Goffie - Ya gat da face only a mutter could luv!
Musician, comedian, actor. Born Jeffrey Aldolph Young on December 3, 1972, in Corner Brook, NL, Canada. He is the 2nd oldest of 14 kids (gotta love the Canadian Child Tax Benefit while you are on Unemployment Insurance) Goffie is best known as the lead singer of the tremendously popular music ensemble Hot Banana Thrust.
Goffie received his name from what started as teasing from other kids in school. Goffie is dyslexic and can not tell the difference between “G’ and “J”. His bad spelling translated into his identity.
However it was his dyslexia that also helped him evolve his love of music into a brand new music genre. His backwards style created “Honky Tonk Newfie Celtic Rock”.
Raised in his grandmother's brothel, Goffie left school at an early age. He worked at a series of menial jobs until his love for public urination landed him in jail. Upon his release, Goffie was asked by several acquaintances to sing for a new band. The band, originally called The Rock, played a mix of Rock-a-Billy & Newfie rock. Unfortunately, the band’s moniker was already in use by another group. So they adopted the name Hot Banana Thrust, a reference to Goffie’s promiscuity.
Hot Banana Thrust ‘s debut release,
HBT (1989), was largely ignored by critics, but sold well in Atlantic Canada and abroad. Their sophomore effort,
Penalty for Early Withdrawal (1990), included the phenomenally popular tracks “
Release The Hounds”, “
Silk Ties” and “
Dorkbag!”, all of which are considered Canadian anthems.
The band’s use of phallic symbolism and celtic themes lent a gothic cast to their public personae. It also earned them constant criticism from virgin groups, negative publicity that simply fueled the bands popularity with its fan base, mostly young males.
Goffie left the group in 1992, at the height of HBT’s popularity, to pursue an acting career.
During his early twenties, he worked in small comedy clubs before being discovered by Lorne Michaels in 1996 on a seal hunt. The following year, he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, adding the profanity and controversial sexual themes that would become his signature.
With Goffie’s help SNL finally reached the ratings it hadn’t seen since the early 1980’s. However due to his controversial personality the show now aired at 3:30 a.m. All was going great for Goffie until that fateful day a delivery crate full of naked Thailand midgets was found in his dressing room.
Goffie was fired and blackballed from all TV and movie studios for life. Depressed he moved to Pittsburg where he joined a Pennsylvania Dutch Amish community.
He remains there today and has drastically turned his life around. Happily married to Candi Peachy he is raising his 7 children from previous relationships.
In 2004 Goffie accepted the position of General Manager of the Pittsburg Penguins and in accordance to Amish traditions conducts all league operations by courier pigeon.
Stay tuned for the next CPHL Biography: HalifaxDrunk – How much booze can a drunk drink drunk?
CPHL Biography #7 - Goffie
