh, I wonder what she's doing tonight

Tonight
Tonight