Biography, Gregg Alexander

The third time was the charm for the perpetually fisherman-hatted Gregg Alexander, who released two largely ignored albums ('Michigan Rain' on A&M, and 'Intoxifornication' on Epic), before striking gold (literally) with his third full-length musical effort, 'Maybe you've been brainwashed too', under the moniker New Radicals. 'You Get What You Give', the infectious first single from the Radicals' MCA debut, was--along with Fastball's powerpopper 'The Way'--the most pleasant and refreshing surprise to hit modern rock radio in 1998, with a vintage-sounding production and glossy chorus reminiscent of such hitmakers of yore as Todd Rundgren and hll & Oates. And there's plenty more accomplished pop where that came from.

The Grosse Pointe, Michigan-born Alexander got his first guitar and formed his first band when he was a mere 12 years old, and spent his formative teen years hanging out in the punk and house music clubs of nearby Detroit; by age 15, he was recording his own songs on a four-track, handling all the instrumentation himself (a recording style he obviously decided to stick with, since '..Brainwashed' is basically all Alexander). Alexander later enjoyed a nomadic lifestyle in Europe, New York City and, finally, Los Angeles, where attempts to impress record executives with impromptu a cappella auditions failed miserably, at least at first--he eventually convinced three major labels (A&M, Epic and MCA) to take a chance on him. He also convinced such recording artists as former Go-Go Belinda Carlisle, Big Bad Mama II and ex-All In The Family child star Danielle Brisebois to record his songs on their own albums (Brisebois, whom Alexander describes as his "kindred spirit," plays piano and sings backup on 'Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too' as well).

Although 'You Get What You Give' has elicited tongue-in-cheek (hopefully) death threats from one Marilyn Manson due to the lines, "Fashion mag shoots/ With the aid of eight Dust Brothers, Beck, Hanson/Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson/ You're all fakes/ Run to your mansions/ Come around/ We'll kick your ass in," that kind of publicity--along with Alexander's own rambling rants on politics, conspiracy theories, corporate corruption and youth revolution--has only helped the song become a massive crossover smash. Other standout cuts on '..Brainwashed' include the poignant ballads 'I Don't Wanna Die Anymore' and 'Crying Like A Church On Monday', the sassy blue-eyed soul-rocker 'I Hope I Didn't Just Give Away The Ending', and 'Jehovah Made This Whole Joint For You', the latter obviously inspired by his mother's conversion to the Jehovah's Witness faith.

~ Lyndsey Parker ~

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