Back in 1998, New Radicals scored a worldwide hit with “You Get What You Give,” While
the band may have formed just a year prior to the album’s release and, broken up a
year after the they got big, they are a classic example of a one-hit wonder. Yet, they’ve
still proven influential, even in recent times. Let’s talk about the history New Radicals.
The main catalyst for the New Radicals was frontman Gregg Alexander, who was born Gregg
Aiuto in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, an eastern suburb close o Detroit. Growing up in at one
point a conservative Jehovah’s Witness household, Alexander had what he’d consider a “low-grade
dysfunctional” family. Alexander would tell Spin his parents changed religions one a monthly
basis. Due to his proximity to Motown, the genre played a significant part in his childhood,
and he and his mother would drive around the metro Detroit area listening to local artists
on AM radio. Besides the Motown sound, rock and roll also
played a part in Alexander’s musical exposure. Using the family piano, he’d attempt to
learn songs, namely “Band on the Run” by Paul McCartney and Wings, and “Cathy’s
Clown” by the Everly Brothers. By his own admission, he’d eventually gravitated toward
and I quote “instinctually writing [his] own melodies because [he] couldn’t learn
other people’s”, and began composing original songs with his sister Caroline. Once he reached
his early teens, he’d take up guitar and drums, and that’s when his pursuit of music
turned serious. He’d join his older brother, Steven Aiuto, alongside fellow classmates
George Snow and John Mabarak in a high school outfit called The Circus, who’d go on to
perform in the 1984 Battle of the Bands. But as Alexander told the Hollywood Reporter
in 2014, the songs of Prince would lead him to an epiphany, and he’d experience it by
sneaking into a showing of the movie Purple Rain while underage.
“The game-changer for me was seeing Prince in Purple Rain at 13 or 14.”
“‘Let’s Go Crazy’ knocked me over my head, but then when I heard ‘The Beautiful
Ones’ it was all over. At that point I knew I was gonna be running away to California,”
he’d say. Alexander had initially visited his aunt in
Los Angeles, where he’d observed, and I quote, “that post-’60s spirit that was
still alive in the mid-’80s.” He’d find his surroundings easy to make the most of,
visiting the open-mic scene and even sneaking into a Grammy Award ceremony, making note
of all the artists present that he looked up to. But by age 16, over the summer, he’d
sought to leave Detroit and reside in California permanently, recalling,
“I said to my parents, ‘I’m running away to California to be a rock star.’ My
mom knew I was serious, but my dad said, ‘Well, make sure you’re back home in September
for school if it hasn’t come together.” Making his way back to Los Angeles, Alexander
was eventually able to live between Compton, Studio City and North Hollywood, in large
part due to what he felt was certain generosity among the African Americans there, saying,
“It was the black community that really took me in.” “Thank God for that, or else
I would have been sleeping on the streets”. Alexander also carried a bunch of demo tapes
with him that he’d accumulated from studio sessions back home, and would frequently shop
them around Sunset Boulevard. This effort would pay off tremendously for him, as he’d
eventually play those demos for producer Rick Nowels, who, in turn, led him to record executive
Jimmy Iovine. Iovine, for his part, had a production deal with A&M Records, and was
willing to offer Alexander a recording deal with the label, but not before he turned 18.
In the meantime, Iovine provided Alexander with an allowance, and the aspiring singer-songwriter
would spend the next two years focusing exclusively on songwriting, particularly through bus rides
and spending time on the beach. Following through on his word, Iovine signed
Alexander to A&M Records. When it came time for Alexander to name his debut album, he’d
initially proposed its title be Save Me From Myself, but he’d change it just before the
release, feeling that the original title would be in poor taste. Alexander would comment
on the change, telling Pollstar in 1998, “The cover was me standing on a bridge with a broken
mirror on my wrist and it was before the suicide chic thing.” In 1989, his debut album would
be released with the name Michigan Rain, and led by the single “In the Neighborhood.”
Despite the album’s warm reception, and becoming a minor hit overseas, its release
coincided with major label Polygram buying out A&M for a hefty sum, as much as half a
billion dollars, and as a result, he’d soon be dropped from the label.
Alexander’s momentum remained strong, though, and he actually managed to score another major
label deal with Epic Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment, by the early
90s. His follow-up album, Intoxifornication, saw him taking on the role of co-producer
alongside Rick Nowels, and although the album recycled several tracks from Michigan Rain,
it also featured updated versions of the first album’s titular track as well as “Save
Me From Myself”. Intoxifornication would see release on May 5th, 1992. The album had
a punchy power pop aesthetic, and bolstered music videos for lead single “Smokin’
In Bed” and its b-side, “The Truth,” but it garnered lukewarm reception, especially
amid the commercial peak of grunge. Though an alternative rock artist, Alexander would
recall feeling indifferent to the grunge scene at the time, saying, “I refused to sound
like that because it wasn’t me. I couldn’t fake that. I had to follow my heart creatively.”
