in 1986, somewhere in Buffalo, NY; three guys in their late teens crowded around a heater in an abandoned warehouse playing in a band that in 12 years would have the #1 song in the country. These three guys were: Robby Takac (base guitar & vocals), John Rzeznik (guitar & vocals), and george Tutuska (drums). These three guys had no idea what they were in for, and neither did they care, because all they wanted to do was make music. Today, two of those three guys are still making music in that same band, and the third was replaced by someone who wanted to make music with that band (Mike Malinin, drummer). After over a decade of music playing, they still do it for the music. Their first album was in 1987, released on the independent label Celluloid. They received praise from many critics after their second album, "Jed". It took them a while to get to the mainstream success, with the ballad "Name", which is not actually what they intended to do, but they're punk rock fans started labeling the band "sellouts". This was the point at which things were sort of breaking apart. John wasn't getting along with George, the drummer. Robby was basically the communication line between the two. It became so severe that John couldn't take anymore. He quit the Goo Goo Dolls. Robby wasn't about to let him drop out of the race and quit their dream without a fight. So, seeing where they thought the probem was, they fired long-time drummer George. It seems as though luck ran out on George, because almost immediately after he was fired, the Goo Goo Dolls had gotten their first hit, "Name". But the punk rock following they had accumulated frowned on mainstream success. They said the Goo Goo Dolls had "sold out" and "gone soft". The time period after that was the worst. John was thrown into writer's block, and was doubting whether he could write another hit as a follow-up to Name. The pressure was enormous on the band, but John took it the hardest. He hadn't finished a song in over a year, and was worried to death that they were just going to fade away as a one-hit wonder. But one day, their manager called. He asked John to write a song for the movie "City of Angels". He was determined to write this. In fact, he wouldn't stop until he was done. In one hour, he created a haunting ballad that would rule the airwaves for the next year, and later would be nominated for 3 grammys. The name of this song was "Iris". This is where that band still stands today, and they still have the same dream of being rock stars. Only now, it's not a dream.
Bio written by: anon |
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