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The families of keyboardist David Paich and drummer Jeff Porcaro became friendly after their fathers Marty and Joe worked together on a TV show in 1967. Marty Paich (famous conductor and componist) and Joe Porcaro (well-known jazz percussionist) introduced their sons who found common music interests during the high school at Grant High School in San Fernando Valley. They formed the band Rural Still Life and Jeff Porcaroīs younger brothers Steve and Mike joined them. Steve Porcaro introduced Steve Lukather to the band. Also the high school friend David Hungate played in the band. When David Paich went to college and Jeff Porcaro left school to tour with Sonny and Cher, Steve Lukather took over the band. The music was inspired by Jimi Hendrix and the band survived the high school years. When they all had finished high school the band was splitted and the members moved on with their musical careers separately.

Everyone in Rural Still Life worked as studio musicians for well known artists for some years. When David Paich worked in the studio for Boz Scaggsī platinum-selling album "Silk Degrees" (1976) he agreed with Jeff Porcaro to organize a band of their own. They asked David Hungate (who also played on "Silk Degrees), Steve Porcaro, Steve Lukather and Mike Porcaro to join them. Everyone but Mike Porcaro teamed up. He continued as a session musician instead of joining them at that time. Needing a lead singer the band contacted Bobby Kimball, who David Paich and Jeff Porcaro had met during a demo session.

In 1977 Toto was reality, including Steve Porcaro, David Paich, Steve Lukather, David Hungate, Jeff Porcaro and Bobby Kimball. There have been a lot of rumours of how Toto got its name. The most common theory is that the name is attributable to the dog "Toto" in the movie "The Wizard of Oz". Steve Lukather explains the name in an interview: Interviewer: "Tell me how you guys ended up with the name Toto." Luke: "Tell me what youīve heard and Iīll tell you the truth." Interviewer: "I heard that Bobby Kimballīs last name was really Toteaux, as in T-O-T-E-A-U-X." Luke: "[Laughs.] Thatīs total bullshit. The bottom line, how the whole thing really started, we were doing demos for our first record in the early '77 and we needed something to write on the demo tapes, because we didnīt have a name for our group. So we said, ' We need to get a name like Toto, something really simple, easy to remember and easily identified in every language, that if you hear once, youīre going to remember it.' Always with the intention of finding a better name, īcause I think the name doesnīt fit the music at all. I think itīs actually been detrimental to our career more than anything." Interviewer: "Who suggested Toto and how did they come up with that name?" Luke: "David Paich and Jeff Porcaro. They came in with the idea and then we found out that in Latin it means 'everything' and we play lots of different kinds of music so... A lot of us were like, 'We gotta find a name, we gotta find a name.' It was one of those kind of things, shit happened so fast for us, the next thing you know people said, 'Yī know, thatīs not a bad name.' I was going like, 'Man, the word doesnīt fit what weīre doing.'" Interviewer: "So Bobby Kimballīs name isnīt really Robert Toteaux?" Luke: "No, thatīs a joke, thatīs a wank. Someoneīs pulling on your willie on that one. I remember years ago, making jokes about it, but it was never a legitimate explanation. We found out it meant a lot of different things in a lot of different languages and it was sort of interesting, it was one of those kind of things that just stuck and the band became the name." Interviewer: "Who do you think made up the bit about Kimballīs last name?" Luke: "Oh, that was our old bass player David Hungate. Bobby Kimball... Those guys havenīt been around for ten years. I could give a fuck where they are, actually." Interviewer: "Did you call yourselves anything else when you were just jamming?" Luke: "There were a couple of names early on. I think Jeff had one called Ripe Jack, which I always liked, which refers to a manīs hard penis. I thought that was a much better name. It was just one of those things where we were making a record and the record was out before we even really had a chance to get deep into thought about it. We just thought, 'Oh, yeah, okay.' Believe me, compared to a lot of other names, itīs not so bad. I mean, look at some of these now - the Butthole Surfers, which is a personal favorite of mine. Back then, in the mid to late seventies, people took their names a lot - you can get away with a lot more now. You can come up with phrases now ten years ago youīd never consider as a name. Our name is not quite as bad as some of these are." In another interview Bobby Kimball confirms the story about the name: "Jeff Porcao and David Paich were sitting around watching 'The Wizard of Oz' one day and they came up with the name from the movie." Interviewer: "So they brought it to the band and everyone said..." Bobby "We said, 'We love it.'" Interviewer: "I read that your name was originally - someone has since told me that itīs not true - but that your name is actually Robert Toteaux." Bobby: That may have been a thing we did with Rolling Stone just as a joke - told them my name was Robert Toteau, T-O-T-E-A-U, and we all had a big chuckle about it. Next thing you know, I was seeing it printed everywhere that my name was Toteau." Interviewer: "So you were born Robert Kimball?" Bobby: "Yeah." Interviewer: "Were you pleased that you picked the name Toto in retrospect?" Bobby: "Oh, yeah, I thought it was great because as we went around the world, we found - I think we ended up with about seventeen different connotations. Itīs a betting term in Europe - Toto Lotto. Thereīs a cartoon character in France named Toto and I think it means 'child' in Swahili. And toto means 'all-encompassing' in some language. Itīs pretty wild. Also, itīs the name of the largest toilet manufacturer in Japan. So the first time we went to Tokyo, we saw our name early every morning." Interviewer: "At the time I guess you guys didnīt realize that." Bobby: Oh, no, not at all. We had no clue."

