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I've got to be candid -
Toto is a group comprised of some of the world's best session musicians. In the aggregate, their talent is unsurpassed.
My favorite songs are the unlikeliest of all: "Georgy Porgy," and "Hold The Line (
Love Isn't Always On Time."
In fact, Georgy knocks me out with is hypnotic switch (a magical, musical morph) from a dreamy Boz Scaggs-type lamentation ballad into a mysteriously diabolical refrain, rife with augmented ninths in a
get-on-the-edge-of-your-seat counterpoint harmony with some very, very seductive young ladies joining in on the vocals.
Once, I sat in on keyboards to play the other tune ("Hold The Line"), and my right hand still hurts when it is humid outside -- for you technicians, it involves playing four sets of thirds (twelve strikes) to the measure for what seems like the world's longest time.
Love that song too. The vocal comes right from the heart into the rasp of a throat...
Africa was an absolute sensation. The mixture of exotic instruments (truly from the root of Afrika), the lyrics, the vast, wide-swinging changes in mood and dynamics makes this song into a story -- a performance. A fellow by the name of
William Ruhlmann, a true discographer, had this to say about what has become Toto's acknowledged masterwork:
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(1982) Toto was formed in Los Angeles in 1978 by David Paich (b. June 21, 1954, Los Angeles; keyboards, vocals), Steve Lukather (b. October 21, 1957, Los Angeles; guitar, vocals), Bobby Kimball (b. Robert Toteaux, March 29, 1947, Vinton, LA; vocals), Steve Porcaro (b. September 2, 1957, Connecticut; keyboards), David Hungate (b. Texas; bass), and Jeff Porcaro (b. April 1, 1954, Hartford, CT; d. August 5, 1992, Hidden Hills, CA; drums). Paich was the son of arranger Marty Paich; the Porcaros were the sons of percussionist Joe Porcaro. The bandmembers had met in high school and at studio sessions in the 1970s, when they became some of the busiest session musicians in the music business. Paich, Hungate, and Jeff Porcaro wrote songs for and performed on Silk Degrees, the multi-million-selling 1976 album that combined pop, rock, and disco elements into a slick combination which heavily influenced mainstream pop music.
Toto released its self-titled debut album in October 1978, and it hit the Top Ten, sold two-million copies, and spawned the gold Top Ten single "Hold the Line." The gold-selling Hydra (October 1979) and Turn Back (January 1981) were less successful, but Toto IV (April 1982) was a multi-platinum Top Ten hit, featuring the number-one hit "Africa" and the Top Tens "Rosanna" (about Lukather's girlfriend, movie star Rosanna Arquette) and "I Won't Hold You Back." At the 1982 Grammys, "Rosanna" won awards for Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance, and Best Instrumental Arrangement With Vocal; and Toto IV won awards for Album of the Year, Best Engineered Recording, and Best Producer (the group). In 1984, a third Porcaro brother, Mike (b. May 29, 1955), joined the group on bass, replacing Hungate. Then lead singer Kimball quit and was replaced by Dennis "Fergie" Frederiksen (b. May 15, 1951, Wyoming, MI).
Toto's fifth album, Isolation (November 1984), went gold, but was a commercial disappointment. Frederiksen was replaced by Joseph Williams (b. Santa Monica), the son of the conductor/composer John Williams, for Fahrenheit (August 1986). Steve Porcaro quit in 1988, prior to the release of The Seventh One. In 1990, Jean-Michel Byron replaced Williams for the new recordings on Past to Present 1977-1990, then left, as Lukather became the group's lead singer. Jeff Porcaro died of a heart attack in 1992, but was featured on the group's next album, Kingdom of Desire. By this time, Toto was far more popular in Japan and Europe than at home. The group added British drummer Simon Phillips. Tambu, released in Europe in the late fall of 1995, appeared in the U.S. in June 1996. For 1999's Mindfields, Bobby Kimball returned to the lineup after a 15-year absence. The group members continued to do session work during the band's tenure, contributing significantly to the sound of mainstream pop/rock in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide ---------------
It's interesting to note that David Paich was the producer of Boz Scaggs' album "Silk Degrees," before Michael Omartian ( producer for Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, and others) took the position from him for the album "
Down Two Then Left."
Listen to
Africa. It's magical. It's only one click down the trail. Walk slowly, by the crescent of the moon...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCca5mPMp9A&feature=related
Man, on reflection, it's a song that you can feel. It IS a triumph for Toto.
