The Eric Metaxas Show - Chynna Phillips Baldwin

Episode Date: March 29, 2021

Singer-songwriter Chynna Phillips Baldwin from the group Wilson Phillips shares her roller-coaster life story, complete with experiences of the miraculous.

to the Eric Metaxus show with your host, Eric Metaxus. Hey there, folks, this is the Eric Metaxus show, as I like to call it. I'm Eric Metaxus. I'm biased. But I'll be playing the role of host, and I will have guests. For example, right now, I have someone, some of you are going to flip and others are going to say, who is that? And I'm going to let you know.

You're going to see. Her name is China Phillips. Where do I start? I guess I'll start with, she is one of the three of Wilson Phillips, the girl band. I don't know, what do we call it, the trio, China, let's just say, welcome to the program. Thank you so much. I'm so honored to be on your show. I've heard so much about you through Beckett Cook and my brother-in-law, Stephen. Stephen's dead to me. Stephen owes me 40 bucks. I don't want to hear his name until I get that money back. No, listen, that's sort of how I know you is through Stephen.

And Stephen is an amazing man of faith, and I really love him. And I met your husband through Stephen like 12 years ago, I think. They were delivering books to my house in New York City. And Billy kind of got sucked into doing this with Stephen. So I've met your husband. Delivering books. That sounds so sketchy. Like, what were they doing delivering books to your house?

No, I will tell you. This is actually, this is a good opportunity for me to tell the world. how good-hearted Stephen Baldwin is. I was speaking at CPAC, and they told me to ship all these books down because when I spoke that people would want, you know, to buy books or something, right? So I had all these books shipped, and they screwed up the book signing at CPAC so that nobody came, nobody knew I was even there. So I had all these books, and I had to go back to New York City from D.C.

How was I going to do this? And Stephen Baldwin, whom I barely knew, said to me, you know what, we got a van. And I'll put the books in the van and we'll take them, right? Now, his partner at the time was Kevin McCullough. You know Kevin McCullough. He's now a very dear friend. Kevin at the time was like, are you kidding? We're not going to haul books.

What is wrong with you? So Kevin was a big jerk. And Stephen was this like, lovable, I'll take your books for you. And sure enough, he took the books and he did. and your husband was involved in delivering them to my house because I had no way to get the books back. So Stephen Baldwin, who technically is the father-in-law of Justin Bieber, we're not going to mention that in the air. I know he's sensitive.

He delivered the books to my house. So I've got a very strong connection. So Billy, my husband Billy, got bamboozled into this whole book. He got bamboozled by his crazy brother, Stephen. Now listen. Okay. Enough about this silliness. You, when I found out that you, China Phillips, were serious about your faith, I said,

I want to talk to you. you because a lot of people don't know that. There are a lot of people that loved Wilson Phillips, but they don't know your story. And then I want to talk about, I mean, you've got like, it's celebrity central in your family. I mean, your parents were the mamas and papas. And, you know, it just goes on and on and on. So why don't we start at the beginning? How did you grow up in a family like that family?

and when did faith become part of your life? Because most people don't associate faith. When they think of the mamas and the papas and the 60s and that whole world, they don't think of, you know, Jesus freaks. Or maybe they do. They just don't think that they're in Hollywood. Yeah, I'm extreme for Jesus. That's for sure.

I love Jesus Christ. And the reason I am so outspoken for Jesus is because I had a very radical conversion, which I want to tell you about. But yeah, growing up with, the family that I did. The question is not so much, how did I become a Christian? The question is, how did I survive? Yeah. How did you not have a drug overdose? I mean, you know, we joke around, but like it was dark. I mean, I know your father's story. It was, you know, it's the classic Hollywood rock star nightmare that we can't even imagine because the world has changed so much,

but it was anything goes. And, you know, I knew your your sister McKenzie. And I guess it's hard for people who are not in that world to understand how crazy it was. So from your perspective, how did you survive it? I mean, how were you raised? Were you raised at all? Were you left to fend for yourself? I mean, how did that work?

