"Girl Right Next To Me" by Goo Goo Dolls

If you only know the Goo Goo Dolls for their material since their monster hit "Iris," you'd guess their earlier records were done by a completely different band. The Buffalo-based band started out as a garage and punk outfit in 1986 with the raspy vocals of bassist Robby Takac singing lead on most of the songs. The more radio-friendly voice usually associated with the Goo Goo Dolls is guitarist John Rzeznik, but you didn't hear much of his singing until the third record, "Hold Me Up."

Early records by the Goo Goo Dolls also featured numerous amped-up cover tunes and a couple guest vocalist spots for Buffalo area lounge singer Lance Diamond, who happened to live in the same apartment building as Takac.

By their fourth record, 1993's "Superstar Car Wash," Takac and Rzeznik were sharing vocal duties about 50/50 and the songs became more focused. They still had a punchy hard rock sound, but the hooks in these tunes were amazing. "We Are The Normal" featured lyrics written by their idol, Paul Westerberg (The Replacements), and started getting the band some decent airplay.

The breakthrough record would come next, "A Boy Named Goo," in 1995 thanks to a DJ that started spinning a very atypical Goo's track called "Name." Featuring Rzeznik on vocals, this acoustic-driven rock tune would lay the foundation for the Goo Goo Dolls that was to prevail through the 90s. "Name" went to #5 and the next single, "Naked," got to #47. Then the band recorded "Iris" for the film City of Angels - it remains the longest running #1 song ever on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay Chart (an astonishing 18 weeks).

The Goo Goo Dolls crank out generic pop rock now, catering to the trendy sounds of the day. They still make records and draw huge crowds, but haven't seen the top 40 since 2005 when "Better Days" hit #36.

"Girl Right Next To Me" goes back to my favorite Goo's record, a masterpiece of 90s rock, "Superstar Car Wash."