Blog News: George Tutuska and Laurie Farinacci taking over the Temple Of Goo

Dear Temple Of Goo readers,

this is just quick post aimed at sharing some statistics with you all in terms of the most read posts featured in the blog, on a Yearly basis.

Firstly, let’s take a look at what WordPress Insights has to say:

As you can see, there are basically three posts which have received the highest amount of viewers during the past 365 days: two articles dedicated to Laurie Farinacci and the one dedicated to George Tutuska. Together, they amount to almost 2k views. The first entry, “Home page / Archives”, simply refers to those who browsed the front page without clicking on any specific post.

I check statistics almost daily and I can confirm I’ve noticed a sharp increase in interest on articles which talk about the two aforementioned persons. I find it amazing that readers are hungry for information regarding these two somewhat “obscure” characters who had a profound, positive impact on the band’s development during its hardest years, which ultimately led to the worldwide success achieved in 1998. Let’s briefly talk about them.

• George Tutuska is one of the original members who formed the band back in 1985. He was not just the mere drummer, relegated to only playing on the outskirts of the stage. Read this post about his precious contributions to the band. He influenced the Goo Goo Dolls both artistically and musically, and was a riveting source of inspiration for many of the most loved pre-“Dizzy Up The Girl” tunes. Tutuska was replaced in 1995 by Mike Malinin, who was then replaced by another instrumentalist in 2013. You can read all the posts about him by clicking here.
• Laurie Farinacci met John in 1990. They were engaged in 1992, married in 1993, separated in 1997, and divorced in 2002. I am not the type of person who is into gossip and the likes, so I didn’t think it was worth writing about her until, during my extensive research, I came upon information about her possible involvement with some of the ways the band was somewhat shaped by her interactions. I decided fans should know about the precious contributions, directly or indirectly, she provided, without having to delve too much into her personal relationship with the front member. Read this post about how she had a fundamental role as a source of inspiration for the one song which unleashed the band from the shackles of independent act into the realms of mainstream popularity. Laurie was, and still is, a great motivator for John, and most likely the force behind some of the best songs the band put out. You can read all the posts about her by clicking here.

Personally, I am glad trivia and information about these two individuals is now out in a somewhat complete form. I find their intersections with the development of the Goo Goo Dolls of vital importance. Those positive interchanges ultimately led to a series of events which granted the music act some well-deserved recognition, both in terms of songwriting and live executions. Furthermore, I am happy to see readers have come to accept this standpoint, and demonstrated their appreciation towards these two persons by rewarding the posts dedicated to them with the highest amount of reads.

On another note, I sometimes get emails from readers who ask me whether or not the blog would eventually publish an interview with any of the characters who have had interactions with the band in the past or present. To clarify, I have contacted several people during the past months, including the two persons mentioned above, for interviews, but have not received an answer yet. To name a few, Petri, MacKillop, Malinin, Kwitchoff, and others. Should they show interest in sharing their thoughts about the past, be assured something will be posted here.

–Temple Of Goo staff