RIP IT UP - October 1998 (New Zealand)

It wasn't exactly a mob scene to rival a personal appearance by the Backstreet Boys or Spice Girls, but when the Goo Goo Dolls showed up at Canadian music video channel MuchMusic in Toronto recently, they drew screaming young teenage fans too. Performing on the MuchMusic Awards show, they attracted a warmer, louder response than the Smashing Pumpkins, who opened the show.

That's testimony to just how popular this American rock trio has become over the past couple of years.

Look for their star to continue to rise with the recent release of Dizzy Up The Girl, their sixth album. Only the most snobbish and insular rock critic could fail to take some pleasure in the long-delayed success of the Goo Goo Dolls.

Unlike the one-hit, no-name wonders currently flooding the North American airwaves and charts, the Goos (as they're affectionately known) have definitely paid their dues. They're battle-scarred veterans of the continent's rock club circuit, and it's only in the last couple of years that they've graduated to larger venues and more comfortable modes of transportation.

As singer/guitarist John Rzeznik tells RipItUp, "things are definitely more convenient now. For instance, crossing the border into Canada, customs and immigration will let a tour bus through quicker than a few stinky guys in a van. And now we just send our equipment through with the crew, and that's easier."

He and comrades Robby Takac (bass) and Mike Malinin (drums) aren't taking their new-found fame for granted. "We just didn't expect this," admits John. "We were a bar band for 10 of the 12 years we've been together."

Robby then chimes in, "We were happy for seven of those years." Adds John, "you're doing what you've always wanted to do. Success has its hassles, but being in a tiny little band that doesn't make any money has its hassles too, like what you're going to eat." Robby continues the reminiscing. "We always pretty much knew it would be the Wendy's Super Bar [an all-you-could-eat salad bar at a burger chain]. That doesn't exist anymore really, but then nor does punk rock, so it doesn't really matter!"

The Goo Goo Dolls began life as punk rockers. That is not what has turned them into a multi-million selling band, but they haven't forgotten those roots. Live, they still rock out with real energy, and they continue to put a few punk-paced romps (usually sung by the gruff-voiced Takac) on their records.

What has shot them up the charts are a couple of irresistible and passionate ballads. 1996 album A Boy Named Goo contained the first of these, 'Name'. Once it took off, the band wasn't going to let a rare opportunity slip, so they spent nearly two years on the road plugging the record. That, along with saturation radio and video play, brought them a new and much-expanded audience. Rather than just playing to a few hundred fans old enough to get into rock clubs, the Goos began to attract a younger crowd.

The long-haired and tattooed 32-year-old Rzeznik looks the part of the typical tough yet cute rock star, but his voice and songs show he has a real sensitive side too. Clearly that helps make him popular with young male and female rock fans alike. Solidifying their new following has been recent smash hit Iris'. Another heart-tugging ballad, it was placed on the star-studded, multi-million selling soundtrack of the movie City Of Angels. The fact it was chosen as a key single surprised the band.

"I thought it'd be largely ignored because of all the other people on there, like Alanis, U2, Peter Gabriel, Sarah McLachlan. But it's cool," says John. "A lot of the artists on the soundtrack wrote songs especially for the film, and the song was actually in the film. I thought that was really important, plus the movie was good too." Adds Robby, "we have previously recorded songs for movies that were never intended to be in the movie, just on the soundtrack, and that feels bizarre."

Iris' also helped got John out of writer's block. "I was just glad I completed a song, and that gave me the confidence to go and finish the rest of the songs on Dizzy Up The Girl."

John admits he was having a hard time writing new songs. "I gave myself an awful lot of pressure. 'I had this hit ('Name'), what if what I write now sucks? What if I can't do this anymore?' I think I questioned myself too much, but I got over it. Now, I'm so happy with this record. At this point I don't even care if it sells any copies. I'm just happy it's done and that I'm proud of it and that I think the three of us did a really good job." His bandmate Robby disagrees. "It'd suck if it didn't sell any copies at all," he laughs.

Having 'Iris' be a hit just before the arrival of Dizzy Up The Girl was great timing. "Ohmigod, it was ridiculous," laughs John. "If everyone sat down and said 'let's write the perfect scenario to happen', it couldn't have been done any better, honestly. I think we were given such a gift, having that song."

The song wasn't written with her in mind, but cool country singer Iris DiMent inspired its title. "I was looking at the L.A. Weekly and saw an add for an Iris DiMent show. I just thought Iris was a really pretty name," says John. 'Iris' is reprised on Dizzy Up The Girl, and the album's official first single, 'Slide', is now shooting up  the charts in America. John explains he wrote that "while I was just thinking about what it felt like to try and sneak away with your girlfriend, when I was a teenager. I was brought up a pretty hardcore Catholic, so maybe I was just reminiscing about that. People seem to dig that song."

Dizzy won't be the strongest record you'll hear all year. A few of its 13 songs seem like filler but the group deserve credit for a real varied album. Rzeznik insists that diversity comes naturally. "You just write songs. It's either, 'I like this or I don't like this,' and that's it. You write what you like, what you feel, what you think about. But I never try to think 'I need one of these kinds of songs on the record.' You can't do that, but I'm pleased to hear our songs breathe for once, so it's not like a constant one-dimensional blast of sound coming at you."

The album has a polished but not too slick sound. For that, producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day) deserves credit. And the strings on the record are arranged by David Campbell, who is Beck's Dad! Now, of course, it'll be back on the road (they promise a N.Z. visit) for the hard-working rockers from Buffalo, New York. That's a tough city with a strong work ethic that seems to have rubbed off on the Goos. Robby insists "I don't see this as just a job. I wouldn't have a job that takes up this much time out of my day!"

One recent gig they had was as part of a big festival on the sacred site of Woodstock. According to Takac, "it was a great show, with lots of people. It was a blast, but it could have been anywhere." Says Rzeznik, "it did prove one thing, The first 2 days were meant to be this nostalgia thing, with veterans like Pete Townsnend. But our day drew more than double theirs. The kids wanna rock, man! Everybody seems to have this overblown sense of nostalgia, and the time in which you can become nostalgic about an era is shrinking. Pretty soon the 90s will come back!"

Don't look for the Goo Goo Dolls on reunion tours in 20 years time. "If we were going to be on the Happy Together Punk tour, then I hope that at the first show, there'll be a red dot on my forehead followed by a huge hole behind it. Just shoot me!," pledges Robby. So how will they age gracefully? "Maybe John and I will discover jazz. People at 45 doing jazz look cool!"

One comparative old-timer the Goos still love is former Replacements leader Paul Westerberg. That band was a massive influence on and inspiration for them. Rzeznik wrote a song ("We Are The Normal') with Westerberg for the Goos 1993 album. Superstar Car Wash. "Paul was such a big help to me. Man, it was like when Keith Richards got to meet Chuck Berry. It was a big thrill. He's still one of my musical heroes and a really great guy."

Kerry Doole