Just like 1992, I consider 1994 to be a pretty empty period for the Goo Goo Dolls. It was also the year that established deep internal conflicts between John and former drummer George Tutuska, which I will talk about more in detail later in this post.
A good starting point to analyze 1994 is, once again, provided by the good folks at GooGooFans. Let’s take a look at their tour archive for that year.
We only have four performances, one of which a live TV appearance while the rest were regular shows. The two worth talking about are the first one and the last one. As far as the former is concerned, their performance at NBC is actually streamable on YouTube right now (I also provide backup links in case it gets taken down). Thanks to user What’s for afters? for uploading this amazing content. The band plays “Fallin’ Down” and provides a pretty energetic exhibition. They just play the song, and are not interviewed by O’Brien. Watch the video below:
To our knowledge, the Goo Goo Dolls managed to do only another TV appearance in 1994, even though for just a few seconds: a short interview aired by a local Buffalo, NY channel within which the band discussed the challenges of making it into the music business. You can watch it and read more about it here.
The last show in the list I posted above is actually the last live concert which featured George Tutuska, before he was replaced by Mike Malinin sometime in early 1995. For a complete analysis of what happened between him and John, and what eventually caused him to be fired from the band, I recommend you read this post. Tutuska played for the last time with the Goo Goo Dolls on December 31st, 1994 at the Blind Mellons New Year’s Eve Event. A rare poster for that concert can be seen below:
As far as live performances, that’s all the information I was able to find. What about what was going on with the band members? Again, we can only speculate, as very little is known. I think Robby kept collaborating with the Trackmaster Audio Studio in native Buffalo, NY. He is credited as a producer for the album “Everybody Shines” by Spawn, which was released in 1995 and most likely worked on by him the year before. What about John and George? Apart from the diatribes between the two, their whereabouts are unknown.
What about the band in general? Yet again, it is not known what they were doing, besides the little things I’ve already written about. Well, we know “A Boy Named Goo” was recorded in 1994, however specific recording dates are not provided, or at least I could not find them. The album originally had 12 songs, including the outtake “Stand Alone“. I find it relevant that it was the first Goo Goo Dolls album not to feature 14 songs. I think this speaks volumes in terms of creative difficulties during that year, something that Tutuska mentioned in the dedicated post about him I linked above. It is reasonable, given the internal conflicts but also given the failed attempt to launch the band into stardom that the previous effort, “Superstar Car Wash”, was supposed to offer. I know that expectations for it were very high, and it even provided the band with a chance at their first overseas tour, which began in Summer 1993 in Belgium but was cancelled soon thereafter.
My personal opinion is that “Superstar Car Wash” was a good success for the Goos, but not as great or potentially life-changing as initial signals were suggesting. This led the band to lose a certain amount of overall confidence, which was amplified in 1994 by the John-George clash along with stagnant money issues, resulting in decreased willingness to perform live and creativity dilemmas. I remember I read somewhere that John was contemplating to abandon the band in order to pursue a college degree in Political Science, though I cannot quite place this event in time. Most likely, this happened in 1995 and slightly before the song “Name” became a hit. Either way, it is possible he was already thinking of switching careers in 1994, hence the lack of real band activity during that year. Furthermore, it has been said that at the peak of the conflict between him and George, he was actually the one who left the band first, and then called back by Robby when it was decided to fire George instead. This could be just a rumor, though.
The theory I propose here links the events I have listed above, and to me it sounds reasonable but who knows what really happened. We only have few details we can work on. If you have more info about 1994 and what was going on with the Goo Goo Dolls during that year, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Temple of Goo - The rarest Goo Goo Dolls releases, for real Goo fans only 