Content area
Full Text
At the 1982 Grammys, accepting Toto's sixth award of the night, David Paich raised the award in the air and said, "We'd like to thank Robert Hilburn for believing in us," a sarcastic salute to the Los Angeles Times music critic who took every opportunity to slam the band. Even when the article wasn't about the Southern California group, Hilburn would find a way to bring them up as a negative example. And he wasn't the only one. Ironically, because of their mastery of their instruments and their profile as studio aces, critics then - and still - decided the group was too polished and treated them as if they were some kind of pre-fabricated band, a la The Monkees.
Not true. These guys started out as a garage band well before their musicianship gained them attention in the studios. And why should having the talent to play with such a variety of artists as Warren Zevon, Paul McCartney, Cher, Cheap Trick, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Tommy Bolin, David Gilmour, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, George Duke, Michael Jackson and Michael McDonald (the list goes on) mean they weren't capable of creating a great band sound?
But that night in February 1983, even the critics couldn't keep Toto from getting their just desserts. Toto took home five Grammys: Record of the Year ("Rosanna"), Best Instrumental Arrangement with a Vocal ("Rosanna"), Album of the Year (Toto IV), Producer of the Year (for Toto IV) and Best Engineered Recording (Toto IV).
It was no surprise to engineer Al Schmitt. "When we started that album, the first track we did was "Rosanna" - and it was the second take, with the improv creative piano solo on the way out - and I think the second track we did was "Africa,"" he recalls. "I had a friend who said to me, "Next time you're going to be up for a Grammy, let me know. I want to go to the Grammys. Right after we cut that second track, I called my friend and said, "Start getting your tickets." It was just magic."
Paich recalls writing "Africa" on his living room piano. "Over many years, I had been taken by the UNICEF ads with the pictures of Africa and the...