So my mom and dad were divorced when I was two years old. So I pretty much was separated from my father at the time at the age of two. He moved to New York and he and I did not really see each other very much except for the random times that he would rent a summer house in L.A. and I would go to visit him at his beach house, you know, maybe once or twice a year. I would see my dad. So there was a lot of abandonment there for me. I felt very abandoned by him. And of course, he was a notorious heroin addict. So he was very busy doing drugs. So on many levels, my mom protects. me from a lot of the insanity because she didn't allow me to see my father very often because she didn't want me to be exposed to many of the things that unfortunately I was still exposed to things that children never should have seen. But she did her very best and she did a darn good job of keeping me away from a lot of the insanity. Okay, here's a really random question. Did you ever meet Mama Cass, Elliot Cass? Oh, of course. Yes, I have many memories of Mama Cass, wonderful memories of

Mama Cass. You know, her daughter Owen is a very, very, very good friend of mine. I consider her a family member, like a sister to me. And she used to throw these, you know, extravagant birthday parties for Owen at their beautiful home up in the Mahalan Canyon. And I remember her walking around. She'd broken her leg or her Achilles heel had snapped. Something horrible had happened to her leg. And I just remember her walking around the house. I mean, she was quite a force. and she had this huge cast on and she would be, she was on crutches and I just remember her joking about it and making jokes about the fact that she'd hurt her leg. Did she call it? Remember, I was only, you know, five, six, seven years old. My memories of her.

Did she call the cast, Mama cast? I was, I knew you were going to say something like that. Because it's a really easy, stupid joke. Like, you worked for Z-Pack and that sounds like the Z-Pack, you know, antibiotic, which we all have to take from time. Well, it's so funny just because you did grow up in that world and your mother. My wife always talks about how your mother was one of the most beautiful women out there. I mean, it really is Hollywood. But when people grow up in that, they don't quite see it that way. That was just your life.

It is obvious that your mother protected you from a lot of that looniness. When did you, how old were you when you had this conversion experience? Right. So it all started when I stole a chocolate milk off the cafeteria cart. at the Redeemer Baptist school that I went to because I had no other choice because I was being bullied at the public school. So I begged my mother to get me out of that school because they were literally pulling my ponytail,

pushing me against the wall, throwing my books onto the ground. And I was like, Mom, I can't take this anymore. You have to get me out of here. She said, the only school in the area is this church school up the street. And I know you probably don't want to go there. And I said, please send me there. Please, I'm begging you.

So she sent me there. She was like, you know, they're going to talk about God. and they're going to talk about the devil and they're going to talk about 666. I was like, I don't care. Take me there. So I went to the school and about a week into it, I stole a chocolate milk off the cart, right? So the next day, these girls come up to me and I'm like, oh, it's the cafeteria girls, you know. I knew that I'd been caught.

And they said, China, why did you steal that chocolate milk off the cart yesterday? And I said, because I didn't have 25 cents. Do you want 25 cents? Here's 25 cents. And they're like, no, no, no, we don't want your money, but we're wondering if you'd be interested in accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Come on. And I was like, all right, whatever I have to do. Like, look at what I've gotten myself into.

Now I have to accept Jesus. You should have just paid him the 25 cents. It would have saved you a lot of trouble. Oh, man. So off I went down to the girls' bathroom, and they had the, you know, they had the salvation card in their hands. and they were like, just hold this card and read the words on the back of the card. Wait, how old were you? How old were you at this point?

12. You were 12 years old. Now, hang on. This is, in showbiz, this is what we call a cliffhanger. We're not going to let you tell the rest of the story until we come back. Seriously, this is, I love this. I mean, I didn't know this. Have you written about this in a book?

