contributed by Brian "MickeyMoto"
From MickeyMoto@aol.comWed Apr 17 20:18:33 1996
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 1996 17:38:41 -0400
From: MickeyMoto@aol.com
To: MickeyMoto@aol.com
Cc: penberth@oswego.Oswego.EDU
Subject: Found this on the Goo AOL board!!!!
Showbiz Today
Goo Goo Dolls Hit It Big With Help of LA Station
Aired January 5, 1996 5:55 pm
JIM MORET, Anchor: Once you've heard it, it's hard to forget `Name,' a song
that just peaked at number eight on the Billboard chart. You probably won't forget the
band's name, either. It's the Goo Goo Dolls. Neither of these names would have meant
anything, quite possibly, if it wasn't for a West Coast radio station that played name
that tune. Mark Scheerer explains.
[music clip]
MARK SCHEERER, Correspondent: That's `Name,' the hit song that made the Goo
Goo Dools a household name, sort of. But the three young men from Buffalo had intended
this song, `Flat Top,' to be their next release.
[music clip]
MARK SCHEERER: The Los Angeles FM station KROQ started playing `Name,' and that forced a change of plans.
ROBBY TAKAC: It was actually the week we were doing the video for `Flat Top,' the station in Los Angeles added `Name' and sort of started the chain of events leading to us sitting here right now.
MARK SCHEERER: A new music video had to be rushed into production.
JOHNNY RZEZNIK: Rented a bus, put a bunch of interesting characters on it, because I wanted to try and surround the band with something that was much more interesting than seeing a band play.
MARK SCHEERER: There were other quirky twists and turns in the eight years before the Goo Goo dolls became an overnight success. Drummer Mike Malinin , for example, just recently replaced the band's previous percussionist.
MIKE MALININ, Percussionist, Goo Goo Dolls: Luckily enough for me, I'd been a fan of the band since '87 and I had all their records.
MARK SCHEERER: And then there's the name, Goo Goo Dolls. It could have been worse.
ROBBY TAKAC: It was the newspaper, and Tom wouldn't print our name in the newspaper.
MARK SCHEERER: Oh, the one that you were using.
ROBBY TAKAC: Yeah, so-
MARK SCHEERER: And what was that?
JOHNNY RZEZNIK: [Expletive deleted] it. [music clip]
MARK SCHEERER: Now that everything has fallen into place, they're wondering how to avoid the sophomore jinx.
JOHNNY RZEZNIK: How do you get to be like Michael Stipe or someone- you know, R.E.M., all the guys in R.E.M., where you're afforded the luxury of making more than one record that people are going to pay attention to.
MARK SCHEERER: Even if the Goo Goo Dolls did turn out to be one-hit wonders, at least their name would be hard to forget. Mark Scheerer, CNN Entertainment News, New York.