By Michael Sadowski
Pocono Record Writer
July 17, 2007

Like a lot of people who grew up anywhere in New York, Goo Goo Dolls Robby Takac, a Buffalo native, only can recall one thing about the Poconos.

“Beautiful Mount Airy Lodge,” he sings during a recent phone interview. “That commercial was always on late nights when I was growing up.”

He’ll learn a little more this week, when the hit band’s co-founder (with another Buffalo native, Johnny Rzeznik) comes to the Mountain Laurel Center with the Goo Goo Dolls on Wednesday.

The band arguably is the biggest pop group to ever come to the center in its four-year history. Lifehouse, a band often compared to Goo Goo Dolls, opens the show.

The band is on the road now promoting its newest album, Let Love In, as well as the big single from the “Transformers” soundtrack, “Fiction (Before It’s Too Late)”.

Takac took some time to talk about the tour, playing on a soundtrack and his favorite childhood toys before the band comes to Mountain Laurel:


Q: How does a group get picked for a soundtrack?

A: I don’t know how other people do it, but our record label was associated with the movie “City of Angels,” and we did “Iris” for them.

Q: Oh, that little “Iris” song?

A: (Laughing) Yeah, that little one. After that, it was like, boom, boom, boom, boom, everyone wanted us to do a soundtrack. I think Johnny’s honed his craft to where he can write what the people are looking for in a song for a certain movie.

Q: Did you have Transformers actions figures when you were younger?

A: No, I had Lincoln Logs, erector sets and various kinds of boxes.


Q: Boxes?

A: (Laughing) Yeah, dude, I used to love playing in boxes. My grandmother had a huge collection of boxes, it was my absolute favorite thing to play with. Kids are weird that way I guess.

Q: Since it’s so hard to see a video on TV anymore, why do bands even make them?

A: I say videos are more important than they’ve ever been — just in a whole different way. It’s a great way to get yourself seen. You don’t have to wait for someone to play your video, you can just go to YouTube and see it. When they see those videos, it’s a great way for people to understand what you’re really about.

Q: Did you do a video for Transformers?

A: Dude, it was nuts. We shot it on top of a 20-story building in Hollywood. They had a bunch of huge costumes and banners hanging behind us to promote the movie. There were helicopters whizzing around our heads. I was looking at all this stuff thinking, “This is more dangerous than anything they did in the movie.” Then I realized when people see the video, they’re just gonna think they CG’ed us on top of that building, which kinda sucks. That’s really us up there. And, dude, let me tell you, OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) was nowhere to be found.

Q: I know someone who says they have a really hard time listening to “Iris” because it hits a tad too close to home. Do you hear that often?

A: You wouldn’t believe some of the things I hear, it’s pretty wild. You can write about something, and you have 18-to-20 lines to describe a situation. It leaves a lot of gaps, and it’s up to the listener to use their own experience to fill in those gaps. You’re sitting on your couch, scribbling these words on a piece of paper, then 10 years later, you’re playing in Switzerland and someone is screaming the words back and you know they’re feeling it. It’s really amazing to see that circular thing.

Q: You were born in Buffalo, you live in Los Angeles. Are there two more different cities than LA and Buffalo?

A: Maybe Tokyo, but that’s it. They both fit my mood swings though. It’s nice to go back home to a place where things are a little simpler. On the surface simpler, at least.

Q: I went through Buffalo on my way to my goddaughter’s baptism in Canada a couple months ago, and I stopped at the Anchor Bar for wings (they invented Buffalo chicken wings and supposedly have the best in the world). I wasn’t impressed at all.

A: That place is a tourist trap, I never send anyone there. No one from Buffalo eats their wings. Their wings are OK, but there are lots better places. Johnny makes great wings, I tell him he should open up a place back home. A bar called Duff’s in Buffalo has my favorite.

Q: How many Pez dispensers do you have?

A: I’m playing with one right now. I’ve got about 2,000 of them. Someone threw one at me at a show about eight years ago, and I kept it and put it on my amp. Someone saw it the next show and threw another one at me. By the end of the tour, I had about 50. Then my wife started collecting them, and we actually go to conventions now.

Q: When you guys come to Mountain Laurel, you’ll be having a meet and greet with members of your fan club. What are some of the weirdest things you’ve heard at those meet and greets?

A: We get an awful lot of people who come and tell us of people in their lives who have really held on to something we have said because it really hit them in a certain situation. And you can see the tears welling up in their eyes, when that happens, it’s pretty incredible. It’s that whole circular thing that just kills me when I see it.

Q: How many boobs have you signed in your career?

A: Wow. (Laughs) Wow. Umm . . . I’m not even sure. Seven? No, I don’t know.

Q: Can you play “Long Way Down” when you come here?

A: Dude, we’ve been opening with it! We haven’t played that song in 10 years, and people are going nuts when they hear it. We’re a typical touring band, we get a new record and we play 90 percent of the concert from the new album. But we’ve been trying to get some older stuff in there and the fans have been loving it.

Q: Anything else special planned for your trip here?

A: Actually, yeah, we work with U.S.A. Harvest (which feeds hungry families) to have a canned food drive of non-perishable foods at the door. We always ask everyone who is coming to bring something and leave it at the door. It’s coming up on 3 million meals we’ve raised. It’s pretty great.

Q: You and Johnny share vocals on your albums, but it seems like Johnny always is singing the singles. Do people get surprised when they see you singing?

A: People who know the band don’t get shocked. Really, I don’t think about it too much. We’ve been able to coexist happily for years now, and it’s not like we’re punching away at domain or anything. We’re both committed to doing the best rock show possible, and that’s what we give every night.

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