No. No? Well, I think you should because people need to know where you're coming from and how you got there. folks I'm talking to China Phillips when we come back I'm going to ask China the big question you're all wondering who names their kid China what's up with that in all seriousness why do you say it like that China that was because I'm trying to make fun of I'm trying to make fun of you I'm teasing you it's my love language folks we're going to be back with China Phillips Baldwin it's the air contact show don't go away Hey there folks how many years have I been telling you about relief factor what like four the truth is I know there are millions of people in fact Some say over 100 million people struggling with some kind of pain, maybe from exercise, just getting older.

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slash Eric. Let me say it again. Squadpod.com slash Eric. Check it out. But when that change comes Hey folks, welcome back. Remember that cliffhanger? Yes, we're now going to get the rest of the story. I'm talking to China Phillips Baldwin or China Phillips or whatever. She's the daughter of John and Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Pappas' great dynasty. You didn't say that.

I didn't say that. I didn't mention the Mamas and the Pappas. I'm calling you out because your lady said that you didn't say it. And you said you did. Yeah. And that lady is my friend, Albin Seder. He, he's a man. That's no lady.

That's my wife. That's no lady. That's Albin, my producer. Yeah, the mama's and the papa, as I should have said, that obviously, we were talking about Mama Cass and your parents. Okay, so you were telling this story of at age 12, you stole some chocolate milk, and these girls, now these girls were trained very well. They used this opportunity to suck you into the Christian faith.

I think this is pretty cool. So they take you and they say, let's pray. And you went along with it. Why did you go along with it? Did you know that this was a good thing? Well, I mean, I owed them a quarter. I felt really bad that I'd stole. I didn't feel that bad, but I realized like, okay, you're at a Christian school.

I realized like, wow, these people are serious. Like, you don't steal. You don't say bad words. I was really struck by how clean and prim and proper all these people were. And I just, that wasn't my environment. That wasn't how I grew up. So I just figured I owed him one. Yeah, you owed them one.

So what happened? Yeah. So where did they take you? So they took me to the girls' bathroom and it wasn't awkward at all. I had six girls surrounding me in a circle. I was in the center and I've got this card. And they told me to read the card out loud. So I read, I started reading the words.

Of course, I wasn't expecting anything to happen. at all. And I started reading the words out loud. And as I started reading the words, this holy scan started to happen. It started from my head all the way down my face, down my chest, down my arms, down my stomach, down my abdomen area, down my, well, the stomach is the abdomen, down my hips, down my legs, all the way to my feet. What did it feel like? it was a cleansing that was taking place. This is called the baptism in the Holy Spirit. That's what that was.

You realized that. But I mean, that's stunning because a lot of people pray stuff and they believe it, but nothing happens. Sometimes stuff happens, not always, but you were really particularly blessed, the idea that that happened to you, that you could feel God's presence. It was fascinating to me that I literally went into it thinking I was doing them a favor and that I was. just going to say the words and get it over with. Like that was my intention. And then I'm saying the words and as I'm saying the words, the Holy Spirit is convicting me that what I'm saying is truth. And as it's the holy scan is happening and I'm feeling the holy fire of God go through my body, I'm becoming paralyzed. I can't speak. I finish saying the last sentence on the

card and I can't move or speak. And the girls look at me and they're like, are you okay? And I'm going like this, nodding my head. No words will come out. I'm literally paralyzed by the Holy Spirit, cannot speak. And they all start laughing at me and they leave the bathroom. And I'm left in the bathroom holding this card by myself. Makes me want to cry. In the presence of God, And I am surrounded by the Holy Spirit, and I knew in that moment that Jesus was God. And I knew that my whole life had been completely and radically transformed. And I knew that I had suddenly become a child of the eternal God. And so, but the problem was, and here's the real catch, the problem was that I had to go home to

unbelievers. I had to go home to, you know, there were no Bibles in my home. I was never raised. I mean, maybe when we went to church once a year. And I remember my mom had gifted me a Bible when I was about 10 on an Easter Sunday. I didn't know where that Bible was. I didn't, I, I, you know, God bless my mother, but, you know, there was a lot of pot smoking and alcohol being, you know, alcohol in the house. And so I had no support system. I had nothing to help me. and support me with this holy walk that I wanted to be on. I was at this Christian school, and there was Bible study, but to be honest, I didn't run to the principal's office and say, I've just found Jesus and somebody has to help me.

