I managed to get 21 posts in before I selected a single song from my favorite band of all time (besides The Beatles, who retired all the trophies). I will come back to them many times over the course of the blog's tenure because, well, because they are unrivaled instrumentalists that took the best parts of rock, pop, so-called "prog" rock (short for "progressive", usually reserved for bands like Yes, King Crimson, and the like), and even jazz.
No, this band was a bunch of Southern California kids who grew up around each other. they weren't without pedigree-one's father was a well-known arranger. Two of them were brothers (joined later by a third brother after tragedy struck the eldest). Like so many bands from the '70s, they built their sound around a distinctive vocalist, a high tenor who had soul oozing from every pore.
Even after that guy left, they found another childhood friend, this one had a very famous father who wrote soundtracks for a living. You may have seen some of the movies he scored--"Jaws". "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". "Star Wars". "Superman". "Schindler's List". the "Harry Potter" movies.
When they lost their first singer, they had a one-off album with a replacement who didn't pan out. Then the famous composer's son joined the band, and their sound changed radically. Less Pop and more Jazz. More Soul (if that was possible). And while they didn't sell as many records as their biggest album (which won 6 Grammys), the later sound was just as good if not better.
Most people never heard anything from them that wasn't on the radio. And while some of those songs were multi-platinum, there was so much more to them than that. I'm unsure where to even start, but I've made up my mind that I'll start at the end and move backwards.
Here's that band, with their SIXTY YEAR OLD lead singer. From their 15th album, creatively titled XV with a song I'm just about 100% sure you've never heard before, but if it doesn't take you back to the band's heyday you need to re-listen. Joseph Williams (son of John) testifies about how much he'd sacrifice for love.
By the way, Toto isn't named after the dog, nor is it about the bathroom fixtures company based in Japan. It's from the Latin, meaning "all", since they had established themselves as studio musicians before they formed as a band. The keyboard player (and son of that famous arranger, Marty), David Paich, essentially wrote and/or arranged most of Boz Scaggs' breakout album Silk Degrees. You can hear the lead guitarist (Steve Lukather) playing the main riff for Michael Jackson's "Beat it" (before the bombastic Eddie VanHalen solo in the middle). And on dozens of other songs from that era.
See you tomorrow...
Pete
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