Summer 2007 : Double CD released via Universal.

In a recent Readers Digest Poll, a third of the voters pinpointed the 60s as the decade they would have most liked to be a teenager.

So perhaps it is timely that Pete Lawrence, Big Chill co-founder and conceptualist, has just announced his latest compilation, a collection of hits and rarities from the 'Flower Power' era of the late 60s, a time when he himself was first exposed to the pop music of the era. Coming out via Universal in early August 2007, the project has been a labour of love for Pete over the last 12 months, and has been remastered here with love and care by Pete, to create a double CD full of sounds as vibrant and contemporary as anything else on offer at the moment.

Interview with Pete Lawrence

Q : Why the late 60s? What does that time mean to you?

A : The late 60s was a golden age for pop, bubblegum, psychedelia and lounge. The summer of love was in full swing, England had recently won the World Cup, man was landing on the moon, people were starting to jet-set overseas and there was definitely something in the air. I was absorbing this music like a sponge and there's no denying that this music made a profound impression on me as a pre-teen adolescent - The Mamas and Papas, The Cowsills, Thunderclap Newman, Traffic, Warm Sounds, The Box Tops and The Association, much of it absorbed, as it was, i an atmosphere of intense excitement listening under the bedclothes on a crackly transistor radio after lights out tuned in to the illegal offshore pirate stations, especially London and Caroline. On this album, I've revisited and soaked up the vibes of the time when everything seemed that little bit more utopian and magical, and all about trying to make a better world, at least to my rose coloured eleven year old visions, but I've hopefully succeeded in putting it all together to make it work in a contemporary context on the albums.

Q : A lot of this music seems more relevant than ever at the moment, lyrically, at a time when it is really needed.

The sentiments, inevitably about love, peace and nature, struck a chord in the prosperous baby boom years, and remarkably retain their relevance today with an added resonance, given the trajectory of the last forty years and the subsequent adoption of many values from the hippy era by a large majority today, despite these social shifts being much maligned at the time. You only have to watch TV and see how much of this has suddenly come into currency with advertisers for instance, to realise how things are turning towards it. Right now, it feels natural to stand up and salute this era of song - strong on melody, unsurpassed in harmony, simplistically arranged but utilising the new-fangled studio gadgetry of the time and invariably uplfting in lyrical content. Whether or not there's a new wave of flower power on the horizon, the current 60s hippy fashion revival is on the streets, and articles are everywhere marking the 40th anniversary of the 'Summer of Love', and I can't help thinking that the timing has never been more perfect for a compilation such as this. Ultimately, it's feelgood music - about sunshine, falling in love and optimism, and I can think of worse things to sing about right now.

Q : So what led you to compile it?

A : It was a year or so ago, on a wet weekend trip to rural Slovakia that I suddenly and inexplicably got the urge to gather together these tracks and as I meditated on some of better known tunes, more and more artist names and song titles came into my head - mostly stuff I hadn't thought about in the best part of four decades  ..... Merrilee Rush, PP Arnold, Keith West, The Casuals, Spanky and Our Gang, Eclection....and I was delighted to find that most of it sounded even better than I remembered.  I gave 3 CDs of this material to my friend John Bessos for his birthday last summer and very quickly people started giving me really positive feedback on it, and I suspected that I was onto something, so I approached a couple of labels, and Universal, who I have a long standing relationship with, with very keen to put it out. I've been road testing the music in recent months, and had a fantastic reaction, not least at the triumphant Do It Again nights at The Big Chill Bar. We're also planning one or two other little events to celebrate this music too over summer so watch this space.