Despite the album’s lack of success, Alexander continued working with former child actor
Danielle Brisebois, who performed backing vocals on the album, helping produce her debut
solo album, Arrive All Over You, which she released in 1994. Prior to her music career,
Brisebois was best known for portraying the character Stephanie Mills on the sitcom All
In the Family, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her reprisal of the role in
its spinoff series, Archie Bunker’s Place. But even though her profile as an actress
would continue to rise into the late 80s, she retired, and aimed to branch out into
music. Meanwhile, Alexander spent the next few years
busking, traveling across Europe on a limited budget, while also demoing new songs. Among
them was a recording of the song “You Get What You Give.” By 1997, as luck would have
it, a friend went ahead to take his demo over to Michael Rosenblatt, the A&R man responsible
for launching Madonna’s career. From there, Alexander signed a deal with MCA Records,
and this would be his third major deal,. He’d reflect on his decision to go forward with
a third signing, telling Pollstar, "I started getting a second wind in terms
of thinking I could use rock ‘n' roll for a purpose other than self-aggrandizement or
celebrity or all that kind of bullshit,” later adding, “Once I thought I could make
a statement about where society is at the end of the millennium, then I started becoming
a bit more motivated about putting my songs out there."
Brisebois would join Alexander as backing vocalist, keyboardist, and percussionist,
writing songs with him for their new project called The New Radicals. The project was unique
in that it had a revolving door policy, where no member in the band was permanent. Among
those members were Ednaswap guitarist Rusty Anderson as well as various session musicians,
including the late Paul Gordon, Josh Freese, and the producer on Alexander’s previous
two albums, Rick Nowels. The New Radicals’ debut album, Maybe You’ve
Been Brainwashed, Too, would be released on October 16th, 1998. The album took aim at
consumerism, celebrity culture and the public’s apathy towards serious issues.
When interviewed by Much Music, Alexander discussed how the title’s meaning was pertinent
to his situation growing up revealing “Where I’m from is a place called Grosse
Pointe. My father was a plumber, and we were like the dark horses of the neighborhood [around]
a lot of real snobby people. It gave me a perspective at a young age that there’s
this idealization of the upper class. He later added,
“Unless you run a bank or own a car dealership, you can’t afford to feed your family. That’s
the kind of situation we’re in right now.” The song “You Get What You Give” would
be the album’s second track, and would steadily gain traction. Alexander was taken aback by
its success, recalling to The Hollywood Reporter, “I was on Sunset Blvd. walking down the
street shortly after the record came out, and I heard the song blasting out of someone’s
car.” “My immediate instinct was, ‘Oh, my God,
someone stole my demo tape!’ I was really serious, too. And then I heard it coming from
another car like a minute later and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, how did all these people
get my demo tape?!” Once the song was released as a single on
November 3rd, it went on to reach number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. Eventually, it peaked
at number one on the US Adult Alternative Songs Chart, Canada’s Top Singles Chart,
and the New Zealand Chart, as well as charted highly throughout much of Europe. In less
than a year, The New Radicals toured the world, the album would be certified platinum, and
the music video for “You Get What You Give” would also be a huge hit. Helping push the
song into the stratosphere was MTV’s Total Request Live having it air alongside groups
like Korn and Limp Bizkit. . He would tell billboard in 1998 the meaning behind the song
saying ‘it’s mostly remembering to flying high and be completely off your head in a
world where we can’t control all the elements. You have to maintain balance, because you
only get what you give. ’
For Alexxander he came up with the song as a writing exercise drawing from his own experience.
The line: “Four A.M., we ran a miracle mile” references his time living around L.A.’s
Miracle Mile area and revels inwhile; “We’re flat broke but hey we do it in style” drew
inspiration from the time he couch surfed around LA after he lost one of his recording
contracts as a solo artist. However the part of the song that garnered the most attention
was the final part which name checks celebrities including Courtney Love Marilyn Manson and
Hanson. In reality name checking the popular celebrities of the day had nothing to do with
a personal beef he had with them, but rather an experiment Alexander wanted to undertake
with the song. The earlier part of the song identified what Alexander thought were real
issues "Health insurance rip-off lying/ FDA big bankers buying/ Fake computer crashes
dining/ Cloning while they're multiplying. He would tell Billboard
. “I was a little bummed out that it focused on this absurd celebrity bash of people — I
had no issues with them — versus something that I thought was challenging the powers
that be, in a pop song that got on pop radio all over the world while telling MTV in a
separate interview how the song was misunderstood saying "There's this whole hysteria and curiosity
over peripheral stupidity instead of focusing on real issues," Alexander continued. "And
a lot of people I talked to asked me about those real things, while a lot of rock media
tried to turn it into a cat fight." As the song and the band’s debut record
began to find an audience, big names in the music industry also took notice and showered
Alexander with praise. Joni Mitchell called You Get What You Give as and i quote“the
only song I have liked in a long time” and referred to him as “my kind of punky white
boy”; Alexander would also get the opportunity to meet a several of his musical idols including
George Michael and Prince who sang his praises. Alexander soon became jaded with the music
business telling BIllboard “My life was irrevocably changing, and was no longer going
to be about music every day, but about a lot of the insanity that comes with the star machinery.”)
