Wilson Phillips: The Ties That Bind

They were three little girls who grew up on good vibrations and forged a bond that has helped make Wilson Phillips the hottest new trio of the 1990s.

“I remember making up dances and singing and putting on plays for our parents, and I remember her birthday parties. She always had great birthday parties and slumber parties,” Chynna Phillips recalled of Carnie Wilson, a lifetime friend.

Chynna and Carnie and Carnie’s younger sister, Wendy, form Wilson Phillips--the first act, according to Billboard Magazine, to land two No. 1 singles this year.

“Hold On” and “Release Me” have been to the top while “Impulsive,” the third release from their debut album, is making an impressive bolt up the charts.

If genetics has anything to do with longevity and success in the pop music industry, the trio’s bloodline gives them an upper hand over the competition.

Chynna, 22, is the daughter of John and Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, a ‘60s group known for such enduring hits as “California Dreamin’,” and “Monday, Monday.”

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys is father to Wendy, 21, and Carnie, 22.

The young women concede that they borrowed a few things from the older generation--such as their harmony and their name. But the mimicking stops there, they said.

“Just in terms of loving music and loving harmony, that’s the only influence they had,” Carnie Wilson said.

The women got more out of 1970s bands such as Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan and the Eagles. “It’s because that’s the period when we were growing up. You usually start liking music around 11, 12 years old,” Chynna Phillips said.

The friends decided to form a band in 1986, but it took them nearly four years to reach a harmonic convergence they believed was good enough to record an album.

“From ’86 to ’90 was like a writing, learning, growing process,” Carnie Wilson said.

“We took that time to evolve,” Chynna said. “I learned about blend--how the three of us were going to make our voices mesh instead of having three different voices.

“The more we practiced, the more we sang together, the easier it became. And we began to have our own sound. Wilson Phillips began to have something real concrete, real different from anything else we’d ever heard.”

Wilson Phillips released its self-titled album earlier this year and went on a five-week tour across the United States as the opening act for Richard Marx. For the first time, they sang on a stage larger than the living room and to an audience other than relatives.

“Fantastic experience, wonderful experience,” Carnie Wilson said. “It really helped us. You have to get out in front of 10,000 people every night. Your butt is on the line. Boy, it’s really tough, it’s scary and it’s nerve wracking.”

“It was scary a lot of times,” Wendy Wilson agreed. “But even if you’re not in the mood to get out there one night, because you don’t feel confident enough or whatever, after the first song, your engines are going and you can’t help but love it.”

The women won’t headline their own tour until 1992, after releasing a second album.

The group wrote about half of the tunes on the debut album and said their objective is to compose relevant lyrics. “We want people to relate. The lyrics are very simple and we get a lot of fan mail and it’s good ‘cause we’re helping people,” Carnie Wilson said.

“Hold On” even prevented some listeners from committing suicide, Carnie Wilson said.

“I’d say about 40% of the fan mail is, ‘I was going to kill myself, I had the pills in my hand, and then I saw your video “Hold On.”

“It’s amazing. Lots of people were going to commit suicide, but they don’t because of the music, so we’re helping people. That’s the best part.”

“It’s funny because I knew when the song was being written that it was inspired by something greater than myself.” Chynna Phillips said. “I knew that it was going to touch a lot of people, and it did. And it’s a wonderful feeling.”