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Hit-makers GGDs make return to Toledo / article
« on: Sep 30th, 2010, 1:22pm » |
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Hit-makers Goo Goo Dolls make return to Toledo
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE STAFF WRITER
After nearly a decade of knocking around the country in a van and playing late-night gigs in smoky clubs, Johnny Rzeznik gave himself an ultimatum.
“I made a deadline for myself that if I wasn’t earning a living being a musician by ‘A Boy Named Goo,’ I was going to get back to school, get a degree, and go on with my life — and enjoy the memories I had,” he said in an interview from Los Angeles.
Rzeznik never needed to head back to college or find a day job because his band, the Goo Goo Dolls, hit it big with “A Boy Named Goo.”
The group’s fifth CD, released in 1995, sold more than 2 million copies, fueled by such catchy alternative-rock hits as “Name,” “Long Way Down,” and “Only One,” turning the Goo Goo Dolls into an unlikely household name (a name, by the way, Rzeznik said he strongly dislikes. More about that later.)
The hard-working trio from Buffalo, who return to Toledo on Wednesday for a show at the Stranahan Theater, has been cruising ever since.
The group has performed before such big-time backdrops as the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics, its songs have been featured on such movie soundtracks as "Transformers" and "City of Angels," and a survey of operating room surgeons showed that the Goo Goo Dolls are among the most popular tunes to cut by.
The trio, with Rzeznik on guitar and vocals and writing most of the songs, Robby Takac on bass and vocals, and Mike Malinin on drums, released its ninth CD, “Something for the Rest of Us,” Aug. 31 on Warner Bros.
The disc, which debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard album chart, originally was due for release in February but the band pulled it back at the last minute saying it needed work.
“We had it ready to go and then we had to sit down and make a hard decision,” Rzeznik said. “I just felt like there were things on here I want to fix, things on here that can be better. We went back and recorded some stuff, went in and consulted with a couple of big producers, and then we remixed it.”
The 12 songs include some indirect references to the nation’s current economic strife, especially the tune “Notbroken.”
“The disillusionment of the times just seemed to be a theme running through the songs in an indirect way. But I wanted to deal with the emotional underpinnings,” Rzeznik said. “How’s it feel for a guy who’s been working his ass off for 15 years and he’s being foreclosed on? How’s that feel? What’s that do to a person?”
Writing a song involves a bit of inspiration and lot of perspiration, Rzeznik said. It’s a craft that the Goo Goo Dolls have been polishing ever since they started in 1986.
“This is my ninth album, and one thing I’ve learned about inspiration is that it comes quickly, and then the real work starts. You have to hammer at it,” Rzeznik said.
One of the best songwriting tips he ever got came from Lamont Dozier, part of the famous Motown hitmaking team with Brian Holland and Eddie Holland.
“I asked him, ‘What do you do when you hit a wall and you don’t like anything you’re doing?’ He said, ‘Take a walk, and then go back to it,’” Rzeznik said. “I interpreted that to mean take a walk and go back to it when it’s fresh. You have to learn to get comfortable in the frustrations of the process. It’s paradoxical but true. You have to be comfortable with feeling frustrated.”
The frustrations have been more like bumps in the road than roadblocks for the Goo Goo Dolls. The group has sold 10 million albums, been nominated for four Grammys, and scored 13 consecutive Top 10 singles with such hits as “Iris,” “Here Is Gone,” and “Better Days.”
Rzeznik said he never writes with radio play in mind, but rather just strives to write a good song.
“Too many rockers put on the leather pants and shirt first. But if you write good songs, the pants and shirt will follow,” he said with a laugh.
As for the band’s name, Rzeznik said he wouldn’t mind doing that one over.
“I hate it. I hate it! Sometimes people say, ‘What band do you play in?’ and I give them the ol’ mumble,” he said.
He tried to change it early on but Takac vetoed it.
“I think we’d sold a couple hundred records with our first album, maybe 1,000 at the most. I said, ‘Let’s change the name of the band. It’s a really stupid name.’ But Robby said, ‘Dude, we have a fan base!’ Now here we are, it’s 24 years later and it’s a little too late.”
The Goo Goo Dolls will be in concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Stranahan Theater, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd., with the Spill Canvas opening. Tickets are $35 and $45 from all TicketMaster outlets. Information: 419-381-8851.
Contact David Yonke at:
[email protected] 419-724-6154.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100930/ART10/1009399 84
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