THE GOO GOO DOLLS

Formed: 1985, Buffalo, New York

Members: Mike Malinin, drums (born Washington, D.C., 10 October 1967); John Rzeznik, guitar, vocals (born Buffalo, New York, 5 December 1965); Robby Takac, bass, vocals (born Buffalo, New York, 30 September 1964). Former member: George Tutuska, drums (born Buffalo, New York).

Genre: Rock

Best-selling album since 1990: Dizzy Up the Girl (1998)

Hit songs since 1990: "Name," "Iris," "Slide"

The three-piece Goo Goo Dolls made a seamless transition from raucous postpunk rockers in the 1980s to Top 40 pop rockers in the 1990s. In just fifteen years the arc of their career encompassed regional popularity with crowds of drunken head bangers to national exposure on the children's television show Sesame Street in 2000.

The Sex Maggots was the first name that guitarist/singer/songwriter John Rzeznik, bassist Robby Takac, and drummer George Tutuska chose for their band. Soon after, these natives of Buffalo, New York, traded that name for one they discovered while paging through an issue of True Detective magazine: the Goo Goo Dolls. They quickly gained local fame as a good-time alternative rock band with intense chops and a sense of humor. One of their goals was to emulate the success and style of their favorite group, the popular postpunk pop rockers the Replacements. In the meantime they covered versions of various classic rock songs from bands such as Blue Oyster Cult, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and even Prince while creating their own material.

Their first album, Goo Goo Dolls (1987), recorded with a small independent label, gained regional attention and gave them enough confidence to land a record-label deal in Los Angeles. Their momentum increased with the release of the album Jed (1989), which preceded their signing with Metal Blade, a division of Warner Bros. Records. Both albums contain a raw, slashing energy, reminiscent of the Ramones or a tamer Sex Pistols. Their next two releases, Hold Me Up (1990) and Superstar Car Wash (1993), made use of Rzeznik's maturing songwriting skills in adding catchier melodies and lyrics to their ripping sound. The Goo Goo Dolls were beginning to reach a more mainstream audience, yet each member of the band still held down a second job to make ends meet.

A Boy Named Goo (1995)—an allusion to Johnny Cash's offbeat hit "A Boy Named Sue"—was the band's major breakthrough into the mass market. The album contains "Name," a power ballad that became a huge hit. Sales of A Boy Named Goo quickly rose to double platinum. Rzeznik had somehow survived ten years of punkish blaring to emerge as a classic radio rock voice in the mode of Bryan Adams or the 1980s pop rocker Eddie Money. The rest of the songs on the album are driving rockers with appealing hooks that fulfilled the band's goal of emulating their heroes, the Replacements.

Nevertheless, the triumph arrived with its slings and arrows. Their first hurdle was to reap some of the profit that an album producing millions of dollars is expected to bring. Unfortunately, the Goo Goo Dolls—young, naïve, and eager to make a record deal—had signed away most of their royalty rights to Metal Blade Records and thus saw very little money from the album's sales. Although they were rock superstars, the Goo Goo Dolls had to go back to a familiar place—the road—just to survive. During their two-year concert tour to support legal bills, a judge ruled in their favor to break the contract with Metal Blade. Metal Blade's parent company, Warner Bros., signed them to a more lucrative deal, but trouble still loomed. The drummer, Tutuska, left over a money dispute within the band and had to be replaced by Mike Malinin.

The previous year's events and the pressures of the ensuing record deal gave Rzeznik a severe case of writer's block, which lasted nearly three years. Eventually he came up with "Iris" for the soundtrack to the film City of Angels. The song became a Top 40 staple that opened up the creative floodgates for Rzeznik, who quickly went back to work writing new material. The Goo Goo Dolls put "Iris" on their next release, Dizzy Up the Girl (1998). The album contains three other singles that charted: "Broadway," "Black Balloon," and "Slide." It went triple platinum, confirming that the boys from Buffalo were truly superstars and not ready to languish in the annals of pop/rock history as "one-hit wonders."

This ascension was not completely good news for some of their fans, however, especially those from the Buffalo area, who had developed a cult love for the band's earlier punk ways. They greeted the Goo Goo Dolls with criticism for "selling out." Nevertheless, the band—which for the first time in their existence was making ends meet financially—continued moving forward in a commercial vein. In 2000 they even appeared on the children's television show Sesame Street and performed a parody of their hit "Slide," retitled by Sesame Street 's Elmo as "Pride."

The Goo Goo Dolls released a unique compilation album, What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art and Commerce (2001), which includes a twenty-two-song retrospective of their career. Noticeably absent on the release are any of their commercial hits. They followed with a much-anticipated seventh studio recording, Gutterflowers (2002). The album reinforced Rzeznik's abilities as an agile, poetic songwriter and followed in much the same commercial rock style as found on Dizzy Up the Girl.

While the band's initial name was quickly discarded, Rzeznik later came to rue their chosen name, Goo Goo Dolls, believing that it probably hurts them commercially. This concern for popularity reflects the change in the band's focus as they take their place as new kids on pop rock's block.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Goo Goo Dolls (Celluloid, 1987); Jed (Death/Enigma, 1989); Hold Me Up (Metal Blade/Warner Bros., 1990); Superstar Car Wash (Metal Blade/Warner Bros., 1993); A Boy Named Goo (Metal Blade/Warner Bros., 1995); Dizzy Up the Girl (Warner Bros., 1998); What I Learned about Ego, Opinion, Art, and Commerce (Warner Bros., 2001); Gutterflower (Warner Bros., 2002).

donald lowe