Did you tell your mother? No. You didn't tell your mother, because you thought it would be, her reaction would not be great? Yeah, I just thought that she would think like, oh, maybe I should take her out of this. school, you know, what's happening here. This is bizarre. This is weird. So you knew this was a good thing. You knew that this was real.

Oh, I knew. And I also, I had had a housekeeper named Rosa Garcia. And I speak fluent Spanish because of her. She did not speak a word of English. And she didn't have to because my mom speaks fluent Spanish because she was raised in Mexico City. It's a long story. But my grandmother died when my mom was only five years old when she lost her mother.

So my father, my grandfather raised my mom in New York, in Mexico City, because he was in the Navy, and that's where he was positioned. So anyway, she learned how to speak Spanish fluently because she went to school, Spanish schools. And then I was raised by a Spanish housekeeper that didn't speak a word of English. So I speak it fluently. But long story short, she was a Catholic. And she always had Jesus candles lit and like, you know, she had crucifixes, from her bed and whenever I was sick, she would splash holy water on me and, you know, she would

pray over me. But I, that was my only introduction to Jesus, was my housekeeper Rosa Garcia. And God bless her soul. So when I did this, when I read this card, of course, there was a little part of me that thought, okay, you know, I'll give this Jesus person a chance, I guess, but I literally, that was it. That was the extent of it. I guess I'll give this. Jesus person a chance because I'd seen Rosa pray over me and I'd seen her but nothing had ever. I'd never had an experience, a spiritual experience during those years. But I will tell you that I went on to do drugs. I went on to be promiscuous.

I went on to, you know, get straight Ds in school. So when this happened, you were 12 and did, at what point did you? you start drifting away. In other words, this is an experience that was obviously real. This was God. There's no question. But there's no discipleship. My story is a little bit like this in the sense that if there's no discipleship, if there's no plugging in anywhere, you just sort of begin to drift as though it didn't happen. I didn't sort of drift. I like went far deep into the open water. Like I literally don't know how I'm alive today. I was dating somebody who was dealing drugs. I Anybody I know?

You know? Uh-huh? Anybody I know? No? Probably. And I was, you know, I was, I mean, I share about this on my YouTube channel, you know, I was like also, I don't even know if it's appropriate to say this. You can cut it out if you want to. But, you know, I was like experimenting with same-sex stuff and, you know, it was going to be a start.

Actually, no. But listen, I mean, people have to understand that. this is what people do in the world. If you don't know the truth and if you don't have people around you helping you to do the right thing, this is what people do. We sin. Sinners sin. And so when we now, so how long did this go on? When did you come back to Jesus? At what point did that happen? Okay. So tomorrow. Basically, what happened was, obviously, I met Billy, I married Billy. I got clean and sober when I was 19.

But I was just, then I started getting into new agey stuff, you know? Then I started getting into Buddha. Now, people might be asking, well, if you knew Jesus Christ was Lord, why would you do that? Why would you even go there? The truth of the matter was that I felt like, well, why would God have let all of these horrible things happen to me if God, if Jesus was real? why would he have allowed all of these horrible things to happen to me? So I just assumed that that experience was like a one-off and that God had abandoned me and that that and that Jesus wasn't mine wasn't for me.

But in my heart of hearts, I knew deep down that Jesus was Lord, but I was deceived. I was just completely deceived and I fell into the new age thing because all my friends were doing it. All my friends were going to like the Buddhist centers and following like Parma Hansa Yoganand and going to their self-realization center, and they were all going to the Bodie Tree on Melrose and, you know, this bookstore that was really popular and everything there was all about, like, the sacred walk and, like, you know, Sid Hartha.

