Pet Sixties Sounds

Hi there
I've been a Beach Boys fan since the very early days. Living in London as a teenager, the sunshine and surf of California seemed a million miles away - but then me and my friends stumbled on the music of the Beach Boys and we were hooked. I recall we went into record shops and listened to their music in the booths, even when we couldn't afford to buy the records! Yes, we really did 'get around' in those days!
Music was the big thing in our lives and much of it - particularly The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, The Who and Jefferson Airplane to name but a few great bands - was a soundtrack to our dreams, hopes and aspirations for a better world, one in which we, the baby boom generation, would make our mark in a way that young people had never done before.
Sadly, the darker side of the Sixties destroyed a great deal of our optimism and confidence. But it was the joy of the Beach Boys music that helped to lift some of the gloom.
I've tried to capture some of this in a book I've just had published, Somewhere In The Distance, about four friends coming of age in the Sixties amid the turmoil of the Vietnam war, political unrest and the surge in drugs use. In one section, the friends have a restaurant meal and spend much of the time debating whether The Beach Boys or The Beatles are the best group. It's the sort of thing we did then - and still do today!
A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since the decade that changed society for ever, but the music of The Beach Boys still resonates today, and long may it continue.
As an aside, my favourite Beach Boys tracks are Good Vibrations ( OK, an obvious choice, but it's so damn good), Heroes And Villains, Friends and I Get Around (obvious again, I know, but so evocative!)
Thanks for looking in
David Soulsby

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