It was following the success of the album’s first single that the label having already
shot a video for the next single, “Someday We’ll Know,” was about to release the
single. But in July of 1999 Alexander pulled the plug on the band. The announcement caught
his label by surprise who according to billboard magazine were even exploring suing him, but
eventually came to a settlement agreement. Someday We’ll Know would get a . a second
life, separately covered by Hall & Oates and Mandy Moore. For Alexander he was tired of
the celebrity culture and lifestyle,, writing in a statement,
"It was an experience playing the artist, but I accomplished all of my goals with this
record, and I'm ready to move on and make the next step in my career,” adding, "I'm
going to be turning 30 next year and realize that the fatigue of traveling and getting
three hours sleep in a different hotel every night to do boring 'hanging and schmoozing'
with radio and retail people is definitely not for me." He would add he wanted to be
more like producer mutt lange than a rockstar. Years later he would tell Billboard looking
backc “I’d seen inside the dream factory as a visitor. I got the visitor pass, if you
know what I mean,” he continues. “When it actually started happening for real, and
I wanted to talk about injustice and politics and meaningful things, there was no support
system. I had no one backing me up. I was young and disillusioned and saw quite a bit
of the writing on the wall about consolidation of radio cable companies, big business.”
He would compare fame to being trapped in the hotel california adding . There was a
part of me that felt like it was going to fucking destroy me. I saw one chance to run
out of the Hotel California, and I think I realized [that the only way to do that] was
to burn that motherfucker to the ground.”f
It was following the disillusion of New Radiccals that Alexander would continue working with
Danielle Brisebois, producing her follow-up album, Portable Life, which featured members
of The New Radicals as her backing band. Although the album was scheduled for release on October
16th, 1999, it was shelved until September 30th, 2008, when it was finally released as
a digital download. In the 2000s, Alexander moved to London, at
one point crashing with the band the Darkness. Despite leaving new radicals in his past the
music industry soon came calling inclduing major record executives like clive davis pushing
him to write more music which led him to writing with and for other artists. He would use the
pseudonym Alex Ander when it came to songwriting credits and wrote hits for other artists that
would prove popular across Europe, including two chart-topping UK singles, “Murder On
the Dancefloor” for Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and “Life Is A Rollercoaster” for Ronan
Keating. But his biggest hit of his career would be the 2002 Santana song ‘the game
of love, which was originally demoed by macy gray. Despite another hit Alexnader still
felt a little disillusioned with the industry and sold his publishing, while keeping his
masters. As for who he worked with, he would tell billboard his benchmark was pretty low
- anybody who would call him enough times. It was following the sale of his catalog that
Alexander soon started getting into charity work working with various non govrernmental
organizations who deal with poverty in sub-saharan africa.
By 2010, he was contacted by writer and director John Carney to compose music for a film he
was working on called Begin Again, in which a down-on-his-luck record executive teams
up with an aspiring singer/songwriter who was dumped by her collaborator and longtime
boyfriend, and the two revive their spirits by recording an album together throughout
various parts of New York City. Alexander would recall being inspired by the script,
noting, “It gave me the impetus to walk away from my break. I was all guns blazing.
I started writing songs immediately.” The definitive song to lead the movie’s
16-song soundtrack would be “Lost Stars,” which he’d written in 2012 with Brisebois,
alongside a few other witers. Alexander discussed his methodical approach to writing the song:
“The goal was for each lyric and sentiment to be a story and a thought unto itself, but
also to the greater mystery of life, which is that we are all just coming and going in
this life. We are just a lost star. We are a spark on the horizon.”
By his own admission, Alexander felt deeply affected by his composition, adding,
“The song was probably the saddest song that I’ve ever written in my life, to the
point where I had to morph the melodies and the chords to try to make it uplifting.”
Once he’d sent the song to John Carney, he knew he had a hit on his hands:
“I got back the most beautiful email saying that he had been crying on his keyboard. That
was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had as a collaborator,” he’d say.
