Before they got together and formed a band, the individual members of Toto were regular players on albums by Steely Dan, Seals and Crofts, Boz Scaggs, Sonny and Cher, and many other artists, contributing to some of the most popular records of the 1970's. Keyboardist David Paich, son of musician and session player/arranger Marty Paich, rose to fame after having co-written much of Scaggs' 'Silk Degrees' album, and he played on many sessions with drummer Jeff Porcaro (the son of session percussionist Joe Porcaro), whom he met while attending Grant High School. There they formed the band Rural Still Life, and Paich began to discuss seriously with Porcaro the possibility of them forming their own band, so they brought in bassist and fellow session veteran David Hungate, having played with him in the backing band for Scaggs. In addition, the duo asked fellow Grant High School students, guitarist Steve Lukather (who also played in Scaggs' band as a replacement for Les Dudek) and Jeff Porcaro's brother Steve Porcaro on keyboards to join the team. 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', and according to popular myth, in order to distinguish their own demo tapes from other bands' in the studio at their first recording sessions, Jeff Porcaro wrote the word "Toto" on them. In the early 1980's, band members told the press that the band was named after Toto the dog from 'The Wizard Of Oz', but in fact their first album was completed by the still un-named band, and after viewing the name on the demo tapes, David Hungate explained to the group that the Latin words "in toto" translated to "all-encompassing", and because the band members played on so many records and in so many musical genres, they adopted the name Toto as their own. Luthaker started his session work in earnest in 1977, and as most of the other players had been active during the early 70's, they started to appear together on various albums from the late 70's onwards, in groups of three, four, or even five on Kiki Dee's 'Stay With Me' album. From 1977, through the 1978 recording of their debut album and ending in 1979 following the release of their 'Hydra' album, they played on literally scores of recordings, and this collection brings together some of the best tracks that they recorded with girl singers in that three year period, making in effect a Toto album with a variety of female guest vocalists.
Track listing
01 Top Of The World (Diana Ross 1977 SL/DH/JP)
02 Talk It Over (Even Though My Body's Cold) (Lisa Del Bello 1977 SL/DP/MP/JP)
03 I Don't Wanna Dance No More (Carole Bayer Sager 1978 SL/DH/SP/JP)
04 No Reason (Juice Newton 1978 SL/DH/MP/JP)
05 Crazy (Valerie Carter 1978 SL/DH/SP/JP)
06 As We Fall In Love Once More (Evie Sands 1979 SL/DH)
07 Love Is A Crazy Feeling (Kiki Dee 1979 SL/DP/DH/SP/JP)
08 Why Can't We Fall In Love (Deniece Williams 1979 SL/DH/JP)
09 Hollywood (Lauren Wood 1979 SL/DH/JP/BK)
10 Prisoner (Cher 1979 SL/JP/DP co-writer)
SL - Steve Luthaker (guitar)
DP - David Paich (keyboards)
DH - David Hungate (bass)
SP - Steve Porcaro (keyboards)
JP - Jeff Porcaro (drums)
MP - Mike Porcaro (bass)
BK - Bobby Kimball (backing vocals)
