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

Jay and the Americans - Come a Little Bit Closer (1964)

Born David Blatt November 2, 1938, the second man to be called “Jay” and sing lead for Jay and the Americans, had originally been in a doo-wop group called The Empires. In those early years, Blatt adopted the stage name “David Black” and used it when The Empires recorded their lone single, 1962’s “Time and a Place” / “Punch Your Nose.” In 1963, The Empires’ guitarist Marty Sanders was invited to join Jay and the Americans. At nearly the same time, Jay and the Americans’ original lead singer, Jay Traynor, decided to quit the band, having been disappointed with their recent failure to chart. The band’s new guitarist, Sanders, suggested David Black as a replacement. Black accepted the invitation, but had to be persuaded to adopt the name “Jay” to fit with the name of the band. David Blatt, who had chosen the stage name David Black, had now become Jay Black.

Together, Jay Black and his new band released over a dozen singles and a dozen albums in the coming decade. They charted numerous times throughout the 1960s and avoided splitting up until 1973. In ’73, Jay Black was the only member of the group wanting to continue the band, so when all other members went their separate ways, he recruited a rotating lineup of musicians to continue the “Jay and the Americans” name. Among the many temporary musicians to have backed Jay Black were Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, the future co-founders of Steely Dan. The original members of the band (featuring Jay Black and not Jay Traynor) didn’t reunite again until the 1990s. These days, Jay Black performs under “Jay Black and the Alley Cats,” having sold the “Jay and the Americans” name to his former bandmates in order to pay off a severe debt to the IRS, brought on by a gambling addiction.

This song, released as a single in 1964, was the band’s highest charting single. It reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100, number four on Cashbox, and number one on RPM’s singles chart. The song was written by iconic songwriting team of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, becoming the writing duo’s first top-ten hit of many. If you enjoy the lyrics of this song, listen to Buddy Holly’s “Smokey Joe’s Café.” The stories in the lyrics are somewhat similar, leading one to wonder if Boyce and Hart were inspired by the Buddy Holly song.



Jay and the Americans - Come a Little Bit Closer (1964)

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Lyrics:

In a little café
Just the other side of the border
She was just sitting there giving me looks
That made my mouth water
So I started walking her way
She belonged to Bad Man Jose
And I knew, yes, I knew I should leave
When I heard her say, yeah

“Come a little bit closer”
“You’re my kind of man”
“So big and so strong”
“Come a little bit closer”
“I’m all alone”
“And the night is so long”

So we started to dance
In my arms, she felt so inviting
That I just couldn’t resist
Just one little kiss, so exciting
Then I heard the guitar player say
“Vamoose! Jose’s on his way”
Then I knew, yes, I knew I should run
But then I heard her say, yeah

“Come a little bit closer”
“You’re my kind of man”
“So big and so strong”
“Come a little bit closer”
“I’m all alone”
“And the night is so long”

Then the music stopped
When I looked, the café was empty
Then I heard Jose say
“Man, you know you’re in trouble plenty”
So I dropped my drink from my hand
And through the window I ran
And as I rode away
I could hear her say to Jose, yeah

“Come a little bit closer”
“You’re my kind of man”
“So big and so strong”
“Come a little bit closer”
“I’m all alone”
“And the night is so long”