I know that the American band Toto is not the most accurate example of great music in the 80's and after that valuable comment in the WE NEED A MUSIC REVOLUTION post, I feel that I have to expose my point of view.
With a little help from my childhood friend Rene these are some reasons that I've found to consider Toto a GREAT AMERICAN BAND...
- Even when I never said that they are the Greatest Band of All Times( I just referred them as a MULTI-TALENTED band), I think Toto is the most popular and experienced session musicians of the era. The great Eddie Van Halen describe them as "collectively the best musicians on the planet".
- They created beautiful musical compositions that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard rock, R&B, and jazz, making them appeal to a variety of musicians and non-musician listeners. Here's some proof of that:
"HOLD THE LINE" (1978)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9f-cEM1l7Ks&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uV4yjWP2FGM
- With "Toto IV", the band delivered one of the most commercially successful records of the 80s.
IV was awarded with 3 Grammy Awards, including RECORD OF THE YEAR for "Rosanna", ALBUM OF THE YEAR and PRODUCER OF THE YEAR.
- In the video for "Rosanna", a young Patrick Swayze can be seen as one of the dancers, and a young Cynthia Rhodes (former member of Animotion and wife of Richard Marx)can be seen as the lead dancer. The song was named after Steve Porcaro's ex-girlfriend, actress Rosanna Arquette, but the song itself was not about her, according to writer David Paich.
- "Africa" became Toto's only #1 song in America and it's considered one of the most important of the 80's.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lPT_3PEjnsE
- The video for "A stranger in town" is one of the most artistically beautiful of the 80's combining a conceptual cinematography with a well driven film direction. The images of the last scenes of this video have remained vivid in my memory after all these years. It's impossible to forget that scene when the stranger is caught by the cops while he was reading the bible to the kids. And that shadow of his open arms body resembling the image of a crucified Jesus.
- The late Jeff Porcaro, founding member of Toto, is considered one of the best drummers in the history of rock music. In his career he played with hundreds of world-class artists (including Roger Waters). The shuffle pattern in "Rosanna" involved "ghost notes" played by lightly bouncing the stick on the snare between backbeats. This was not an original technique (made famous originally by Bernard Purdie and John Bonham), but Jeff's mastery of it brought it to the forefront.
- Toto LOVE women and that's something that I appreciate in the work of an artist. Not only they want to see and contemplate Rosanna's eyes when they wake up in the morning , they beg Pamela for a second chance and even tell the story of sweet Holyanna who has a secret "42nd St night shift" to hide from her mom.
"HOLYANNA" (1985)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jY9smNXVPpE
"PAMELA" (1988)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MuPduNGueWI
- Even when their fanbase is significantly greater in Europe and Asia than in the United States, they had a succesful comeback in 2001 when DJ Roger Sanchez sampled their song “I won’t hold you back” in the worldwide smash hit song "Another Chance". The video of this song tells the story of the girl with the big heart wandering the streets of Manhattan looking for love. This is by far my favorite video of this decade.
"I WON"T HOLD YOU BACK" (1983)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TCZ5p3S4jm0&feature=related
"ANOTHER CHANCE" by Roger Sanchez (2001)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=k9Xtvj_JVSM- Perhaps this band will never have a significant success in the States and this is something that Toto's guitar player knows:
"Hey, what can I say? Its not OUR fault! Its not YOUR fault. I wish I had an answer but I don't. I am bummed too. No one likes to admit defeat. Fuck, it makes no sense considering it all. The press killed us and made us look like some soft pussy band like the fucking Partridge family. That is NOT who and what we are..."
"We have tried EVERY possible way in and door slams. We are all tired and need some time off. Hell, I will be daddy any day now. I have a great life, we kill just about any of our peers overseas so what the fuck? Its a big world, MUCH bigger than the USA. I am almost done living here anyways. I think a nice house overlooking the ocean in the south of France or Italy would be nice. I wouldn't have to travel as far to make my living.
We REALLY appreciate all you guys and God Bless y'all"
Steve Lukather
Nash is the artist of the month for MTV (which is kind of weird 'cause I haven't watched any of her videos on that channel) and Adele has been selected by international music critics, editors and broadcasters as the Best New Act for this 2008.
Whenever you are in San Francisco go to the Fisherman's Wharf in the Bay Area and try this delicious chowder. Best Meal that I have ever had in my time in America.
