TOTO -- Toto IV

From HMV

Unfortunately I am a couple of days late but at least, I'm still acknowledging the 40th anniversary of the release of "Toto IV" by the rock/AOR group TOTO. Yup, all the way back on April 8 1982, an album that even I'd been aware about in my embryonic years as a music appreciator got its days in the sun. I heard about the hits that came from "IV" and the half-dozen Grammys that it got including one for Record of the Year.

Therefore, I'm doing this special Sunday edition of Reminiscings of Youth and only my second ROY article on an album after Billy Joel's "The Stranger" (well, half of it as of this writing). But there are other reasons for this as will, one being that out of the five singles that were born from "IV", three of them were staples in my radio history. As for the second reason, I figured that TOTO just had to finally get onto the blog since a few of the original members, guitarist/vocalist Steve Lukather, keyboardist David Paich and drummer Jeff Porcaro had been working with a number of Japanese singers in the past such as Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）, Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）and Naoko Kawai（河合奈保子）.

"Africa" was the third single associated with "IV" that was released in June 1982, and I'm not sure if my opinion is in the minority or the majority, but I think that if anyone thinks about the album, then "Africa" will be the first song to pop up to mind. Not surprisingly, this is one of the TOTO radio staples that I mentioned above. With Paich and Porcaro being the songwriters, I will always remember the song for that synthesizer riff which starts things off, the refrain and the overall atmosphere of an amazing adventure to be had on the titular continent. It hit No. 1 in both Canada and the United States.

"Rosanna" was the first single from "IV" released at the end of March 1982. Paich was the songwriter here and according to the Wiki article, TOTO keyboardist Steve Porcaro and Lukather declared that "Rosanna" was the ultimate TOTO song. To me, the song was the quintessential 80s pop/rock tune that was hitting the airwaves when I was a high school kid, along the lines of Chicago and Airplay perhaps. The "West Side Story"-influenced music video (and there was also something in the arrangement that reminded me of 50s group music) was one that I saw a lot of times thanks to Canada's Muchmusic channel and 80s music compilation album commercials which featured it. As well, that instrumental bridge with the synths was used in many bumpers on local news programs and maybe even sports broadcasts. 

Additionally, I found out that the horns were arranged by Jerry Hey who had his group of brass musicians help out Japanese singers on their albums over the years, too. "Rosanna" hit No. 4 in Canada whereas in America, it reached No. 2.

Comparatively, there isn't much written on Wikipedia on the March 1983 single and "IV" track, "I Won't Hold You Back", but it is the one other song that seemed to get frequent airplay on the local stations. With Paich taking care of this one as well, his father, Marty Paich, handled the orchestral arrangements, and it was the inclusion of that orchestra that has me remembering "I Won't Hold You Back" very well. As a power ballad, it does pack an emotional wallop (maybe it was the representation of grief) especially when those French horns and strings rumble in during the instrumental section. At the time, I hadn't even known that it was a TOTO tune and if I had been more insightful at the time, I would have thought it part of some sort of movie soundtrack. The song reached No. 17 in Canada while it hit No. 10 in the US.

The other two singles from "IV" were "Make Believe" (July 1982) and "Waiting for Your Love" (June 1983). Listening to those two, I have especially taken a liking for the latter as a great AOR tune. Some of those City Pop guys and gals in Japan would probably bow and yell out "We are not WORTHY!" to it.

As for "IV", it hit No. 4 on the album charts Stateside while reaching No. 1 in Canada and No. 3 on Oricon in Japan. I've begun to realize the hype surrounding this album when it was making the rounds back decades ago. 

So what was being released in April 1982 (although for a couple of them, J-Wiki has stated it was more like March) according to Showa Pops?

Mariko Takahashi -- for you

Hiroshi Itsuki -- Aishitsuzukeru Bolero （愛しつづけるボレロ）

Hiroyuki Sanada -- Sabaku no Machi ni（砂漠の都会に）