I mean, all of that stuff. So I'm really... We're going to be more boring than a Herman Hess novel. Oh, we're going to go to a break. Oh, man. This is like, this is a Hollywood. You fell into the world of Hollywood cliche, but that's okay, because God obviously pulled you out.

When we come back, we'll hear the rest of the story, and we'll tell you how to spell China. Actually, it's C-H-Y-N-A, and I do want to talk to you about your name and all kinds of other fun stuff. Folks, we're talking to China Phillips Baldwin from Long Island. And I'm Eric Metaxus. We'll be right back. Hey, folks, you certainly heard me talk about my pillow and how their products have literally changed my life. Now, have you tried the pillow?

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There you'll find not only this amazing offer, but also deep discounts on all My Pillar products. including the Giza Dream Bedsheets, the My Pillow mattress topper, and My Pillow Towel Sets. Folks, you know I use these products and they're fantastic. Call 800-978-3057 and use promo code Eric or call 800-978-3057. Use the promo code Eric. Hey, folks, welcome back. I'm talking to China Phillips Baldwin. My name's Eric Metaxus.

This is my show. China, I want to talk to you about everything. So let's just go back to where we were. So you, you know, did not continue walking with Jesus. I think it's really important for you to tell the story. I'm glad you told the story because that's kind of my story. And I think a lot of people have that kind of a story. And a lot of us are told it's supposed to happen this way.

And it doesn't. God's ways are not our ways. We don't understand why he would allow us to drift off or why. These things are mysteries. And we have to be comfortable and saying these things are mysteries. We can't know everything. So, but at what point? point did you, when were you married? What year were you married? I was married in 1995.

So in the middle, in the middle of the Wilson Phillips stuff? Yeah, a little after. A little after. And I do realize now why God allowed me to drift. I do realize, I do realize now that he gave me a much more compassionate heart and I'm able to identify with so many different people now on so many different levels that if I hadn't had those experiences, I never would have had that type of compassion and understanding of what other people have walked through. So I really do believe that that's why God allowed that to happen to me. I was going to say, when you go through that kind of stuff, it does give you compassion for people on the other side. You realize that's me, apart from the grace of the Lord. And that's my story as well. I don't want to end up being a Pharisee like Stephen Baldwin.

Just kidding. I love Stephen so much. I could see. I love teasing Stephen, and that's why he doesn't come on my show anymore. Okay, so what gave you the... Good thing. I have a sense of humor. Yes. Yes, it's a good thing. Let me ask you, how did you get the idea to start Wilson Phillips? Like, what was the beginning of that?

I mean, did you want a career in show business? Did you want a career in acting? How did it end up that you did that? Yeah, I never envisioned myself ever as a singer, song, that just was not in the cards for me. I didn't think it was in the cards for me. The cards, that's a really bad thing to say on a Christian show. That's really, really dark.

I can't believe you'd bring the occult onto my program. Please continue. Anyway, yeah, I never had any intention on becoming a singer or a songwriter. I always wanted to be an actress. I just wanted to follow on my mom's footsteps because after moms and poppas, she went off on to do Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Nott's Landing. you know, she was an actress, and that's just always something I wanted to do. So as soon as I graduated from high school, because my mom wouldn't let me do anything professionally

except for a little bit of modeling here and there. I got an agent, and I make it sound so easy. I got an agent, but my mom kind of had it lined up for me, you know, I'm not going to lie. Because the guy, this guy was like, when trying to graduate to high school, will you let me be her agent? And so that was cool. That worked out. And I started auditioning for things.