The movie would be released theatrically with the title Begin Again on June 27th, 2014,
grossing $65.7 million against an $8 million budget, and the song “Lost Stars” would
go on to win a Hollywood Music In Media Award for Best Original Song in a Feature Film.
At the time Alexander was interviewed for the Hollywood Reporter in 2014, it was his
first in-depth interview in 15 years, and since he’d kept a somewhat anonymous profile,
it was uncertain as to what he’d get involved in down the line. But surprisingly, on January
20th, 2021, came out of retirement. It would take a massive world moment for them to come
back and it was…..Joe Biden’s inauguration. Ok well anyways they came out of retirement.
Only the biggest moment in history would get The New Radicals to reunite and that would
happen in 2021 at ……..Joe Biden’s inauguration? Really? Ok, so the New Radicals reunited for
his inauguration with Alexander telling telling Rolling Stone,
“[A] friend whose team made the ‘get out the vote’ videos asked me, ‘Gregg, the
song has such personal meaning both to the Biden and Harris families (it’s also Kamala
Harris’ husband’s “walk-out” tune). If they asked, would you consider performing
the song as New Radicals at the Inauguration?” It sounded so far-fetched I half-joked “Only
if you play guitar!” But a month later, I received an official request, so I said,
‘Let’s do it!’” He'd also discuss the song’s importance
in the 2020s as another catalyst for their reunion, saying,
“In my iPhone intro piece for the Inauguration performance – for the TV viewers who may
have no idea who I am – I jest about the fact I’m the guy on Rolling Stone’s Greatest
One Album Wonder list ….along with the Sex Pistols, Lauryn Hill and Jeff Buckley. You
have to laugh about this stuff.” “But a presidential inauguration is vastly
different from other potential reunions particularly when our democracy’s at stake. Or when you
learn that One in four Americans under 25 has thought of suicide in the last month.
So you hope if someone hears you singing, “If you feel your tree is breaking … just
bend” on TV, you might give them the tiniest reminder to hang on in the face of the negativity
we unfortunately can’t escape online or in the news every day.”
Biden himself would remark on the influence of the song on his son, Beau, who passed away
from brain cancer in 2015, writing in his 2017 autobiography, Promise Me, Dad,
"During breakfast, Beau would often make me listen to what I thought was his theme song,
'You Get What You Give' by the New Radicals." "Even though Beau never stopped fighting and
his will to live was stronger than most — I think he knew that this day might come. The
words to the song are: 'This whole damn world can fall apart. You'll be OK, follow your
heart,'” he’d say Something to note in The New Radicals’ performance,
besides Alexander wearing the same hat he’d worn in the original music video, is his omission
of the song’s bridge, which included a name drop of musicians who had garnered notoriety,
as well as a timely allusion to corporate greed. While it’s believed that this was
done as penance for the slight controversy the single received during its original release,
Alexander would clarify his intention, “I actually had no beef with the artists
I mentioned in the rap in the song. My main issue was with the corrupt bankers, FDA and
health insurance types which was, in retrospect, a sadly prescient lyric. But in the late nineties,
no one wanted artists metaphorically “spoiling the party” with such political lyrics during
the CD boom!” Writing that “health insurance rip off lying
FDA” rap when I got to the part of trying to rhyme the words “mansion” and “ass-in”
only words like Hanson, who are very talented by the way, were among the options I had at
the time! But for the inauguration and only four minutes to play, I couldn’t get to
the rap part anyway,” he’d say. When asked whether The New Radicals’ reunion
would be a one-off, or if the band were open to doing more down the line, Alexander responded,
“I have unreleased albums with many songs – maybe as good as my best. So when I can
just figure out how to clone myself and send that person into the world for me to live
that crazy life, maybe I can still be a contender!?” “But seriously, regarding the future, I
often have a rabbit or two up my sleeve. And looking back, I’m very grateful that music’s
been a passport to a life I’d never imagined at 16, when I just stopped trying at school
so I could save my energy to run home to my bedroom ramshackle studio to make off-the-wall
demos.” “I’d play them for classmates without
saying it was me so I could discover their favorites ones and why; that elusive search
for the songs that make people happy, sad or better yet both at the same time.”
“I’ve probably written a thousand songs, sleepwalked into a dozen Euro hits, or my
‘Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too’ album’s little cult of public or critical
acclaim. But if only one thing from my life had to be my “ambassador” to the world,
I’d be a fool to choose anything but “You Get What You Give.” I’m pretty sure it
will outlive me.” He would reveal he’s written seven to ten albums worth of material
since maybe you’ve been brainwashed too but hasn’t released them.
That does it for today’s episode of Rock N’ Roll True Stories, guys; thanks for watching.
Be sure to hit the like button and subscribe, and I’ll see you in the next video. Take
care.