The Goo Goo Dolls have become fixtures on the Atlantic City music scene

by Ed Condran


The Goo Goo Dolls play in Atlantic City so often, they could almost be mistaken for a local band. The hit-making machine, which has such one-syllable smashes as “Name,” “Iris” and “Slide” to its credit, returns to the House of Blues on Wednesday night for a New Year’s Eve show. Bassist Robby Takac talks about how anxious he is to record a follow-up to the band’s latest album, Let Love In, (which is two years old), how much the band loves New Jersey, and how far it has come since its humble start in Buffalo, N.Y.. Along with Takac, the trio includes vocalist-guitarist John Rzeznik and drummer Mike Malinin.

You guys always seem to swing back to Atlantic City.

It works out that way. We really enjoy it there. We get great crowds when we play there. People are very enthusiastic. We’ve played many times there. I love playing there [and] in Asbury Park as well. We’re talking about towns with rich musical legacies. We’re talking about unusual towns, and I know unusual since we’re from Buffalo.

You’re on the road quite a bit. Do you wish you could record your next album?

Yes. It would be great to be in the studio more than we are. I would love to have that [new album] all knocked out. But record sales are down across the board in this industry. You adjust to it and tour more. We’re glorified carnies. We’re on the road for a year and a half. It’s fine since we’re still together. We’ll be doing this for many more years. We’re all good with what we do. I feel fortunate that we have had so much success.

You should, considering your first decade together. You were in a van for more than 10 years before you broke.

It was hard, but it was something that we loved to do. It was frustrating. I remember what it was like to be in a broken down van with no cash. I remember saying back then, “Why is Dokken playing all these cool places and we’re playing dive bars?” I said it because I was jealous. It’s not easy suffering through all that, but it all worked out for us. If you stick with something and work hard, good things can happen. We’re living proof of that.

Speaking of jealousy, were you ever jealous of Johnny?

No. There is no doubt that Johnny [Rzeznik] is a very talented guy. He’s a great songwriter. It doesn’t bother me that Johnny’s songs are [always the featured tracks]. It doesn’t bother me that I’m not the star of the video. It would be fun, but it would be insane to complain about it. How could I be upset about it? I’m in a great band. I have a great house here in Los Angeles. I get to go out on tour and have a great time. It’s not a bad existence, especially if you consider the alternative.

The alternative is signing a really bad deal, which you did 20 years ago with Metal Blade Records.

Exactly. That was a horrible experience. It was a terrible situation. We signed a bad contract and got killed. We made some people some money but we saw very little of it.

You had no problem going from a scrappy independent band to a polished pop-rock act?

You won’t find any of us grappling for indie credibility here. We were very fortunate to have hits. But you know, I don’t think as many of our peers spit in the face of television anymore. It helps you play to a larger audience. We always loved playing to a larger group of fans. After “Name” broke, we were asked to play Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve show. We didn’t question whether it was credible. We just acknowledged that we watched his show since we were all about a year old. Of course we’re going to do shows like that. Why shouldn’t we?

But how much fun is it playing those massive amphitheaters, which have all of the warmth of the frozen food section of the supermarket?

We’ve played those big, sterile places, but they were fun. No matter where we play or what we do, we have fun on the road. When we’re at home is when we’re uncomfortable. Just give us the road anytime, anywhere.

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