And I started booking movies and movies of the week. And I did Caddyshack Part 2. And I did some really interesting movies of the week. I did one with Jason Bateman. And I did called Moving Target. I did one called the Roxanne Pulitzer Story, which Pulitzer Story, which was about this woman in Florida who married this young lady who married this super uber rich man and it just consumed her whole life and it's a it's a great little movie of the

week you guys no no i'm familiar with the story the tragic story of roxanne pullitzer um so so you're doing acting and then suddenly how okay how does wilson phillips happen i do the acting thing and then this guy calls me out of the blue and he says you know um i don't even know this person And I don't know how he got my number. But he said, I'm doing kind of a, we are the world of celebrity children. And I was wondering if you would be interested in being a part of it. And I said, what do you mean we are the world of celebrity children? And he said, well, I've written this song and I'll send it to you.

And if you like it, I was thinking about getting all the celebrity kids like, you know, Duisle Zappa, Moon Zappa, you know, China canter. and doing like a, you know, a celebrity song, a children's celebrity song. You know what this sounds like before you go on? This sounds like the ultimate Hollywood idea. Now, if I was making a movie, making fun of Hollywood, I would come up with this idea in the movie. It's like, how can we get all these kids? And we'll just get a couple.

And then once you get one or two, you get the others. You say, we've got so-and-so. We've got Moon Unit. Are you in? That kind of thing. And Moon Unit was in, apparently. So I was like, wow, this really sucks. It sounds like a whole lot of like it.

But what other, but what I'm dying to know who else was, was part of this? I mean, did you get, you know, what other kids were involved? I think the Nelson brothers, you know, Willie, not Will. Ricky Nelson had some kids. Okay. Yeah. It was literally like he had a bunch of people on board. And I thought to myself, okay, well, it sounds really bad, but, you know, I had nothing

else going on, really. I was just doing these TV movies and I thought maybe I'll call Carney and Wendy because, you know, obviously their father's Brian. That's what this guy, this guy was banking on that. You're going to tap your celebrity friends. He's like, I'm not going to call up Carney. She's going to do it. China's going to do it. You watch and she did. Hold on a second. Yeah, no choking on my program. We don't have that kind of insurance. It went down the wrong pipe and I spit at the same time. Yes, yes. By the way, drinking on camera is very, very low class. I just want to say. We've never, Albin, have we ever had that on this program before?

These celebrity types, they think they can do anything. Perrier is low class? No, just drinking on the year, drinking beverages on the air. It's unbelievable. We'll edit all this out, but the coughing I want to keep in. At least I'm using a straw. I usually don't even use a straw. That's very big of you. Oh, shoot. China, we're out of time in this segment. Hang on. Folks, I know you're dying to hear the rest of the story. So am I. Don't go away.

We'll be right back. This is the Eric Mataxis show. I'm playing the role of Eric Metaxis and playing the role of my guest, China Phillips Baldwin. We actually got China Phillips Baldwin. China. You're in the middle of telling a crazy story.

So you decide you're going to do this thing. We are the world for celebrity. It's like Jaws in outer space. It's like a Hollywood pitch. And you did it. And so who else did it? Well, no, I kind of knew it was never going to come to fruition. I kind of had an idea that this guy had a pie in the sky idea that most people were going to think was terrible.

Do you remember who this guy was? No, I have no recollection. So then I can tell you. I have no recollection. I was that guy. You don't remember me. You don't remember me because I shaved. Okay.

Go ahead. Oh, my gosh. So I called Carney and Wendy, and I said, I haven't spoken to you guys in so long because literally we hadn't seen each other in maybe five or six years. Okay. Now, tell my audience in case people, and not everybody was there in the 90s to remember this. So you are the famous daughter of the Mamas and the Pappas, the Phillips's. Who were Carney and Wendy for my audience in case they're not tracking? Carney and Wendy Wilson are the daughters of the legendary genius, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.

So I call up Carney and Wendy and I said, hey guys, you know, I know this sounds really random, but this guy called me and I explained the story to them. And they said, we're in. We want to do this. So I thought, okay, so maybe this is meant to be. So Carney says, well, we haven't sung together in so long because we used to sing together as kids. She said, why don't you come over this weekend and let's just like sing. So I said, fantastic.

