July 18, 1988.

I feel like I should be on an exotic beach somewhere, soaking up the sun, rather than a back garden in Bilston on a chilly morning in March. Quite the difference really.

This was written in 1986 by John Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas and Scott McKenzie, known for the song San Francisco, and first recorded as a duet with McKenzie and Phillip’s former bandmate Denny Doherty.

When the Beach Boys were commissioned to provide the theme song for the 1988 film Cocktail, Phillips offered them this song. It was released in the US to coincide with the release of the film and soundtrack, and gave the Beach Boys a global top ten hit including number one in Australia and the US – their first US number one since Good Vibrations in 1966. Here in the UK, in spent nine weeks on the charts and peaked at number twenty-five.