A message from contributor Bailey made me remember about a very rare, almost impossible to find Goo Goo Dolls release which, in a way, presents itself in quite unconventional circumstances.
To my knowledge, there have been only three tribute albums entirely dedicated to the Buffalo, NY act. After the release of “Gutterflower” in 2002, the Goo Goo Dolls began gaining more international traction, a step in their then-boosted career which inspired label Big Eye Records to release a tribute album called, you guessed it, “A Tribute To The Goo Goo Dolls“. I couldn’t find a Discogs entry for it, but only an Allmusic one. What’s curious about it is that the album is presented as a Various Artists (VA) release, meaning it should feature more than one artist covering the songs. In reality, only one band, called Soft, performed on it. You can listen to some of those covers by clicking here (look for videos which description is: “Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises”). All in all, it is a pretty good tribute, with an overall nice production value and a palpable sense of fidelity and respect toward the original versions of the tunes.
Another tribute album, released in 2009, came with the title “A Boy Named Blue” and saw the band Iron Horse reinterpret some of the Goo Goo Dolls classics in the style of the Bluegrass genre. Even in this case, I couldn’t locate a Discogs entry for the album, so I had to rely on another Allmusic one. What’s interesting about this compilation, as stated here, is that former drummer Mike Malinin also participated to the project as a performing musician. You can listen to Iron Horse’s cover songs through YouTube’s search by clicking here (look for the videos featuring the same album cover with the cover band’s name on it).
Ok, but what about real VA releases featuring different bands’ takes on Goo Goo Dolls tracks? Well, here comes the unconventional part. After a music act has reached mainstream success, it is quite likely that sooner or later a Various Artists compilation featuring their cover songs sees the light of day. I could make a myriad of examples, including some of the bands I have been following for the longest time, such as The Cure or The Smashing Pumpkins. That is NOT the case for the Goo Goo Dolls. John et al. did get a VA tribute release, surprisingly, not after they had reached worldwide success, but exactly one year before claiming such milestone.
In 1994, “Nothing Compares To Goo – The Tribute Cassette” was issued by P22 Records. The only format it came with was tape, and limited to 100 copies only. Among other things, it also featured a boardgame and, here I quote the Discogs entry, “A rejection letter addressed to Richard Kegler from R.E.M.’s management declining the offer to participate in this album“.
Only six bands participated to the project, all hailing from Buffalo, NY, the Goo Goo Dolls’ hometown:
- Deep Pumpkin (“There You Are“)
- Transylvanian Death Express (“Livin’ In A Hut“)
- Milf (“Up Yours“)
- Eamon Of Wicklow (“I’m Addicted“)
- Rod The Bunman (“Just The Way You Are“)
- Don’t Look Down (“Fallin’ Down“)
Below are Bailey’s thoughts about the release:
The first thing I’ll talk about is a tribute cassette various artists put together–all doing covers of the Goos. It was released in 1994 with a super rare game called “Nothing Compares To Goo” (also what the cassette is called).
There’s a cover of There You Are, I’m Addicted, Up Yours, Livin’ In A Hut, Just The Way You Are, and Fallin’ Down. In my opinion, I think the cover of “Fallin’ Down” (covered by a band called “Don’t Look Down”) is the best. I also think it’s really neat that before they played, they said “Brand new Goo Goo Dolls” just like the recording of “Different Light”.
I think it’s a really neat collection and shows just how much Buffalo loved their Goo Goo Dolls.
You can listen to the album below:
A member of the band which covered “Fallin’ Down” posted a comment on the video linked above, providing some interesting trivia about the project (click on the image to enlarge it if it shows up as being too small and hard to read on your browser).
My doubt still stands: why, as of now, we only got the one 1994 VA tribute tape and nothing more? I am not sure. I find it strange that no other label besides P22 decided to issue a VA compilation featuring Goo cover songs. However, I may be wrong about it and maybe there is something else out there. According to my research, the aforementioned three releases are all we got in terms of tribute albums. If you do have more information to share with us, do not hesitate to contact the Temple Of Goo.
Temple of Goo - The rarest Goo Goo Dolls releases, for real Goo fans only 