By Gary Graff
The duo of John Rzeznik and Robby Takac, which formed during 1986 in Buffalo, released a new album last year — “Chaos in Bloom,” its 13th studio set. The Goos are still promoting it his summer as well as a new single, a cover of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” recorded with tour partner OAR. At the same time, however, the group has anniversaries to celebrate: 30 years since “Superstar Car Wash,” which Rzeznik calls “a turning point” album for the band; and most importantly 25 years for “Dizzy Up the Girl,” a five-times platinum smash that launched three Top 20 singles in “Iris,” “Slide” and “Black Balloon.”
The Goos have learned how to balance present and past, of course, and Rzeznik promises there will be even more to come to contribute to that ratio…
• Recording “I Don’t Back Down” with OAR was “really fun” according to Rzeznik, 57 — and fairly organic. “Someone suggested it and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s a great idea.’ We started messing around, singing it, and it was like, ‘Wow, this could really work.’ It’s something for the tour, just something fun to do. Rappers and pop artists do this all the time, but I wish more rock bands, like, of our vintage or whatever, would just get together and do stuff like that. I think we did a good job on it.”
• The Goos are playing the expected hits this summer, but prior to the tour the band polled fans via social media about other, deeper tracks from the catalog they’d like to hear. “We made a list of most of our songs but we took all the hits out, ’cause we know we’ll play them,” Rzeznik explains. “We just wanted to add a couple of songs that normally aren’t in the rotation and see which ones the fans really wanted to hear. I just want our audience to get something they haven’t gotten before. If you get up on a stage it’s like you better entertain people, y’know, and give ’em what they want.”
• One of the best parts of touring during the summer, Rzeznik says, is that he and Takac, as well as other band and crew members, bring their children out on the road. “They come out with us and they all get a job. They get to work in the production office and they count the backstage passes or they stamp the date on something, pass out balloons at the meet and greet, things like that. They get these cool little jobs and they go home with a couple of bucks in their pocket and it’s cute and it’s fun and they love it. It’s kind of a cool summer vacation.”
• The Goos performed “Dizzy Up the Girl” in its entirety for its 20th anniversary five years ago. This year the group released a special vinyl edition of the album and is performing about a half-dozen of its songs in concert. “That record was awesome,” Rzeznik says. “It was an amazing time in our lives. To have a record like that in our career, it was kind of like a phenomenon. Because of ‘Dizzy’ we can always go out and play and draw good crowds; that’s pretty special. There were pretty strange parts about it, but it was an amazing time and I’m glad we survived it.”
• Rzeznik says he’s “already writing stuff” for whatever the Goos do next, but even he’s not sure what that will be yet. “I have four, five songs in the can, and there’s this discussion of, like, do you save ’em all and put w hole album out or do you release them as they come? What is the proper way to do this in the modern world, ’cause nobody has any attention span, nobody has any patience and I don’t think albums really matter to people anymore. So it’s like, ‘What do we do?’ and I’m not sure there’s an answer yet.”
Goo Goo Dolls and O.A.R. perform at 7 p.m. at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre, 14900 Metro Parkway, Sterling Heights. (313)471-7000 or 313Presents.com.