Flashback Friday: New Radicals ‘You Get What You Give’

Mother's Day Weekend is here and so is this week's B101.7 Flashback Friday Spotlight. Digging around for something for the occasion. What would be a good flashback song, yet fits the theme?

The answer: New Radicals "You Get What You Give." I'm sure you are wondering, why and what is wrong with you? My thoughtful response- it sounds like something mom would say. That's it. Thanks, and have a nice day.

Haha! Seriously, as I shuffled through songs and saw that title and thought it looked like a mom phrase. I can hear it, 'now Gregory, remember you get what you give.' I reply, 'yes, mother.'  The song has a theme of not giving up,  shooting for the stars.  That is exactly the positive pep talks mom would give you as a kid.  See, it does fit as a good mom song this week.

What makes this feature strong is the 'oh wow' factor, the one-hit wonders we forget about. So, when you hear one of them, you end up saying, 'oh wow.' This song is one of them.

"You Get What You Give" became an international hit for New Radicals in 1998.  Since then, it has been used in a bunch of TV shows, movies and commercials.

A check on Wikipedia and list of where the song has been used is pretty long.  Take a look:

The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Surf's Up, and Click."   It also has been featured in trailers for the films Big Daddy, The Muppets and Bubble Boy. Notably, the song - edited to remove the reference to Mercedes-Benz - was the theme for an advertising campaign used in Australia and New Zealand for Mitsubishi Motors, leading to a re-pressing of Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too with the sticker "Featuring the song from the Mitsubishi ad." It is also the theme song used by Dr. Dean Edell and Dennis Miller on their radio shows, and has been used in promotional spots for PBS. Movistar used the song in the Latin American media in its advertising campaigns as a jingle. The song was featured in one episode of MTV animated series Daria as well as an episode of JAG.

The song was performed by the cast of Glee in the third season finale "Goodbye", their performance was included on The Graduation Album soundtrack.

Watch the video below.

New Radicals "You Get What You Give"

Listen to B101.7 Friday at 5pm for the Flashback Friday Spotlight with Greg Thomas. Get more flashbacks with the B101.7 Saturday Night Party (8pm-1am) with Louie Linguini.