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New Radicals Biography |
The New Radicals are a punk band that are the brain child of the fervent dreams and passions of Michigan born Gregg Alexander. Here was a man who sang eclectically, and lived life with a deep embodiment of anger and frustration. When these emotions were coupled with a knowledge and love for popular music that transcended even some in the industry, the New Radicals were born.
Before the New Radicals introduced themselves to the world, a young Grosse Point, Michigan native known as Gregg Alexander had a dream. And that was to succeed in the music industry at any cost. Rattling back and forth between expulsion and giftedness, Gregg found himself in and out of trouble with school and his parents. At the age of 15 he would spend his nights in punk rock clubs, and his days pounding out his own recordings on a four-track with a piano, drums, guitars, and vocals. It did not take long for him to realize he needed to take his dreams farther than Grosse Point, and that he did. Gregg piled together some snow shoveling money and left Grosse Point to pursue his vision in Los Angeles.
When he was in Los Angeles, Gregg stopped at nothing to achieve his goals. Living the traditional musician’s life of crashing on friends floors would give him the strength he needed during the day to hound the record labels. When the conventional approach did not get him far, he would choose labels randomly and barge past the secretaries only to jump on the desks of the big wigs and show them his acappella. This punk’s spunk landed him a record deal, but the label was sold the same month the album Intoxifornication (1992) was released, and as a result, a big tank for the record.
This led Alexander on a world wide journey of life, living the way most musicians do, and scuttling back and forth between London, L.A., and New York he slowly started building a team of people that eventually became known as the New Radicals. With Alexander’s drive being fueled by the stress of poverty, the band was eventually signed on the MCA Records label in 1998. With this contract came a $600,000 advance for what would become their only album – Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too. The New Radicals became a major rock contender literally overnight and they described experiences such as performances at Thompson Square Park as fanatical. Their album was also well honored by music critics. These critics raved on the modern rock influences of the New Radicals, comparing the group to musical icons such as Hall & Oates, World Party, and Todd Rundgren. Critics also found the funk influences very appealing, and likened the punk funk sound of the New Radicals to works of Mick Jagger and Prince.
The album however was a slightly more positive outlook on life than Alexander suffered during his early musician days, and even then only marginally. There were critics in abundance that slammed the groups societal grumblings and continuous sexual and drug related references. Others however found Alexander’s criticisms on the world at large a refreshing switch of honesty about the world we live in, and so obviously did the fans. As it was this very uninhibited truth of the world that the fans used to catapault the New Radicals to stardom literally overnight. Soon enough, Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too hit #10 on UK Album Charts, and #41 on Billboard 200 in the United States. It was in their home country where the album also reached platinum, the level of over 1,000,000 records sold. In the United Kingdom, Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too, quickly achieved the certified gold status of over 100,000 sold.
1998 saw for The New Radicals the standard protocols and procedures that come with being famous rock stars. An American tour began a string of festivals and performances, Tonight Show appearances, All That at Nickelodeon, and performing at the House of Blues in Chicago on New Year’s Eve. They were also supported by the Goo Goo Dolls for a tour as openers in 1999.
Their first and most popular single released in 1999, “You Get What You Give” and instantly filled the #36 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, and #5 in the UK. You Get What You Give hit the radio airwaves hard as well as MTV. The song and in turn, the band, was best known for it’s celebrity dogging verse coupling Beck and Hanson, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson – digging them running to their mansions. As they say in show biz, any publicity is good publicity, and the rave on the verse choices launched them into superstardom and mass media frenzies.
Alexander shot back to the media stating these lines were a test to see if the societal media would begin to focus on the true issues or would they latch on to the ridicule of celebrities. Not only did Alexander not excuse the lyrics or the rampantly criticized material on the album, but he used his appearances and interviews as platforms to discuss the greed and corruptness of corporate America and political campaigns. At the time, Alexander became a true pioneer to others in the business that celebrity status can be used as launching pads for freedom of expression both on and off the stage.
It was around this time that The New Radicals began canceling appearances such as Rock Fest in Atlanta, and their entire United Kingdom tour. Rumors started circulating, but their label MCA Records sent an official statement to the effect that a band member (unspecified, but specifically NOT Alexander) was ill. The video for Someday We’ll Know was shot at the same time this song was announced as the next single. Just when fans began feeling a sense of relief over the band’s breakup, Alexander sent out a press note on July 12, 1999 officially declaring the demise of The New Radicals. Reasons stated were that the goal of the record had been established, the fatigue of the road was getting to them, and that the One Hit Wonder status of The New Radicals was getting tiresome for everyone. Because the breakup of the band coincided with the release of their second single, “Someday We’ll Know” never achieved the kind of notoriety that “You Get What you Give” did.
While Alexander did not elaborate on individual plans for the group as a whole, he did indicate that production and writing would be a strong focus for him. And this is just what he did. Since The New Radicals, Alexander has started his own production company and worked with the likes of Rod Stewart, INXS, Carly Hennessy, Santana and Michelle Branch, Hall & Oates, and Enrique Iglesias to name a few.
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