New Radicals – Gregg Alexander
Introduction
In 1998 New Radicals released a fantastic album: Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too. With You Get What You Give that album contained a worldwide hit. The story of a one-hit-wonder?
New Radicals
New Radicals (officially Иew Radicals) was founded in 1997 in Los Angeles, a band consisting of Gregg Alexander (vocals, guitar and composer/writer) and Danielle Brisebois (keyboards, percussion and background vocals), supplemented with friends.
By 1998 the band was offered a deal with MCA Records. A sum of $600,000 was made available to record their debut album. New Radicals went into the studio and used a long list of friends, musicians to reach the end result. Gregg Alexander: “Most of that record was me pulling favors with studios or musicians that had played on earlier records and were like, ‘Oh, Gregg’s down on his luck—let’s go play on his demo for the hell of it, we’ll have a good laugh, have a couple of beers and maybe smoke a jay or whatever.'”
New Radicals – Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too
Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too
The exact release date of the New Radicals debut album isn’t exactly clear. Both October 16 and 20 are mentioned. Since October 16, 1998, was a a Friday, a day for many releases, I went with that date.
Anyway, the debut album by New Radicals, Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too, was a success amongst reviewers and the audience. Within a year the album reached the platinum status in the US. The real success started on November 3, 1998, when the single You Get What You Give was released. A catchy anthem that turned into a global hit.
The music on Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too was compared to Chumbawamba, Hanson, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Smashing Pumpkins, Todd Rundgren, Style Council, Prince, Hall & Oates, Bob Dylan and Meat Loaf. An impressive list of names, indicating that New Radicals’ music wasn’t easily labeled.
The album’s lyrics dealt with drugs and sex, but just as often with corruption, greed, the bankruptcy of the American social security system and lack of (adequate) education.
But the band was the most confronted with You Get What You Give‘s “Fashion shoots with Beck and Hanson / Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson / You’re all fakes, run to your mansions / Come around, we’ll kick your ass in”. Nothing greater than a celebrity clash. In 1999 Gregg Alexander said in an MTV interview “I don’t have a strong view on any of the artists mentioned in the song. There’s this whole hysteria and curiosity over peripheral stupidity instead of focusing on real issues. 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.”
N.B.:
The drums on the title song stem from a sample of XTC’s All Of A Sudden. XTC received £70,000 compensation for the unlicensed use.
Review
I bought the album on the strength of the formidable single You Get What You Give. The rest of the album was a very pleasant surprise. “Make my nipples hard, let’s go” Danielle Brisebois states even before a single note has been played, immediately followed by the funky Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough, a great song, which, by the end, turns into reggae before ending as a rock song. A perfect opener, followed by the fantastic first single You Get What You Give, an addictive, exciting and uplifting song that still sounds amazing today.
Lyrics like “He started drinking coffee / Too much sugar on the go / He fell dead on the floor / He thought the coke was Sweet’n’Low” provides a reality check, which is continued in I Don’t Wanna Die Anymore. The album is four songs in and it’s all equally great.
The title song stands out as well. The lyrics are barely audible, placed on an interesting musical theme, deviating from everything that came before. The closing Crying Like A Church On Monday sounds like a rock classic, yet still sounds like New Radicals. The high level isn’t continued on the entire album, but 7 of the 12 songs in total, are very good to superb. Not bad for a debut album.
But the album does contain one thing that never disappoints, which is the truly amazing production. Everything sounds absolutely great. It’s no wonder that it was stated that Gregg Alexander had created a 1990s version of a Phil Spector production with Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too. Talk about compliments.
In short: an interesting album by a band that could have brought so much more, except for the fact that the band would cease to exist within a year.
New Radicals – Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too – Singles
Singles
Two singles were culled from the album.
- You Get What You Give
(released on November 3, 1998) - Someday We’ll Know
(released on May 3, 1999)
Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough was planned to be the third single, but ultimately wasn’t released after the disbanding of New Radicals.
Songs
All songs written by Gregg Alexander, unless stated otherwise.
- Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough
- You Get What You Give (Gregg Alexander, Rick Nowels)
- I Hope I Didn’t Just Give Away The Ending
- I Don’t Wanna Die Anymore
- Jehovah Made This Whole Joint For You
- Someday We’ll Know (Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Debra Holland)
- Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too
- In Need Of A Miracle
- Gotta Stay High
- Technicolor Lover
- Flowers
- Crying Like A Church On Monday
The Japanese pressing contained To Think I Thought as a bonus song.
New Radicals – Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too – CD
Musicians
- Gregg Alexander – vocals, guitar, synthesizer on Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too, drums and bass on Technicolor Lover
- Rusty Anderson – guitar, except on Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too
- Danielle Brisebois – piano on I Don’t Wanna Die Anymore, background vocals on Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough, I Don’t Wanna Die Anymore, Jehovah Made This Whole Joint For You, Someday We’ll Know, Gotta Stay High
- John Pierce – bass on Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough, You Get What You Give, Someday We’ll Know, In Need Of A Miracle, Gotta Stay High
- Paul Gordon – piano on Jehovah Made This Whole Joint For You, Someday We’ll Know, Gotta Stay High, Flowers, Crying Like A Church On Monday
- Paul Bushnell – bass on I Hope I Didn’t Just Give Away The Ending, I Don’t Wanna Die Anymore, Jehovah Made This Whole Joint For You
- Matt Laug – drums on In Need Of A Miracle, Flowers, Crying Like A Church On Monday
- Josh Freese – drums on Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough, I Hope I Didn’t Just Give Away The Ending
- Juliet Prater – percussion on You Get What You Give, I Hope I Didn’t Just Give Away The Ending
- Rick Nowels (named Richard Knowels) – piano on You Get What You Give, I Hope I Didn’t Just Give Away The Ending
- Stuart Johnson – drums on I Don’t Wanna Die Anymore, Jehovah Made This Whole Joint For You
- Tal Bergman – drums on Someday We’ll Know, Gotta Stay High
- Greg Phillinganes – piano on Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough
- Gary Fergusson – drums on You Get What You Give
- Richie Podler – percussion on I Don’t Wanna Die Anymore
- Phil Parlapiano – organ on I Don’t Wanna Die Anymore
- Paolo Degregorio – synthesizer and guitar on Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too
- Mitch Kaplan – piano on In Need Of A Miracle
- Alessandro Alessandroni – strings on Flowers
- Lance Morrison – bass on Flowers
- Michael James – guitar on Crying Like A Church On Monday
- Dan Rothchild – bass on Crying Like A Church On Monday
New Radicals – Live
After Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too
Late 1998 New Radicals went out on tour, including many promotional stints on radio and television. Mid-May 1999 performances were cancelled, including a tour outside of the US. Reports appeared that the band was collapsing, rumors that were denied by MCA Records. Illness was the cause. Meanwhile the band filmed a video for their second single, Someday We’ll Know.
But on July 12, 1999, Gregg Alexander announced that New Radicals “will no longer be a recording, promoting, or performing entity … 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”. He had had enough of the rockstar life: “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”. Exit New Radicals.
After New Radicals
Gregg Alexander focused on producing. The first assignment was the Portable Life album by former colleague Danielle Brisebois. That album wouldn’t see the light of day before the year 2008 (!), almost 10 years after first recording it. Behind the scenes, Alexander cooperated on successes of artists like Ronan Keating, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Enrique Iglesias, Santana and Michelle Branch.
In 2003 the song A Love Like That was released on PickTheHits.com. The song didn’t contain any information about its performer, but it was clear this was Gregg Alexander.
New Radicals – Biden inauguration 2021
Biden inauguration
Gregg Alxander and Danielle Brisebois reunited New Radicals for one time only on January 20, 2021. They played You Get What You Give at the inauguration of US President Joe Biden. The song had been used during the campaign and had a personal connection for Biden. It was the favorite song of his late son Beau.
In closing
It’s a shame that You Get What You Give is labeled a one-hit-wonder and You’ve Been Brainwashed Too a one-album-wonder. The premature disbanding of the band sealed that fate. Given the quality of the debut album, the band would certainly have been able to create many more great things.
What’s your opinion? Let me know!
Video/Spotify
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: New Radicals – Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too. The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated as well.
