It always amazes me when bands release an incredible first single, and then nothing after that… Such is the case with the New Radicals. In 1998, they released their debut single ‘You Get What You Give’ from their first and only album ‘Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too’. The song peaked at number 36 on the Hot 100 charts and number eight on the Modern Rock charts.
The song was meant to be a political statement, but most of the focus of the media was on the celebrity-bashing lyrics from the song:
“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 ass in.”
According to Wikipedia, “When the band canceled their appearance at the Atlanta open-air music festival RockFest, as well as their UK tour (scheduled to start on May 17, 1999), rumors started they would break up, while MCA Records claimed an unspecified member of the band being ill was the cause for the canceled shows. The New Radicals went on to shoot the video for their second single “Someday We’ll Know”; however, less than two weeks before its release, Gregg Alexander issued a press release on July 12, announcing the breakup of the group. Alexander said that the New Radicals “will no longer be a recording, promoting, or performing entity” and that he would focus on producing and writing material for other artists.
He went on to say that he “accomplished all of [his] goals with this record” and that “the fatigue of traveling & 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 [him]”, that he “lost interest in fronting a ‘One Hit Wonder’ to the point that [he] was wearing a hat while performing so that people wouldn’t see [his] lack of enthusiasm” and that he would go on to form a production company to focus on producing and writing songs freelance for other artists.”
Well, all we know is we liked the song when it came out, and always wondered what happened to the band. Well, now we know.
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