MANILA, Philippines?Some critics believe that the greatest album of all time is The Beatles? ?Sgt. Pepper?s Lonely Hearts Club Band? (1967). Paul McCartney has acknowledged that that album was inspired by one released a year earlier?The Beach Boys? ?Pet Sounds.?

Ironically, ?Pet Sounds,? conceived by Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson a few months after he quit touring with the band, had met with resistance from the other members, who thought the songs were a radical departure from their signature sound.

That sound, based on vocal harmonies in songs that celebrate surfing, cars and girls, continues to drive the present Beach Boys Band, led by co-founding member and lead vocalist Mike Love.

Love, 68, is still touring and singing about a bygone era which, he notes, is kept alive by a younger generation who flock to the concerts with their grandparents. Though two of Love?s cousins (Dennis and Carl Wilson) in the original group have died, and Brian has his own band now, surely there will always be fans eager to hear ?California Girls,? ?Good Vibrations? and other Beach Boys classics.

The Inquirer interviewed Love via e-mail days before the Beach Boys? Jan. 27 concert at the Araneta Coliseum.

What new things have you discovered about your audience?

They?re entire families now, from children to grandparents, singing along to the same songs.

You sang lead vocals on many Beach Boys classics and co-wrote some of them. Which ones mean a lot you?

?Good Vibrations? was our most successful single from The ?60s. It was a collaboration between me and Brian. It is probably the band?s most creative and unique hit single, and the most successful until ?Kokomo? in 1988. That one was a collaboration between myself, John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, and Terry Melcher who was the song?s producer.

Which is the best among these songs, for you?
Again, ?Good Vibrations.? It was voted ?Single of the Century? by Rolling Stone magazine years ago.

Brian, Carl and Dennis were said to have a complicated relationship with their father, Murray Wilson. How did this affect your cousins?

Uncle Murray was domineering and abusive. I remember him telling Brian that he didn?t know what [Brian] was doing?he was obviously wrong.

What was it like when the band toured without Brian, who stayed home writing the songs? Did the fans look for him?

Fans watch our concerts to have a good time. We were sad about touring without Brian, but our audiences since the mid-?60s have always enjoyed themselves. I believe that as long as the songs are performed well, the audience will be satisfied.

How do you feel singing about surfing, girls and cars at your age?

For those of us who came of age in the ?60s, those songs make up the soundtrack of our lives. The music may sound nostalgic, but millions of others discovered our music later.

What kind of music do you listen to these days?

I turn on the car radio to the oldies stations to listen to a Beach Boys song, or The Beatles or Motown.

What keeps you busy aside from touring?

I enjoy ? traveling, to experience different cultures and food. Otherwise, I just live a normal life as a father, husband and community member.