So I got in my car. I went over there that weekend and we started singing together. And the minute we sat down on, oh, excuse me, I'm choking again, on Wendy's rug and in her bedroom and started harmonizing. Now, I didn't know anything about harmony because I know I should have. I feel dumb saying that, but I really didn't know how to harmonize. So I just took the center of, you know, I just took the... We call it the melody. The non-professionals.

Yeah, the non-professionals called the melody. I don't know what the professional term would be. So I took the melody. I just took the, what's the actual word? Forget it. Anyway, I took the center and they took a... Wendy went above and Carney sang the low part. and we started harmonizing together.

And it was absolute, I hate to use the word magic, but it was. So Carney sang bass, Wendy sang, tenor. I think that's what you're trying to tell us. Yes. And you well, something like that. But so it worked is what you're saying is like you just decided let's do it and it worked. Now, why do you even believe that you had to break it up into three parts? I mean, you know, not you didn't have to, did you?

Well, yeah, because Carney is obsessed with harmony. and she wouldn't have had it any other way. You know what? I just remembered something. Her father is Brian Wilson. Is Brian Wilson? Kind of obsessed with harmony. God, that's so cool.

What year was this? What year was this? We are talking, oh, wow, now you're really making me think. It was 1987. Wow. I wasn't even born then. Okay, so let's keep going. So we start singing together.

Carney's mother walks in the room and she says, what is that sound? And we said, oh, you know, we're just singing together. We might do this. We are the world thing. And she's like that sound. She said, you guys need to form a group. You need to form a group.

So about two weeks later, I said to my mother, mom, you've got to help us. We've decided we're going to form a group. And she was like, oh, that's cute. That's adorable. I was like, no, no, no, mom, I'm serious. It's not cute and adorable. I really want to form a group. I want to form a group with Carney and Wendy.

and she said, well, why don't you call Richard Perry? And I said, Richard Perry, and I knew who he was. I said, well, okay. And so I made a phone call to Richard Perry. Richard Perry was the producer of the Pointer Sisters and other legendary groups. And he had a studio on Melrose. And so I called up Richard and I said, hey, listen, me, Carney and Wendy are thinking about, you know, forming a group. Would you be interested in hearing us?

And he was like, oh, he's. get a really cool funny voice he's like oh yeah i mean that sounds fantastic could you come this week so uh yeah we came okay we went to his house and we had he said perhaps something prepared for me so we go there and we stand in front of him and we sing dare my wife in three-part harmony that's it now if i'm being honest it was four-part harmony the reason it was four-part harmony the reason it was four part harmony was because Owen Elliot Coogel

was singing with us that day. She was she is Cass Elliott's daughter. Originally she was in the group with us. And just to make the story, you know, a lot shorter, it didn't work out. She

didn't end up being in the group. But when we auditioned for Richard Perry, it was the four of us. Anyways, when We sang, dare my wild hug. He said, that's it? That's all you have for me? And we said, that's it.

He fell over backward, laughing in his chair. And he said, meet me at the studio next week. Let's record some songs. So we ended up recording some pointer sister throwaway songs that were in the trash can that they weren't going to record. This went on for about two years. We developed a sound. And long story short, the, I keep saying that.

It's a long story. it shorter. I'm so sorry. It's totally fine. Most of us are not familiar with this story. I'm fascinated to hear how these things happen. It's crazy. So the demo got into the hands of a man at a record company. His name was Artie Mobile. And he was at SBK Records, which was a brand new spanking record company run by Charles Copleman. He was the CEO with Mark. Oh, my gosh, I'm spacing on his name. Anyways. Engels. But a guy named Marty. Marty Ingalls.

