Toto (band)
Toto is an American pop rock band formed in 1977 in Los Angeles, California. Toto combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, hard rock, R&B, blues, and jazz. Having released 14 studio albums and sold over 40 million records worldwide,[2] the group has received several Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009.[3]
Toto
David Paich (keyboards, vocals) and Jeff Porcaro (drums) had played together as session musicians on several albums and formed the band; David Hungate (bass), Steve Lukather (guitar, vocals), Steve Porcaro (keyboards, vocals), and Bobby Kimball (vocals) were recruited before the release of the band's eponymous debut album in 1978. Led by the Top 5 single "Hold the Line", the album brought the band to mainstream attention, though it was their fourth album Toto IV (1982) which brought them global attention. "Africa" topped the Billboard Hot 100, while "Rosanna" reached number 2, helping Toto become one of the best-selling music groups of their era.
Following Toto IV, two of the original members, Hungate and Kimball, departed the band. Hungate was replaced on bass by Mike Porcaro, while Kimball was replaced by a number of different short-term vocalists, the longest serving of which was Joseph Williams. After Jeff Porcaro's death in 1992, he was replaced by Simon Phillips. While the band has not repeated the U.S. radio successes of their heyday in the late 1970s and early 1980s, they have continued to produce albums and tour more-or-less continuously to the current day, minus a few hiatuses, and have had many more top-ten albums and singles in places like Japan and Scandinavia. Steve Lukather remains the only original member who still records and tours with the band. Paich remains an official member of the band, though he has mostly retired from touring. Since the 2010s, the band has increasingly relied on contracted touring musicians to continue to perform. As of 2023, they have released fourteen studio albums, eight live albums, one movie soundtrack, 1984's Dune, and a number of compilation albums. Their final release was 2018's Old Is New before the band eschewed recording any further studio albums.[4] In 2024, Toto launched its "Dogz of Oz" Tour with its first date in Red Bank, New Jersey.[5]
History[edit]
1977–1979: Formation and debut album[edit]
The members of Toto were regulars on albums by Steely Dan,[6] Seals and Crofts,[7] Boz Scaggs,[8] Sonny and Cher,[9] and many others, contributing to many of the most popular records of the 1970s. Keyboardist David Paich, son of musician and session player/arranger Marty Paich, rose to fame after having co-written much of Scaggs's Silk Degrees album. David met drummer Jeff Porcaro, the son of session percussionist Joe Porcaro, while attending Grant High School, where they formed the band Rural Still Life. Years later, having played on many sessions with Paich, the two began to seriously discuss the possibility of their forming their own band.
They brought in bassist and fellow session veteran David Hungate, with whom they had played in the backing band for Scaggs. The duo asked fellow Grant High School students, guitarist Steve Lukather (who also played in Scaggs's band as a replacement for Les Dudek) and Jeff Porcaro's brother Steve Porcaro (keyboards) to join the team. Lukather and Steve Porcaro were in the same year at Grant and continued the band Rural Still Life (the name shortened to Still Life) after Paich and Jeff graduated. With the addition of former S.S. Fools singer Bobby Kimball, the group began to work on their first album in 1977 after signing with Columbia Records.
Once the band came together, David Paich began composing what would become the eponymous debut album, Toto. According to popular myth, at the first recording sessions, in order to distinguish their own demo tapes from other bands' in the studio, Jeff Porcaro wrote the word "Toto" on them. In the early 1980s, band members told the press that the band was named after Toto the dog from The Wizard of Oz.[10] After the completion of the first album, the band and record were still unnamed. David Hungate, after viewing the name on the demo tapes, explained to the group that the Latin words "in toto" translated to "all-encompassing". Because the band members played on so many records and so many musical genres, they adopted the name "Toto" as their own.
Toto climbed the charts quickly, earning popularity with the hit single "Hold the Line", as well as the charting "I'll Supply the Love" and "Georgy Porgy", featuring Cheryl Lynn. Though the band was largely dismissed by music critics,[11] it was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist.[12] Shortly thereafter, in early 1979, Toto embarked on their first American tour in support of the debut album.[13] For the tour, Toto brought along two additional musicians, Tom Kelly (guitar, backup vocals) and Lenny Castro (percussion), to increase the depth of the sound. Castro had appeared with the group on their first album as a session musician and continued to play on every one of their albums for the next 40 years in varying capacities, with the exception of Turn Back. The band continued to hire additional touring musicians for all subsequent tours. (See the "Tour Musicians" section below.)
1979–1981: Hydra and Turn Back[edit]
At the close of the first tour, the band began work on their next album, Hydra, which was released later that year and featured the single "99", inspired by George Lucas' cult film THX 1138.[14] Nearly 30 years later, Steve Lukather confessed that, despite the song's popularity, he hated "99" and that it's one of his least favorite Toto songs, which is why it was rarely performed after Hydra's tour.[15] The band also released four promotional music videos for the album, including the title track, "99", "St George and The Dragon" and "All Us Boys".[16] They were directed by Bruce Gowers and produced by Paul Flattery for Jon Roseman Productions International. Although the album Hydra failed to achieve the commercial success of Toto's first release, it still went gold. Following the album's release, the band set out on the "Hydra Tour", which featured both American and international dates. The tour lasted from February until June 1980.[13]
In early 1981, Toto released their third album, Turn Back. The album was a venture into arena rock[17] and featured heavier guitar and fewer keyboards than the previous two albums. Its disappointing chart performance and sales in almost every country except Japan and Norway put the band's career into further jeopardy, as they had not had a hit single in North America in almost two years at that point. The abnormal success of the album's lead single "Goodbye Elenore" in Japan proved to be the band's breakthrough there, and Japan has become a permanent staple of their touring schedule since.
Session work (1970s to early 1990s)[edit]
Before and during Toto, members of the band did session work for a slew of notable musicians. The first such session, which also led to the birth of the band, was with Boz Scaggs, in which Jeff Porcaro, David Paich, David Hungate, and Joe Porcaro (regular Toto guest contributor and father of Jeff, Steve, and Mike) played on Scaggs's album Silk Degrees.[74] The members had done smaller scale work together before this, including with Steely Dan,[75] Seals and Crofts,[76] and Sonny & Cher.[77] Steve Lukather provided the main guitar work on Michael Jackson's hit "Beat It", although Eddie Van Halen played the guitar solo in the bridge. Jeff Porcaro played drums on that track,[78] while Steve Porcaro programmed synthesizer for the Thriller album and also wrote and composed "Human Nature".
In 1982, the rock band Chicago brought in David Foster to produce their album Chicago 16. Under his direction, the band adopted more of a soft rock sound, shed most of its jazz fusion/horn section sound, and brought in many session musicians, including Steve Lukather, David Paich, and Steve Porcaro, the three core members of Toto.[79]
In 1978, David Foster brought David Hungate, Steve Lukather, Steve Porcaro, and Toto vocalist Bobby Kimball to play on Alice Cooper's 1978 album From the Inside. They have also played with legendary jazz player Miles Davis. Members of Toto have also collaborated with Larry Carlton, Pink Floyd, Quincy Jones, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, James Newton-Howard, Michael McDonald, the Eagles, Earth, Wind & Fire, Yes, Eddie Van Halen, Los Lobotomys, Yoso, Richard Page (of Mr. Mister, who was proposed to replace Bobby Kimball), and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band (also featuring Richard Page).
Studio albums
Soundtrack albums
