Biography of Goo Goo Dolls

It took eight years and five records for the Buffalo-based Goo Goo Dolls to achieve rock stardom. That's fine by this trio--they never expected to be rock stars in the first place. Out of any platinum-selling band in the '90s, the Goos are undoubtedly the most down-to-earth. Their combination of working class, everyman practicality and an ear for hooky melodies made them one of 1996's most surprising--and lauded--alternative bands.Maybe the Goo Goo Dolls dreamed of this kind of success when they first formed in 1987, but as far as they were concerned, it was a totally wild, unattainable goal. The original line-up--singer/guitarist John Rzeznik, singer/bassist Robby Takac and drummer George Tutuska--were more interested in having a release from their boring day jobs. A raucous punk band at first, the Goos were royally screwed over on the indie record deal for their self-titled debut. Undaunted, they traveled down to Manhattan one rainy day to land a real record contract and were summarily thrown out of every label's office. Finally Metal Blade, of all labels, picked up the trio and in 1989, the group's sophomore effort, Jed, appeared. Critics started paying attention--although some saw their sound as being awfully close to the Replacements--and Warner Bros. inked a deal to release future albums in conjunction with Metal Blade. The next two albums, Hold Me Up and Superstar Car Wash, fine-tuned the Goos' foray into poppier terrain, but sales were disappointing. Finally, 1995's A Boy Named Goo broke the band. It also made differences within the band all-too clear, and Tutuska was replaced by Mike Malinin. "Name" became a number-one single, thus holding off Rzeznik's fear of winding up as a janitor, for at least a while.
With the Goo Goo Dolls's follow-up to A Boy Named Goo still not finished by 1998, some doubters probably began to wonder whether the Goos would be able to repeat their achievements. But then a new Goos song, "Iris," was featured on the City Of Angels soundtrack and quickly became an even huger smash than "Name." For almost a year, the song reigned atop the Triple A, Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock singles charts--not coincidentally perfectly setting up the Goos' long-awaited new LP, Dizzy Up The Girl, which spawned three more hit singles ("Slide," "Broadway," and "Black Balloon"). However, it was four long years before the band followed up with 2002's Gutterflower.
Whether the public will continue to embrace the Goos is something that no one can predict, but one gets the feeling that the guys aren't too concerned about that--they've already gotten a lot farther than they ever expected.
This Biography was written by Janiss Garza

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