Taking to the stage at the MGM Northfield’s Center Stage venue, Carnie Wilson, one-third of the early ’90s hit trio Wilson Phillips said, “We’ve only got five really big hits, so we have to fill the time somehow!”
Which is a shame, because these ladies, 35 years after they released their debut album, still supply some amazing harmonies to their five hits as well as a bevy of covers of their famous parents’ catalogs.
The offspring of popular music royalty, Carnie and Wendy Wilson, daughters of recently-passed Beach Boys founding member Brian Wilson, and Chynna Phillips, daughter of the Mamas and the Papas John and Michelle Phillips, the trio came together in the Wilson girls’ bedroom in 1986.
According to Carnie, while still in high school and after “the seventh bong hit,” the trio started harmonizing, out loud. Their mother heard them, rushed into the bedroom, and told them they needed to find an agent.
Their eponymous debut, Wilson Phillips, was released in 1990, spawning four top ten hits, with three of those reaching number one on Billboard’s charts.
Nominated for five Grammys, the outfit released a sophomore album in 1992, prior to the group dissolving. They’ve gotten together time and again over the years and released a few albums covering their parents’ work as well as other notable artists.
Last night’s show at the MGM offered a 14-tune set, with a combo of their hits, some notable covers, and a medley of tunes from female-led groups.
Songs such as “Release Me” and “You’re in Love” were early-set offerings, while covers of Elton John’s “Daniel,” recorded for the 1991 tribute album Two Rooms: A Tribute to Elton John, was sung early in the show.
The Wilson girls spoke fondly of their father, who recently passed. Playing “God Only Knows” as an homage to their famous dad, Carnie remarked that the tune was called the “Best song ever written” by Paul McCartney.
The 10-minute medley included parts of The Go-Gos’ “We Got the Beat,” The Bangles’ “Walk Like an Egyptian,” and “Wanna Be My Lover” by the Spice Girls.
The trio, friends since adolescence, have such an easy rapport while onstage. Their banter didn’t seem staged, and they seemed to have a genuine friendship. Wendy, the youngest of the trio, sang off to the left of the others, and is the quietest of the three. Carnie, dropping an occasional f-bomb, belied the squeaky-clean image of the band, while Chynna, undeniably the frontwoman, gobbled up the literal spotlight.
It’s a crime that they weren’t bigger than they were. Even in their mid-50s their harmonies are sublime. Perhaps due to changing musical tastes in the early 1990s, Grunge and the darker, more austere “Seattle Sound” were emerging at that point, that wholesome progeny of decades-old rockers were no longer considered vogue.
To my knowledge, this was the outfit’s first appearance ever in Northeast Ohio. I’m glad they finally made it here, even though they’re 35 years late in doing so.
