You've Got the Music In You
New Radicals - when bucket hats ruled the day.
You remember 1998, don’t you? Those were the halcyon days of the music business. The artists were pretty diverse, as we all detoxed from grunge, the tunes were still good, albeit with a tinge of Brit-pop like Oasis, Blur, hell, even Chumbawamba; and guys like Billy Corgan were figuring out where to go next. This brings us to the New Radicals, a sonic bouillabaisse that was the brainchild of Gregg Alexander and child star Danielle Brisbois (of All in the Family and Archie Bunker’s Place fame).
Of course you remember New Radicals; for my money, they had the most infectious song of 1998 “You Get What You Give.”
Alexander’s two failed solo albums Michigan Rain (1989) for A&M Records and Intoxifornication (1992) for Epic, and Brisbois’ Arrive All Over You (1994) for Epic Records, helped shape New Radicals and led to them being signed to MCA Records for a reported $600,000.
But then, to be fair, in the mid-90s, someone flatulating into a bullhorn probably might’ve gone platinum - just ask Gibby Haynes.
Alexander and Brisbois’ previous experience would allow them to craft a unique sound with New Radicals. Through a modern lens, it may sound dated, but no more than some of the legendary work by The Rolling Stones, Todd Rundgren and Hall and Oates. Which is to say, it may capture a moment in time, but the record still manages to sound refreshing.
The New Radicals only released one album, Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too, which charted in every country in the Western world, peaking at #10 in the UK, and selling two million copies in the US alone.
Strikingly, for as much radio play as “You Get What You Give” had here in the US, it was the bucket hat wearing countries where it charted best. In fact, as ubiquitous as the song was in that winter of 1998, it barely cracked the top 40 here in America, peaking at number 36 on the Billboard Top 40 (although it did better on the Alternative chart, peaking at #8). The song did make it to the top 20 in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the UK, peaking at number 1 in Canada and New Zealand.
By all reasonable measure, the song, and album, were successful.
Now, to call the video interesting for “You Get What You Give” would be undermining its intelligence (note the inside out Mickey Mouse t-shirt worn by Alexander). We’ve got a mall, a dog adoption event, Yuppies (those were still a thing), a furry (or someone in a bunny suit, at the very least), troublesome teens/young adults, Vespa’s, rock and roll wreaking havoc, and of course, class struggle.
While some may have felt the overall album a little vapid, like The Village Voice's resident high-brow critic Robert Christgau, praised the songwriting and lyrics, which he called "lovable" despite their "paucity of meaning" (although he gave the album an A-). In Consequence of Sound, critic Justin Gerber commented that the album "made Gregg Alexander the 90's answer to Phil Spector, without the bad rap of murdering people" - thank God for that. In a mixed review from NME, Kitty Empire felt that the album is occasionally interesting but then "freefalls like a shot duck" (how’s that for a metaphor?)
I would have to agree more with Entertainment Weekly's Tom Sinclair who called the album "filler-free" and praised the album's positive messages (also giving it an A-).
To wit, the lyrics in “You Get What You Give" - the songs contagious hooks and boisterous melody are paired with the optimism in the lyrics:
But when the night is falling
You cannot find the light (light)
You feel your dreams are dying
Hold tight
You've got the music in you
Don't let go
You've got the music in you
One dance left
This world is gonna pull through
Don't give up
You've got a reason to live
Can't forget
We only get what we give
But they belie the songs brainpower:
The bad rich
God’s flying in for your trial
And then the sing-songy wrap up:
Health insurance, rip off lying
FDA, big bankers buying
Fake computer crashes dining
Cloning while they're multiplying
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 asses
Everyone likes to zero in on the celebrity shout-outs, but what’s far more interesting are the lyrics that precede it. In light of the recent Microsoft debacle, one could substitute “fake computer crashes dinning” to “fake computer crashes flying.” According to Alexander, those lyrics were meant to be an experiment to see if the media would focus on the real issues, or on the celebrity ridicule. Guess how that ended up.
Amid the stresses of touring and promotion for the album, Alexander pulled the plug on New Radicals right before the release of a second single, “Someday We’ll Know.” As a result, the single faired poorly and failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100, although it did manage to reach the Adult Top 40.
In the United Kingdom, “Someday We’ll Know” managed to enter the singles chart, where it peaked at number 48 and spent only two weeks in the top 100.
In the years following New Radicals' breakup, Alexander worked with numerous artists, with his most successful song as a producer/songwriter being the 2003 Grammy Award-winning "The Game of Love" by Santana and Michelle Branch.
Brisebois has written and produced numerous songs for various other artists including co-writing Natasha Bedingfield's Top 10 hits "Unwritten" and "Pocketful of Sunshine." In November 2008 she reunited with Alexander, former New Radicals guitarist Rusty Anderson, and producer Rick Nowels as The Not So Silent Majority. She sang lead vocals on their song "Obama Rock", supporting the election of Barack Obama. She also co-wrote songs for the feature film Begin Again (2013), including "Lost Stars", which was nominated for Best Original Song at the 2015 Academy Awards
In 2021, New Radicals reunited for a one-off performance at the Joe Biden inauguration. Turns out, President Biden in his in his autobiography, Promise Me, Dad said that "You Get What You Give" was his family's "rallying 'theme song'" during his late son Beau Biden's terminal battle with glioblastoma.
Still one of my most favourite albums of the 90s. I go back to it on a regular basis, and yes, 'filler-free'.
The morning of my 60th birthday, my youngest put this song on as loud as it could go. Then he grabbed me and we danced and sang throughout the house. He was determined that the pandemic was not going to ruin my day. 🥰