Illustration by john bricker
“You Get What You Give” easily makes the short-lived ’90s rock band New Radicals the best one-hit wonder of all time.
On Sept. 25, music nerds rushed to their Twitter accounts to celebrate One-Hit Wonder Day by raving about their favorite artists and bands known for only one song.
A more technical definition of a one-hit wonder would limit the discussion in America to groups who only broke the U.S. Billboard Top 40 once.
Even limiting the discussion with technicalities leaves a lot of promising contenders from all decades of modern pop music.
Old school pop tunes like Frankie Ford’s “Sea Cruise” face off against modern classics like Gotye and Kimbra’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” in this battle for the best pop sensation, while ’80s hits like A-ha’s “Take on Me” compete with ’70s rockers like Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit In The Sky.”
All of these songs are unique, but “You Get What You Give” truly stands out with its glorious piano-rock sound and uplifting hooks.
New Radicals took the world by storm in 1998 with their only smash hit, only a year after forming the band.
Frontman Gregg Alexander had tried to start a solo career with his flop debut album “Intoxifornication” in 1992, which put his boyish, snotty and obnoxious voice at center stage.
Although Alexander’s voice never launched him into solo pop stardom, his performance on New Radicals’ hit single is perfectly suited to deliver the band’s underdog attitude and uplifting message.
Over a driving mix of smooth guitars and pianos, Alexander pours his heart out with relentlessly addictive melodies, channeling the charm of singers like Elvis Costello with a healthy dose of ’90s flare singers like Alanis Morissette.
The song stretches on for five minutes, but New Radicals make that time fly by with constantly evolving song structure and beautiful production.
Details like the opening spacey noise, ominous whispers over one of the track’s several bridges or short guitar lines carrying the track from verse to verse keep the song interesting, even in its more conventional moments.
Luckily, Alexander’s songwriting and singing make those moments rare, relentlessly delivering surprising falsettos and harmonies to elevate the tracks irresistible hooks.
In most pop songs, a hook is easily set aside from the rest of the song as its shining moment.
But in “You Get What You Give”, it is nearly impossible to find any few seconds that won’t get stuck in your head.
Although New Radicals are now known as a one-hit wonder, “You Get What You Give” is not their only great song.
The band’s 1998 debut album, “You Might Be Brainwashed Too” is filled with clever and catchy rock songs, like the ballad “Someday We’ll Know” or the surprisingly atmospheric and dynamic “I Hope I Didn’t Just Give Away The Ending.”
The album’s diverse soundscapes can easily appeal to fans of Radiohead’s early albums, while its often tongue-in-cheek skepticism might speak to fans of pop punk bands like Fall Out Boy or My Chemical Romance.
Unfortunately, New Radicals’ debut would also be its swan song.
The band broke up in 1999, possibly because its big hit seemed too hard to follow up.
Even if New Radicals couldn’t face the new millennium, “You Get What You Give” has stood the test of time and feels just as fresh and inspiring as it must have when it was released more than 20 years ago.
If you are looking for some great rock music, give New Radicals a shot, because the band deserves to be remembered as more than just a one-hit wonder.