Bobby Hart has been called one of the world’s most prolific, successful and influential songwriters. As an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Grammy Award-nominated composer he has sung, written and/or produced highly successful songs for himself as well as bands like the Monkees. Hart wrote his first two top ten songs in 1964 with his best-known writing partner, Tommy Boyce. The duo wrote Hurt So Bad, Come A Little Bit Closer and Not Your Steppin’ Stone as well as the Monkees first hit single, Last Train to Clarksville and album, The Monkees. They also made numerous songs for television and motion pictures and spearheaded the Let Us Vote campaign, lobbying Congress to lower the voting age to eighteen. Bobby continues to write and administer his music publishing interests, while devoting more time and energy to his commitment to meditation, service to others, and public speaking. As a result of writing his memoir, Bobby has devel Glenn Ballantyne is a writer and entrepreneur. His songs and video productions are played around the world as well as his marketing and advertising plans. Glenn is actively involved in non-profit humanitarian organizations such as hospitals, children’s care centers, animal shelters, libraries, schools, economic development organizations and spiritual events. After graduating from college with degrees in sociology and music, Glenn’s professional life began in the early 1970’s as a contract songwriter in Hollywood. Later Glenn opened an advertising agency that Colorado Business Magazine has recognized as “one of the best companies in Colorado to do business with”. Mr. Ballantyne earned the degree of Kriyaban in 1975 through the Lessons available from Paramahansa Yogananda’s Self-Realization Fellowship. Glenn began delivering keynote speeches and seminars in 1976 at universities and colleges George Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as the drummer and lead singer of the 1960s pop/rock music band the Monkees.
"Hart, in his debut, tells of how his jagged path through the music industry led to heartbreakbut also to happiness. This snappy yet reflective memoir opens with an episode that's emblematic of its narrator. While struggling to make it in Hollywood, Hart listened to the radio and detected an unsatisfying insincerity in the DJ's voice. Hart's desire for authenticity, and his connections in entertainment, would go on to propel him on a remarkable journey through the music world. He left his hometown of Phoenix to start six months of active duty in the U.S. Army Reserve in Monterey, California, and soon found himself entangled in the glamour and grit of Hollywoodthat 'circus of extremes for the senses with its bright lights and colorful characters'while working for a company that manufactured labels for vinyl records. His own recording career, though, began one fateful Saturday, when he booked studio time for himself and became amazed at the possibilities that emerged when he combined his musical background with skillful sound engineering. What followed were years of risk and uncertainty and powerful collaborations with other musiciansas well as love, loss, and friendship. Hart candidly depicts his hyperactive, out-and-about lifestyle as a musician and songwriter who struggled to balance the work that gave his life meaning with his commitment to his family. Sometimes the strain proved too much, and his relationship with his first wife deteriorated as a result. Along the way, countless projects with his songwriting partner, Tommy Boyce, rolled by, as did the tumultuous cultural and historical events of the 1960s. Before long, the duo was writing songs for The Monkees, including '(Theme from) The Monkees ,' 'Last Train to Clarksville,' and 'Valleri.' In the memoir's most captivating pages, Hart recounts the stratospheric rise of that artificially engineered musical group. Particularly engaging are Hart's anecdotes about his own songwriting process; he recounts, for instance, that the song fragment that eventually became 'Last Train to Clarksville' was inspired by a mishearing of the Beatles' 1966 single 'Paperback Writer.' A highly detailed autobiography by a unique figure in American cultural history that will interest historians and pop-culture aficionados alike." Kirkus Reviews
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