Welcome to Here is Goo!!
The Beginnings
Here is
Goo
The Beginnings
Guitar Tabs and
Lyrics
My Goo Gallery
Tour Dates
For the Goos
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The
Chosen
Introduction
Characters
The Story
Artwork
Downloads
In the
city of Buffalo, New York, a boy named John Rzeznik
decided to start a band. Born from a Polish family, a
younger bother of four sisters, John attended high
school, often writing poetry in the back of his English
class. He began learning guitar on his own and every once
in a while, he would play at jam sessions in his school.
John was greatly influenced by bands such as The
Replacements and Depeche Mode. He eventually formed a
band called The Beaumonts, where he met his bandmate's
cousin, Robby Takac. Robby often loved playing one-handed
guitar in a separate band called The Monarchs. Johnny (or
John) decided to later team up with Robby and the two
began jamming together in an abandoned warehouse where
they would experiment with different riffs and songs. In
1986, they teamed up with drummer, George Tutuska to form
The Sex Maggots. The trio became a punk-rock, heavy metal
band playing for screaming crowds where things would
often go out of control. The Sex Maggots were later asked
to play at a club; the only catch was that they change
their name. With one hour left before the show, they
picked up a Spy Detective magazine, finding an ad for a
goo goo doll. The trio decided to just go on with the
name, Goo Goo Dolls, which is, of course, who they have
become known as today.
Signing
with Metal Blade Records, the Goo Goo Dolls released
their first album, First Release. The record was
unsuccessful in sales, so they followed up with a second
album, Jed. Sales were still low and the Goos were
sinking in debt. The trio decided to set out on a tour in
a grey van to spread their music across the country and
then released the album Hold Me Up, which offered a
cleaner, edgier tone while sticking to their punk rock
roots. This album led them to their first single,
There You Are. Following that, came
Superstar Car Wash. A second single off SSCW, We Are
the Normal, which John co-wrote with Replacements
member Paul Westerberg, hit American charts. Again, sales
still plummeted and the Goos were becoming goners in the
rock scene. However, there was still 
hope, as the Goos were introduced to
producer, Rob Cavallo (also worked with Green Day).
Cavallo encouraged the Goos to finally clean up their
act, and helped them release the amazing album, A Boy
Named Goo. At first, sales were still weak, but light was
still shining in a radio station located in Los Angeles,
California. A DJ from LA's radio station, K-ROCK was
given a copy of A Boy Named Goo. Track 6 held a song that
would truly lead the Goo Goo Dolls to stardom. The DJ
continued to listen on and on to the same track over and
over again and began playing it on K-ROCK. Phones
continued to ring with people curious to know what the
song was. It was a ballad that Johnny wrote called Name.
Sales
sky-rocketed with A Boy Named Goo and The Goo Goo Dolls
were finally becoming known to America. The album
followed up with singles, Long Way Down, Naked,
Flat Top, and Only One. However, the
Goos faced their greatest downfall yet. Disagreements and
conflicts rose between leader, Johnny Rzeznik and
drummer, George Tutuska. One night, John and Robby met up
with George to announce the bad news. George was now out
of the band. In addition, fans of 
the Goos'
early punk-rock roots, after hearing A Boy Named Goo's
lighter, more toned down tracks, abandoned the band,
accusing them of selling-out. The Goos, as a result, lost
many fans, but as well, gained other fans with their new
style. Feeling a rejection from "loyal" fans of
their roots, Johnny and Robby moved to Los Angeles, where
they simply hid out from the public, refusing to ever be
recognized again. After a few months, the two decided to
get their act together and search for a new drummer.
Texan, Mike Malinin was the perfect guy for the job. The
trio rehearsed tracks from Superstar Car Wash and Malinin
easily nailed them on the spot. The Goo Goo Dolls were
back, ready to release a new album.
Dizzy Up the Girl, the 6th album, marked
true success for the Goo Goo Dolls as they became one of
rock's most recognized bands. Johnny, however, had
suffered from a serious case of writer's block where he
just stopped writing, believing that everything he wrote
was complete garbage. After a few months of recovery,
Johnny finished the tracks not expecting any of his songs
to be huge successes. "Lets just get on with the
album and release it. See what happens," he said.
Dizzy Up the Girl brought the Goos 5 singles!!! These
included Dizzy, Slide, Black Balloon, Broadway, and their
most popular hit, Iris, another ballad. Johnny had
originally written Iris for the City of Angels soundtrack
and was not expecting to release it on the new album.
Fortunately, he did. Dizzy Up the Girl was made triple
platinum and peaked up the American charts.
After 2
years of touring, the Goo Goo Dolls, having been through
a huge struggle, released Ego, Opinion, Art, &
Commerce, an album of 22 fully remixed and remastered
tracks from all of their previous albums. Their most
recent CD, Gutterflower, has been praised by many
journalists and music reviewers, with the Goos returning
with their rockier, edgier roots, while holding on to
their melodic tones. It is continuing to be a huge
success with its first single, Here Is Gone,
which held the top 20 positions on Billboard, VH1, and
other rock charts. The next single will be Big
Machine, which is already making many plays on radio
stations across America.
The Goo Goo Dolls will always be an excellent group. Having gone through so many years of struggle, depression, and rejection, they still hold strong in their music, not caring what others think of them. They do what they enjoy with their own style of rock, which is what makes them unique among all other metal and punk bands. For the most part, they still continue to make music after being crushed so much by their past. The Goo Goo Dolls are one of rock's most recognized bands today, touching the lives of fans all across the world with their messages of love, peace, and hope.
Stay Goo:)
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The Albums
First Release (1987)
Jed (1989)
Hold Me Up (1990)
Superstar Car Wash (1993)
A Boy Named Goo (1995)
Dizzy Up the Girl (1998)
What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce
(2001)
Gutterflower (2002)