I confess: I was totally obsessed with Wilson Phillips' debut album when it came out in 1990. My friend Mark and I even went to see them live at the Greek Theater that summer I moved to Los Angeles --after a bitter breakup with my college sweetheart, Derwood -- when they opened for Richard Marx(!). (The girl at Will Call told me I looked just like Chynna, and I wasn't the least bit offended.) Chynna's mom, Michelle Phillips, was standing right next to us in the audience, and when the girls finished their encore, we beat a fast retreat (did anyone actually like Richard Marx, even then?) and caught up with the girls as they were exiting in their stretch limo. Album two was a disappointment, but I was over the moon when they reunited at the Brian Wilson tribute in 2001, doing a brilliant rendition of the Beach Boys' "You're So Good to Me," the band's most underrated hit. Sadly, their comeback LP that came out a few years later, the covers collection "California," left me a pretty cold, although I'd be lying if I said I played it more than a handful of times. (Their version of "Already Gone" by the Eagles was a bright moment, as I recall, but "Old Man" made me blush for them.)
Still, I couldn't resist getting their recent holiday album -- OK, but no "Hey Santa!" -- and even caught a few episodes of their embarrassing reality show on the TV Guide channel. (That thing was so scripted it made "The Hills" look like cinema verite.) So it's with a increasing ambivalence I get the news that the trio -- hot off their "Bridesmaids" star turn -- are coming back again, with yet another album of covers. This time, they're trading in entirely on their famous parents' legacies, something they proudly steered clear of in their formative years., with all covers made famous by their families. "Dedicated" comes out today -- it includes "Monday, Monday," which they already covered on "California" -- and to make matters worse, the band is doing a "free concert" Thursday at the discount retailer Loehmann's in Chelsea.
Between Chynna's horrendous solo album and her being a church fart, Carnie being a weight-loss-surgery addict and completely annoying and Wendy not being Chynna or Carnie, I'm beginning to wonder if my devotion can hold on for (even) one more day.
This is more like it:
UPDATE: OK, the gals' new album is quite good, especially their "Twelve Thirty"!
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