Remember When
Peter and I have always caught up whenever our paths happened to cross, and on one of those occasions — a long lunch in the South of France with my son Dan — that turned into something more. Since making Never Too Late I'd been spending more and more of my time writing and producing, and Dan had a specific pitch for us that lunch: that Peter and I should make a song together. It didn't take much convincing. Peter was up for it straight away, and that was that.
I wanted to write something that could have passed for a Herman's Hermits record back in the day, and worked up a handful of alternatives before Remember When stood out from the rest — not least for its lyrical idea of looking back, which felt like exactly the right theme for two men our age to be singing about. The production followed suit: acoustic guitars, piano, strings, and three-part harmonies through the chorus, all the hallmarks of a proper Hermits record.
Making it turned into a real adventure. We travelled out to Hidden City Studios in Santa Barbara to record Peter's vocals and overdub the instruments, with Elliott Lanam behind the desk making the whole thing a pleasure from start to finish. Rob Lowe happened to be working in the studio at the same time — a genuinely nice guy — and we tacked a book signing onto the trip in LA while we were at it. Days were spent recording, evenings spent cooking, and by the time we flew home we were more than happy with what we had. Back at Pluto, we added a couple more guitars, finished the mix, and got it mastered. Now we just have to wait and see what people make of it!