In 1978 the bandīs debut album "Toto" was released. The album, including the huge hit "Hold The Line", gave the band an immediate success. In January 1979 the album peaked at #9 on the US Billboard and in April the same year #37 in UK. In December 1978 the album was awarded gold and platinum in January 1979. Seven days later Cheryl Lynn who sang on the song "Georgy Porgy"got gold for her album "Cheryl Lynn". "Hold The Line" reached gold in February 1979. Toto was nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist. After the successful debut album, the band attempted to define their musical position with the two next coming albums "Hydra" (1979) and "Turn Back" (1981). "Hydra" reached #37 on the US Billboard in December 1979 and was certified gold in March 1980. "Turn Back" peaked at #41 on the US Billboard in July 1982. The album met large success in Japan. Neither of the albums was though as successful as the debut album. The single "99" from the album "Hydra" was a minor hit around the world. Toto also filmed what could be considered the first conceptual music video.

In 1982 the fourth album "Toto IV" was released. "Toto IV" reached #4 on the US Billboard in July 1982 and was certified gold in June 1982 and platinum in December the same year. The album gave the band six Grammies out of 28 nominations. The song "Rosanna" was awarded Record Of The Year and Best Vocal Arrangement. David Paich, Jeff Porcaro and Jerry Hey won the award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals for "Rosanna". The album itself gave the band the awards Album Of The Year, Best Engineered Recording and Producer Of The year (Toto themselves). Steve Lukather won a Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Song together with Jay Graydon and Bill Champlin for George Bensonīs hit "Turn Your Love Around". "Toto IV" remains a milestone in music history. The album contains the hits "I Wonīt Hold You Back", "Rosanna" and "Africa". The two latter is two of Totoīs biggest hits ever and was both been certified gold many years later. After "Toto IV" David Hungate left the band and moved his family to Nashville and has since then worked as a session musician most in the country genre. David Hungate was replaced by Mike Porcaro who had made his first apperance on "Toto IV" when he played the cello on "Good For You". Mike Porcaro appears in the videos to the songs from "Toto IV" and performed on the tour that followed. In 1984 Bobby Kimball left the band. The rest of the band thought that his life-style didnīt fit anymore.

After the success the band moved on to reach new areas in music. Bobby Kimball was replaced by Fergie Frederiksen, after that heīs been introduced to Jeff Porcaro. Fergie Frederiksen only survived Totoīs fifth album "Isolation" (1984) though. The explaination was that he was unable to perform in the studio with good result. Isolation reached gold in February 1985. In January 1985 Toto participates in the USA For Africa recording and the song "We Are The World". At the same time Toto made the music to the science fiction film "Dune", accompanied by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. The soundtrack album "Dune" reached #168 on the US Billboard in January 1985. USA had turned its back to Toto and from now on the band got the biggest aclaims in Europe and Japan.

In 1985 Bobby Kimball joined the band Far Corporation including studio musicians, many of them from Scandinavia. Also David Paich, Steve Lukather and Simon Phillips (who several years later should become a Toto member) played on the bandīs first album "Division One".

In 1986 Fergie Frederiksen was replaced by Joseph Williams, son of the conductor and filmscore composer John Williams. Joseph Williams was lead singer on "Fahrenheit" (1986), including the hits "Iīll Be Over You" and "Could This Be Love", and "The Seventh One" (1988), including the hits "Pamela" and "Stop Loving You". "Fahrenheit" reached #40 on the US Billboard and UK #99 in November 1986 and was certified gold as late as in October 1994. "The Seventh One" debuted at #1 on the Japanese chart, but failed to climb on the US chart. "The Seventh One" is often mentioned when asking if Toto ever has made an album as great as "Toto IV". Steve Porcaro played in the band up until "The Seventh One" when he left the band. On the album he isnīt mentioned as an official band member. He disliked the progress of the bandīs sound and he also was dissapointed since his songs often didnīt made it to an album. Instead he started a solo career.

After "The Seventh One" the band members decided to let Toto rest for a while. In 1989 Steve Lukatherīs first solo album "Lukather" was released. During the time David Paich worked with film music. In 1990 Toto returned with the 'greatest hits' album "Past To Present", which only reached #153 on the US Billboard in September 1990. During the time before "Past To Present", Toto asked Bobby Kimball to rejoin the band. He showed up and the band worked for a while with some material intended for the album. Bobby Kimball and the rest of the band could though still not agree. Bobby Kimball left the band again and Toto decided to share the vocals between Steve Lukather and David Paich. The record company introduced though the South African Jean-Michel Byron to the band and asked Toto to try him as a new lead singer. Jean-Michel Byron acted lead vocalist on "Past To Present" and on the tour that followed, but soon he was asked to leave the band. Personally and musically he didnīt fit the band at all. In August 1991 the album "Toto IV" was certified three million copies which means double platinum and in October 1991 the singles "Africa" and "Rosanna" from the album was certified gold.

