Music Legend Toto
Toto is an American alternative rock band founded in 1977 in Los Angeles. The band’s current line up features John Pierce, Robert “Bob” Searight, David Paich, and Steve Lukather. The band has been criticized for their songs “Where Have All The Flowers Gone” and “I’m Still Young”. The band made a name for themselves by being called the “Gorilla”, due to their resemblance to a green, slavering Gorilla. Their music and songs have been compared to that of the Beatles.
There is no concrete evidence to verify the origin of the Toto name. Most likely it was borrowed from a Japanese word which means “dream”. In the novel Hollywood Forever Young, by author Will Sasso, Toto is called the Tin Man. The Tin Man appears in various places in the book, each time telling the story of how they are going to die. The most famous Toto is “Toto”, which is believed to mean “dreamer” in Japanese.
In the movie adaptation of the book Hollywood Forever Young, Toto was played by Gregarious Jackson. In the sequel to Hollywood Forever Young, he appeared in the third film as a supporting character in the role of Winger. In the fourth and fifth films, respectively, Toto was portrayed by Thomas Brodie-Sangster. In the sixth film, Toto became starring in the movie adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s novels The Hanged Man and The Tin Man. In the novel, which is a play, Toto appears as theaux doll, who disguises himself as a beautiful young woman named Daphne Du Maurier.
Known for his vocal abilities as a singer, Toto did not start to create music immediately after recording his first album. His first album was entitled On Pointe and was recorded by the jazz vocalist Louis Armstrong. In his lyrics he includes references to food, dancing, and women. “Daughter (ikono)” from On Pointe is about a mother wanting to leave her daughter to live in Japan but changes her mind when she sees a picture of herself in a dress and hat outside a cafe. “I Remember You” is about Toto’s meeting with jazz singer/songwriter Louis Armstrong and his relationship with the great man. According to biographer Robert Waite, “In some ways the story of Toto is as old as America itself: He came from a long line of tough men who were never satisfied… Eventually, however, he came to be accepting of America and all that it stood for.”
Toto’s masterpiece album Bailout is considered to be his masterpiece. Although many other artists have contributed to and made their own recordings of the album, Bailout remains as one of the most recognizable anthems in the world. It was Toto’s first trip to Japan, and while on this trip he wrote and recorded this classic song. In the song, Toto recalls the terrifying earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2021. He also discusses the relationship between himself and the people of Japan, and how he sees the country’s future in the light of the past disasters.
Toto is best known for his collaborations with fellow Japanese songwriters like Koji Doo and Mikio Suzuki. Doo wrote the classic “Hakamachi”, which features the lyrics “Now the sky is blue and the water is deep…” and Suzuki did the musical arrangements. Other collaborations included works with Yusei log, Koji toki, Koji tokaji, and Shinyutaka Honda. Today, Doo lives in Tokyo and Suzuki lives in Los Angeles, but both still work together to produce new music.
