Goo Goo Dolls: How The Band Behind 'Iris', Slide & Name Nearly Went Broke

Описание: How the band Goo Goo Dolls nearly went broke. They would write huge hits during the 90's including Iris, Slide, Name and Broadway.

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I cite my sources and they may differ than other people's accounts, so I don't guarantee the actual accuracy of my videos.

It’s not uncommon for bands to sign horrible record deals that literally leaves them penniless. Sometimes this happens because the musicians don’t read the contract or worse they are so desperate for a deal they’ll do anything even. That best describes the situation the goo goo dolls found themselves in in the 90’s.

The Goo Goo Dolls story dates back to the 1986 when they were founded in buffalo, new york..The band started when bassist Robby Takac, who was a young disc jockey, met a plumbing trainee Rzeznik and drummer George Tutuska. The group’s early albums saw them incorporate pop, metal and punk into their sound .The band’s first record deal they would sign would be with Metal Blade records, which mostly housed heavy metal bands including slayer, Gwar and king diamond. The band signed with them in 1987 and it proved to be a double edged sword. As part of the band’s deal with Metal Blade, the bands albums would be distributed through Warner Brothers including the band’s breakthrough record 1995’s a boy named goo which would go on to sell 2 million copies on the strength of the single name. Despite the band’s commercial success they barely saw any money from their CD sales. Reznick would tell the LA Times in 1998 “It was our fault,”“I don’t blame anyone but myself for the stupid things I did when I was a kid. We didn’t give a damn about any of that stuff at the time. We just wanted to make records. I mean, record companies sell you a dream, but sometimes that dream can be pretty expensive.”

Each band member would only receive $6,000 from their label but that was it. In order to keep themselves afloat the band had to tour relentlessly for nearly 18 months and live off ticket and merch sales. That tour saw the band playing alongside Bush and No Doubt. Side note guys i ve done a whole video on the history of bush the link the link is down below. But the band didn’t enjoy themselves on the tour with Robby Takac telling an interviewer that being on the tour was and i quote "having a dentist enter through your ass to pull your wisdom teeth out." Despite having a hit record and playing with some well known acts on the road, the band members were still stuck in the same tax bracket. Takac would tell an interviewer

"I thought about carving 'Slave' into my face, but it didn't work," alluding Prince's bizarre protest of his Warner Bros. contract several years back.


The extensive touring had a detrimental effect against guitarist and vocalist johnny rizeznick who suffered from writers block when it came time to write their sixth record. Reznick would look back at the difficulty of spending nearly two years on the road telling the LA Times “Being out on the road that long screws your head,” “It’s like living on a land submarine. You wake up and it’s Thanksgiving morning, and you go, ‘Where the hell am I?’ For a long time after the tour, I just felt stupid.”
Reznick enlisted the help of producer Rob Cavallo and a writer named Jill Cooper to help him beat his writer’s block. Cooper was well versed in the relationship between music and psychology. In November of 1996 the band would file a lawsuit against their label Metal Blade, wanting out of their contract.
The lawsuit would claim and that metal blade made millions off them and signed the band to and i quote a "grossly unfair, one-sided and unenforceable contract." on top of that The Goo Goo Dolls gave a legal notice to Metal Blade claiming they would no longer record for the label and that they would enter discussions with other labels. Things got more complicated when Warner Brothers, the label’s distributor turned around and sued the goo goo dolls claiming the band was talking to other labels while still under contract.
Goo Goo Dolls lawsuit would claim that the band was receiving a royalty rate of 8% of the suggested retail price of a CD. The average royalty rate for an artist at the time was 30%. The Buffalo news would report that after accounting for expenses including producer royalties and other related costs the band made 25 cents for every $13 CD that was sold. The band’s lawsuit contended that their label metalblade was and i quote "no different than a common bootlegger."
Johnny Rzeznick wo