Gregg Alexander

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Gregg Alexander
Also known as	Alex Ander
Born	May 4, 1970 (1970-05-04) (age 38)
Origin	Grosse Pointe, Michigan, U.S.
Genre(s)	Alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, producer, musician
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar, keyboards
Years active	1989–present
Label(s)	A&M, Epic, MCA, EMI, Warner-Chappell
Associated acts	New Radicals Danielle Brisebois

Gregg Alexander (born 4 May 1970) is an American singer/songwriter and producer, best known as the front man of the New Radicals, who scored the international hit "You Get What You Give" in late 1998.

[edit] Biography

This section does not cite any references or sources. (December 2006) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

[edit] Early life and career

Gregg Alexander was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. His father, Tony, was a plumber and his mother, Sharon, one of Jehovah's Witnesses. He also had a brother, Stephen, and a sister, Caroline. Alexander quickly developed into a multi-talented musician after receiving his first guitar at the age of 12. By the age of 16 he signed his first recording contract with A&M. He worked on his debut album with producer Rick Nowels for over two years. However, the 1989 release, originally entitled Save Me From Myself, was renamed Michigan Rain at the last minute. This, teamed with bad marketing, led to the album being almost completely forgotten.

Three years later, at the age of 22, Alexander tried again, signing to Epic in 1992 and releasing his second album Intoxifornication. Unfortunately, the album came about amidst a corporate reshuffling and therefore, like the first, did not receive the attention it might have deserved.^{[citation needed]} After two failed attempts, Alexander all but gave up on his dream of becoming a singer and settled into writing songs for other artists such as Belinda Carlisle, Melanie Williams and The Bangles, spending his royalty checks travelling around Europe and America. During this time Alexander would often busk in Tompkins Square Park and Central Park and slowly noticed his songs taking on a life-force of their own.

[edit] New Radicals

Main article: New Radicals

In 1997, spurred on by the new-found attention for his music, Alexander signed a deal with MCA records. He formed the New Radicals, a band with a revolving-door policy and no permanent members other than Alexander and Danielle Brisebois. In 1998, they released Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too. It went on to become a minor success in the late nineties mainly due to the smash hit single, "You Get What You Give".

It was not long before Alexander became tired of the constant media attention and exhaustive touring schedule. In July of 1999, "Someday We'll Know" was announced as the band's second single. However, several days later Alexander announced he was disbanding the New Radicals to focus on production work. He said that "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". After a big fight with MCA Alexander finally agreed to shoot a video for "Someday We'll Know" but with the band now defunct, the song got little attention and the New Radicals were forever confined to the one-hit wonder hall of fame.

[edit] Post New Radicals

Since disbanding the group in summer 1999, Alexander has written and produced songs for artists including Ronan Keating, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Enrique Iglesias, Hanson, Geri Halliwell, Melanie C, and fellow ex-New Radical Danielle Brisebois. Most noteworthy was the song The Game Of Love by Santana and Michelle Branch, which earned a Grammy in 2003.

All Music Guide's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described him as "the catchiest, smartest professional mainstream pop songwriter of the early 2000s."^[1]

In 2003 a new Alexander track, "A Love Like That", was released uncredited on the Internet. It was suspected to be a New Radicals outtake^{[citation needed]}, as parts of the lyrics were found in the booklet for Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too.

A new song entitled "Why Can't We Make Things Work" written by Alexander (and Rick Nowels) was released by Any Dream Will Do winner Lee Mead in November 2007, on his self-titled album.

[edit] Aliases

• Gregg Alexander wrote and produced The Game Of Love by Santana and Michelle Branch as well as four songs on Enrique Iglesias' album 7 under the pseudonym Alex Ander.
• He is also believed to be, along with Rick Nowels, The Party People, who produced Justin Guarini's song "Inner Child", which is a rewritten version of "Inner Smile", the song Alexander and Nowels co-wrote for Texas.
• It is often said but unconfirmed that his real name is Greg Aiuto, and thus Gregg Alexander itself is an alias.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Discography

For Gregg Alexander's releases with the New Radicals, see New Radicals' discography

[edit] Albums

• Michigan Rain (1989)
• Intoxifornication (1992)

[edit] Singles

• "In the Neighborhood" (1989)
• "Smokin' In Bed" (1992)
• "The Truth" (1992)

[edit] Others

• "Promise Tomorrow Tonight" (1994, duet with Danielle Brisebois on her album Arrive All Over You)
• "A Love Like That" (2003, digital download)

[edit] List of songs

Songs written or co-written and (unless noted otherwise) also produced by Gregg Alexander.

[edit] References

1. ^ Reason Review. All Music Guide. Retrieved on October 19, 2006.
2. ^ Produced by Damian leGassick
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Produced by Danielle Brisebois
4. ^ Produced by Hanson
5. ^ ^{a b c} produced by Michael Szumowski
6. ^ produced by David Logeman
7. ^ ^{a b c} not produced by Gregg Alexander
8. ^ produced by Beth Ravin
9. ^ Produced by The Party People
10. ^ Produced by Guy Chambers
11. ^ Produced by Billy Steinberg and Eric Gooden
12. ^ Produced by Jim Lee