The role as the lead singer was handed over to Steve Lukather who sang on all songs on "Kingdom of Desire" (1992). The album is much discussed among Toto fans. Some says it was a lapse by the band to take the step to hard rock. Some says the album is one of Totoīs best ones. August 5th 1992 the band was hit by a catastrophe when Jeff Porcaro died at his home. The death was surrounded with rumours. First you could read in the newspapers that he had died by inhaling herbicide when he worked in his garden. A couple of weeks later the death reason was changed to myocardial infarction caused by cocain use. According to David Paich and Steve Lukather in an interview on Kanal 5*, the death reason wasnīt an overdose. Sometimes he did use drugs, but he died by myocardial infarction which had nothing with drug use to do. According to them he just had a bad heart which neither he or anyone else knew.

The three remaining bandmembers met at Steve Lukatherīs home to decide what to do. They decided to carry through the planned world tour and when that was ended decide of how to do with Toto as a band. Needing a drummer for the tour Steve Lukather called Simon Phillips who he had met when he worked with guitarist Jeff Beck. After a few days of thinking Simon Phillips joined Toto. A world tour did follow the release of "Kingdom Of Desire". In 1994 Steve Lukatherīs second solo album "Candyman" was released. The album was recorded together with the band Los Lobotomys and Simon Phillips.

After another break for Toto their ninth studio album "Tambu" was released. This time the band, including Simon Phillips, was joined by the singers John James and Jenny Douglas-McRae. The latter one had made her first appearence on the title song to the album "Kingdom Of Desire" backing singing. "Tambu" sold 600 000 copies worldwide, but once again the band had no success in USA. After the release of the album, Toto hit the road touring the world in front of some of the biggest crowds they ever has played to. In 1996 the compilation "Greatest Hits" was released including the song "The Seventh One". In 1996 Toto also toured South Africa for the first time.

In May 1998 the album "Toto XX" was released in Europe and Japan, and in November the same year in USA. The album includes unreleased songs from Totoīs whole career starting in 1977 with a couple of songs recorded to get the record deal plus live-versions of "Africa" and "Daveīs Gone Skiing" from Totoīs tour in South Africa. The band planned to let Toto rest during 1998 to come back with full power in 1999, but when David Paich and Steve Lukather searched the vault and found the songs now included on "Toto XX" they decided to release the material as soon as possible. The song "Goinī Home", recorded in 1989 with Bobby Kimball as lead vocalist and Joseph Williams on background vocals, was released as a single. The song is the same as on Joseph Williamsī third solo album "3". A minor tour in Europe exclusively for press and fans followed with David Paich, Steve Lukather, Mike Porcaro, Simon Phillips, Steve Porcaro, Bobby Kimball and Joseph Williams on stage. After the tour Bobby Kimball joined Toto again and the work with the album "Mindfields" started during the summer. In the autumn Jenny Douglas-McRae and John James left the cooperation with the band to work on their own.

Toto (1978) Produced by Toto.
LP CBS 32165, CD CBS 83148 (reissue)

Hydra (1979) Produced by Toto and Tom Knox.
LP CBS 32222, CD Columbia 32222

Turn Back (1981) Produced by Geoff Workman and Toto.
LP CBS 32679, CD Columbia 84609 (reissue)

Toto IV (1982) Produced by Toto.
LP CBS 85529, LP CBS 450088 1 (reissue), CD Columbia 450088 2 (reissue)

Dune (1984) Produced by Toto. "Prophecy Theme" produced by Brian Eno.
CD Polydor 422 823 770-2

Isolation (1984) Produced by Toto.
LP CBS 86305, LP CBS 462494 1 (reissue), CD CBS 462494 2 (reissue)

Fahrenheit (1986) Produced by Toto.
LP CBS 57091, CD 57091 2, MC CBS 570091 4, LP CBS 463087 1 (reissue), CD CBS 463087 2 (reissue)

The Seventh One (1988) Produced by George Massenburg, Bill Payne and Toto.
LP CBS 460645 1, CD CBS 460645 2, MC CBS 460645 4

Past To Present 1977-1990 (1990) Produced by James Guthrie and Toto.
LP CBS 465998 1, CD CBS 465998 2

Kingdom Of Desire (1992) Produced by Toto. "Kick Down The Walls" produced by Danny Kortchmar.
LP Columbia 471633 1, CD Columbia 471633 2, MC Columbia 471633 4, CD Sony SRCS 5974 (Japan)

Absolutely Live (1993) Produced by Toto and James Guthrie.
CD Columbia 474514 2

Best Ballads (1994)

Tambu (1995) Produced by Elliot Scheiner and Toto.
CD Columbia 481202 2

Greatest Hits (1996)

Toto XX 1977-1997 (1998) Executively produced by Steve Lukather and David Paich.
CD Columbia 489965 2

Premium Best (1998)

Mindfields (1999) Produced by Toto and Elliot Scheiner.
CD Columbia 493245 2

	Gold Record Award.
	Platinum Record Award. Two dots means "double platinum".