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The Goo Goo Dolls, also known as GGD, are an alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York by guitarist/vocalist John Rzeznik and bassist/vocalist Robby Takac.
The Goo Goo Dolls initially consisted of John Rzeznik (vocals / guitar), Robby Takac (vocals / bass) and George Tutuska (drums). While Takac and Tutuska had been long-time friends in school, Rzeznik was playing in the band The Beaumonts, with Takac’s cousin. The three founded the band under the name Sex Maggots. However, when a club owner booked the band, he requested they change the name, as the local newspaper could not print their current name. The trio picked the current name out of a True Detective newspaper ad for a toy called a Goo Goo Doll. With Takac as their lead singer, the band released their first album in 1986 on Mercenary Records, but was picked up in 1987 by Celluloid Records, a larger record company. The band released their second album, Jed, in 1989 after moving to Los Angeles.
The band's third album, Hold Me Up, was released in 1990 and featured Rzeznik as the lead vocalist on five tracks, including the single There You Are as well as the current concert favourite Two Days in February. Despite being earlier dismissed as having too similar a sound to The Replacements, as well as being embraced by local college radio and punk scenes, (playing such venues as CBGB's) the Goo Goo Dolls' third release had incorporated elements of heavy metal, pop rock, and punk. In 1991, the song "I'm Awake Now" was recorded for the soundtrack of Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, the video for which featured a cameo of Robert Englund in character as Freddy and was played on the major video channels at the time.
Superstar Car Wash was released in 1993 to significant media attention. The critical success and encouraging sales of the last album resulted in a larger budget from Metal Blade. The album was partially recorded in Metalworks Studio in Mississuaga, Ontario, which is where Rush had produced multi-platinum albums. The single "We Are the Normal" received a major push toward college and independent radio, while its video was displayed on MTV's 120 Minutes program. "Fallin' Down" made it onto the soundtrack of Pauly Shore's hit film Son In Law.
Shortly after recording the band’s fifth album A Boy Named Goo, George Tutuska was asked to leave the band after Rzeznik questioned his commitment. The band hired Mike Malinin and toured rigorously. The album sold modestly in this time, however it was not until the release of the single “Name� that the band experienced any commercial success. A Boy Named Goo became the first album in Metal Blade history to achieve double-platinum status. The success, however, was bittersweet, as the band found themselves in a legal battle with Metal Blade records. The band filed suit against Metal Blade, claiming they had not earned any royalties from their album’s sales, which was attributed to a “grossly unfair, one-sided and unenforceable contract� which had been signed by the band in 1987. The two sides reached a settlement which had the band signed to the company’s parent company, Warner Bros. Records, under which the band released their sixth album, Dizzy Up the Girl, in 1998. The undisputed success of Name marked a fundamental change in the band’s sound toward a more polished, commercial direction.
Rzeznik was approached to write a song for the City of Angels soundtrack, and the end product was “Iris,� which propelled the band to stardom, as it stayed on top of Billboard Hot 100 Airplay charts for 18 weeks, and was nominated for three Grammys that year. Iris's solo publicity was only achieved by few songs before and little since. The song was included on Dizzy Up the Girl, and was among Top-Ten hits “Slide,� “Black Balloon,� “Broadway,� and “Dizzy� from the same album. The new, polished sound garnered legions of new fans, many of whom had not followed the band before their mainstream success. Most Goo Goo Dolls concerts feature few, if any, songs the band wrote before 1995, reflecting the band’s more mainstream sound. Although the lyrics to "Black Balloon" are vague and unclear, as this is an essential aspect of Rzeznik's style of writing, the song, according to the lead-singer himself, regards drug abuse and the emotional consequences of indulging in them. It is widely believed that the song was written for Robby Takac's wife who was once caught up in drug abuse but who has fully recovered today; both refuse to state who the song is written for or about. In 2001, the Goos released their first ever compilation CD, What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce. Next, Gutterflower (2002) - with dark lyrical undertones from Rzeznik's divorce - achieved platinum certification, producing the hits "Here Is Gone", "Sympathy", and "Big Machine". On July 4, 2004, the band performed a free concert in their hometown of Buffalo, continuing through a deluge of rain that can be seen on the DVD released later that year. The DVD also contained a studio version of the Goo Goo Dolls' cover of "Give a Little Bit" by Supertramp. The single reached the top of the Adult Top 40 chart in 2005.
In 2006, the Goo Goo Dolls marked their 20th anniversary with their new album Let Love In, which included the studio recording of "Give A Little Bit" as well as other top 10 radio singles "Better Days," "Stay With You," and "Let Love In". With the their third consecutive single ("Let Love In") from the album, the Goo Goo Dolls hit a record 12 Top 10 hits in Adult Top 40 history, beating Matchbox Twenty and Sheryl Crow. The Goo Goo Dolls plan to release another single from Let Love In--"Without You Here," as well as a song from this July's Transformers movie called "Before It's Too Late", originally titled "Fiction." To promote the new single, the Goo Goo Dolls performed "Before It's Too Late" at both The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on June 8, 2007, and again at The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on June 22, 2007. In July, 2007 the band discussed their career as a whole and gave a live performance on A&E's Private Sessions. Rzeznik has stated that after the release of "Without You Here" and their summer tour with Lifehouse and Colbie Caillat, the band will return to the studio to begin work on their next album.[citation needed]April 13, 1996 and July 4, 2004 were proclaimed "Goo Goo Dolls Day" in their hometown of Buffalo, New York.[citation needed]
For all albums, the peak position on the Billboard 200 chart and the RIAA certification [10] are provided where applicable.
Year
Title
USA Billboard Charts [11]
UK Charts [12]
Album
Hot 100
Mainstream Rock
Modern Rock
Hot AC
Hot Adult Top 40
Top 75 Singles
"There You Are"
24
Hold Me Up
"I'm Awake Now"
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
"We Are The Normal"
5
Superstar Car Wash
"Only One"
21
36
A Boy Named Goo
"Flat Top"
38
A Boy Named Goo
"Name"
5
1
1
5
2
A Boy Named Goo
"Naked"
8
9
A Boy Named Goo
"Long Way Down"
7
25
A Boy Named Goo
"Lazy Eye"
9
20
Batman & Robin
"Iris"
9
8
1
22
1
26
Dizzy Up The Girl
"Slide"
8
4
1
1
43
Dizzy Up The Girl
"Dizzy"
108
13
9
Dizzy Up The Girl
"Black Balloon"
16
28
13
3
Dizzy Up The Girl
"Broadway"
24
38
5
Dizzy Up The Girl
"Here Is Gone"
18
29
21
3
Gutterflower
"Big Machine"
64
10
Gutterflower
"Sympathy"
115
10
Gutterflower
"Give A Little Bit"
37
5
1
Live in Buffalo: July 4th 2004
"Better Days"
36
17
3
Let Love In
"Stay With You"
51
32
6
39
Let Love In
"Let Love In"
101
28
9
Let Love In
"Before It's Too Late
(Sam and Mikaela's Theme)"
86
11
Transformers: The Album
