Goo Goo Dolls. Let's commit and re-charge with those old bangers! Shall we?
Directly out of the box, let's get down to it. We're going to enjoy one last flashback to the good ol' days of the Goo Goo Dolls. This extensive collection of blurbs will be fair, compassionate and understanding, nurturing the old schoolers with nostalgia and the nu schoolers with education. Although, to keep all of this in an uplifting atmosphere, it will quite possibly create some sadness and longing.
It is very probable that people under the age of 40 haven't been properly slapped in the face with the embryo of the Goo Goo Dolls many moons ago. Upon birth, this band was originally wrapped in the swaddling cloth of punk rock in a very cold Buffalo, NY. While the hardcore and punk rock scenes were growing throughout the 80s, even in Buffalo, the Goos were headed toward the deep end of that pool. For the love of God, they signed to Metal Blade Records, which was odd, but very much metal. To me, their first two albums (Goo Goo Dolls- 1987, Jed- 1989) sat somewhere between The Replacements and Husker Du. They had extreme energy and character, but you could see the accessible songwriting barely sticking its head out from time to time. Most would probably only recognize that songwriting aspect in retrospect with those records years later, instead of acknowledging it in the moment. Red Alert for the unaware! The lead vocalist for practically every track on the first two full-lengths was of course, bassist, Robbie Takac?... not Johnny Rzeznik? In accordance with the record releases, they performed or toured with bands such as Bad Religion, DRI, ALL and other artists of that ilk. This was definitely not your 2023 Goo Goo Dolls.
This brings us to the album "Hold Me Up" in the year 1990, which was the first of three steps in the slow musical transformation of the Goos.... and my official introduction! That intro came by way of the late-night MTV show goodness, "120 Minutes," at probably 1:00 AM with "There You Are." This full album straightaway reminded me of The Replacements. The Replacements that started appealing to slightly more of the mainstream masses, that is. On Hold Me Up, it was impossible to hide that this ensemble could write great pop songs, underneath the raging racket. Second and relevant note; guitarist Johnny Rzeznik was now equally sharing vocal duties with Robbie = Musical transformation step #1. Months later, of all the bands they could have been touring with, it was The Replacements. Throughout my "eyes-and-ears opening" years in college at PITT, The Replacements quickly became one of my favorite acts in existence. That ballroom performance near the campus was a fiery target, and I hit it hard. Interning for the concert promoter made it an even smoother proposition. What a fine evening. This was definitely not your 2023 or even 2003 Goo Goo Dolls.
Now we land in the year 1993. The new release was Superstar Car Wash, and Warner Bros. Records was currently having their say. Bringing in Gavin MacKillop to produce, in itself, was making a statement. Having produced successful full-length records for General Public, The La's and Toad the Wet Sprocket, the powers that be were looking to polish up and slick out these Goo recordings... and they did. In my opinion, Superstar Car Wash represents the Goo Goo Dolls' artistic apex. It was exactly where the punk rock attitude met the pop songwriting met the timely radio production. It's a masterpiece from beginning to end, but they officially shifted into pop-punk world, and now Johnny was handling the majority of lead vocals (which would remain that way going forward) = Musical transformation step #2. Having moved to Wash. DC and working for a concert promoter/agency, I was able to make my way to the 9:30 Club twice during that headline touring cycle, and those shows were perfection. Punk-like sing alongs coupled with a nice little mosh pit. These guys were damn good. At some point soon, this band needed the record label to lay down the big time Hammer of Thor on the rest of the biz and open the door to the masses.
Well, batten down the hatches me mates... here it came. It came with a composition. It came with a new producer. It finally came with legitimate major label charge behind it. It was this pop force of nature titled "Name" on an album called "A Boy Named Goo." It wasn't the first single released, but it sure was THEE single. So what if they changed producers again. So what if the producer, Lou Giordano, had the drummer George Tutuska replaced by Mike Malinin during the sessions. So what if the record had a controversial cover. They had their fan base and NOW they had "Name." They call it a ballad. = Musical transformation step #3- FULL TRANSFORMATION COMPLETE! The album and single sold millions. There was no turning back. Johnny now wrote like a pop star and looked like a pop star.
We know the rest of the story, don't we? They went on to make an enormous follow-up, “Dizzy Up the Girl," housing two of the biggest pop singles of the year in "Iris" and Black Balloon", and it further solidified them on that specific path to stardom. No need to get into the career action any further. We know where it goes and stayed. Great for them. I will never slag the Goo Goo Dolls for altering their journey into another harmonious solar system. The reason being is because this group put in over 10 years of serious work with writing, recording, touring and battling the industry powers, and I witnessed over half of it. They deserved a delicious success souffle, no matter the ingredients.
The Goo Goo Dolls' punk rock time frame sizes up to many other early hardcore punk successes in my book. It just won't be quite as remembered as it should be.... EXCEPT BY US! PEOPLE??!! All aboard the "Jed" train! Who's Comin?