No, just kidding. That's Shirley Jones' husband. We'll call him Marty Ingalls. Yeah. So I was excited to hear that the record company CEO, Charles Coppomen, was very excited about what he was hearing. And during this time, Richard Perry had hooked. us up with a very talented songwriter named Glenn Ballard. Glenn Ballard wrote Man in the Mirror for Michael Jackson. Glenn Ballard wrote all the Alanis Morissette hits. Alonis came after

Wilson Phillips, but I'm just trying to give you guys some idea, perspective of his songwriting ability. I mean, this guy is a genius. And so he said, I really believe you guys would write some great music together. Now, Carney and Wendy and I had already written Release Me, which ended up being one of our hits on our debut album. So you guys aren't just pretty faces and voices. You actually are writing the music. We're going to go to another break. Forgive me.

We'll be right back talking to China Phillips. Fulgwin. Folks, today I'm talking to China Phillips. It's insane. Have you heard her story? You know who she is? I hope you're enjoying it. I hope you share all of these videos and podcasts with your friends.

We're on YouTube. This is in YouTube. It's on YouTube, rather. I assume it's up on YouTube right now. And we want you to share it. please share everything we do, subscribe to our YouTube channel. And speaking at China Phillips, she's in the film that we're promoting. It's called Church People at SalemNow.com.

SalemNow.com. Use the code Eric. And Mike Lindell is one of the producers of the film. Of course, he appears in the film. It was filmed before he did the scene in the bulldozer in the other film, Unplanned. By the way, I just met the star of Unplanned in Dallas the other day. unbelievable. Ashley can't think of a last name, wonderful actress. But this film is called church people. And it's funny. Tons of our friends are in it. China Phillips, her husband,

Billy Baldwin, her brother-in-law, Stephen Baldwin, our friend, who plays kind of a creepy character. And Stephen is kind of creepy in that way, isn't he? He certainly can be. But the film, it's kind of a perfect film for anybody who's big into church. And Easter is here. So go to Salem now.com. Check out church people use the code Eric. You get a big discount. And don't forget this Friday, folks, this Friday 7 p.m. Eastern, a live event at sight and sound theaters. This is, sight and sound theaters, what they do is insane. It is huge, huge theater. You can watch it live on Easter. I'm sorry, on Good Friday, which is this Friday, we recommend you do. It's an original

stage production. It's called Jesus. us. It is a live streaming event. Now, if you can't catch it live at 7 p.m. this Friday, they will have some encore presentations throughout Easter weekend. But of course, we recommend if you can see it live. There's nothing like watching something live. It's the greatest rescue story of all time. And it is broadcast from the site and sound stage in Branson. It is a huge production. It's this weekend only, only, only. So you can watch with your smart TV or digital device with the app. But go to site dash sound.com. sound.com. And actually, before we go, Albin, we should mention we've raised a lot of money for food for the poor. There are only a couple of days left, folks. This is your opportunity. Go to our website, metaxisotalkis.com. Not my personal website, not ericmetaxis.com. That's where you go to sign up for my newsletter and other things, Ericmetaxis.com. But for food for the poor, you want to go to metaxis talk.com. This program and you, the listeners, and viewers have raised enough money or have given enough money generously to feed 1,500 kids in Honduras

for six months. This is a staggering thing. I'm in awe of your generosity. I want to say thank you. Now, maybe you heard this. There's an exchange at President Biden's news conference last week. Listen to this. I just got back from a reporting trip to the border where I met nine-year-old Joseph.

who walked here from Honduras by himself along with another little boy. He had that owner on him. How old was he? He's nine. I also met a 10-year-old. It's because of earthquakes, floods. It's because of lack of food. Well, yes.

So the fake president, Vice President Biden, even he acknowledges why kids are coming to our border. We need to feed them in Honduras. They're there now. We really do need your help. $37 feeds a kid for six months. We need you to go to Metaxistock.com. Click on the banner. We've just got a couple of days left, folks. So now is the chance to participate in this. We're way behind what we did last year. I don't know why. So if you're inclined, we need everybody to participate. I'll give you the phone number, 844-8663 Hope. If you prefer to call, 844-863 Hope, if you don't prefer to call, it's still 844-863 Hope. 844-8663 Hope. We do need your help. And we thank you. God bless you.