A Boy Named Goo

A Boy Named Goo, sometimes referred to as ABNG, is a studio album by the Goo Goo Dolls, released in 1995 on Warner Brothers Records.

History
This is the Goo Goo Dolls' last studio album with George Tutuska on drums; he was replaced by current drummer Mike Malinin just before the album was released. The song "Stand Alone" was written by George Tutuska, and because Johnny Rzeznik didn't want to exploit George's efforts after his dismissal, the song was only included on a promo version of the album. On the wide-release version, it is replaced with "Disconnected" and "Slave Girl." On the same promo, "Ain't That Unusual" was labeled as "Someday." The two replacement songs are covers of songs by defunct Buffalo and Sydney, punk bands The Enemies and Lime Spiders.

At the time of its release, Target and Wal-Mart stores refused to sell the CD because of the cover of the album. They thought that if people saw the adult hands over a small child with a red substance on the child's face, people might mistake it for blood and they might misinterpret the album as pedophilic. The substance on the child's face is actually red berries. The song "Name" is well-known as the Goo Goo Dolls' first hit. This was "quite accidentally," according to lead singer Johnny Rzeznik. He wrote it as a love ballad, reflecting on his childhood as an orphan.