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Gregg Alexander




Gregg Alexander (born 4 May 1970 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan , USA ) is best known as the Producer / Singer / Songwriter behind the New Radicals , who scored the international hit " You Get What You Give " in late 1998.

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


BIOGRAPHY


Early life and career

Gregg Alexander was born on 4 May 1970 in Grosse Pointe , Michigan . His father, Tony, was a plumber and his mother, Sharon, a Jehovah's Witness . 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 and the popularity of Grunge at the time 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 deserved. 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.


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 one of the biggest albums of the late Nineties mainly due to the celebrity-slamming, smash hit single, " You Get What You Give ".

It wasn't 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.


Post New Radicals

The popularity of the New Radicals had led to Alexander being seen by the industry as an extremely talented songwriter/producer. It was not long before a stream of artists were lining up to work with him. He has since written and produced for Geri Halliwell , Ronan Keating , Sophie Ellis-Bextor , Santana , Hanson and many others.

When Alexander broke up the New Radicals, he left behind a large fanbase who despite the lack of career output remain dedicated to this day. 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, as parts of the lyrics were found in the booklet for ''Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too''. In any case, the track only served to increase the fans' desperation for a new album. The fanbase continue to follow Alexander in the hope he may one day decide to return to the spotlight.

As Of June 2005 he recently worked with The Hollies , The Noise Next Door , Dave Wakeling (from The Beat ), Kennedy and once again with Ronan Keating on songs for their next albums.


Musical signatures


Harmonically, Gregg Alexander's productions are often distinguished by a prominent use of '''" as he sings the words "fly high". This figure appears in numerous hits he has crafted for others since, such as Santana and Michelle Branch's "Game of Love" and Justin Guarini's "Inner Child".


DISCOGRAPHY

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



Albums



Singles


Alexander also appeared on Danielle Brisebois ' 1994 album '' Arrive All Over You '' to sing co-lead on the song "Promise Tomorrow Tonight".


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 rumoured that his real name is Gregg Aiuto, and thus Gregg Alexander itself is an alias.



LIST OF SONGS

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



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