Toto IV
Released April 8, 1982
Recorded 1981–1982
Studio
Sunset Sound and Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles, California Hogg Manor in Sherman Oaks, California Abbey Road Studios in London, England
Genre Rock
Length 41:59
Toto IV is the fourth studio album by American rock band Toto released in the spring of 1982 by Columbia Records. The album marked the band’s career zenith.
The lead single, “Rosanna”, peaked at number 2 for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, while the album’s third single, “Africa”, topping the Hot 100 chart, became the group’s first and only number 1 hit. Both songs were hits in the UK as well, reaching number 12 and 3 respectively. The fourth single, “I Won’t Hold You Back”, also peaked within the top ten on the Hot 100, at number 10, but atop the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts for three weeks. It also went into the top 40 in the UK. With the success of “Africa”, the album climbed back into the top 10 in early 1983 on both sides of the Atlantic.
Toto IV received six Grammy Awards in 1983 including Album of the Year, Producer of the Year for the band, and Record of the Year for “Rosanna”. It reached number four on the Billboard 200 album charts in the United States, shortly after its release. It also reached the top ten in other countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
Toto IV is the fourth studio album by American rock band Toto released in the spring of 1982 by Columbia Records. The album marked the band’s career zenith.
The lead single, “Rosanna”, peaked at number 2 for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, while the album’s third single, “Africa”, topping the Hot 100 chart, became the group’s first and only number 1 hit. Both songs were hits in the UK as well, reaching number 12 and 3 respectively. The fourth single, “I Won’t Hold You Back”, also peaked within the top ten on the Hot 100, at number 10, but atop the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts for three weeks. It also went into the top 40 in the UK. With the success of “Africa”, the album climbed back into the top 10 in early 1983 on both sides of the Atlantic.
Toto IV received six Grammy Awards in 1983 including Album of the Year, Producer of the Year for the band, and Record of the Year for “Rosanna”. It reached number four on the Billboard 200 album charts in the United States, shortly after its release. It also reached the top ten in other countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
After the success of their self-titled debut, Toto struggled to sustain success on their next two albums, Hydra and Turn Back. The band was under heavy pressure from Columbia Records to deliver a hit album with their next release or be at risk of being dropped from the label.
The band went back to the formula that helped them succeed on their first album, having an album that touched on many different genres of music. They also utilized many outside musicians to help give the sound a more polished, fuller feel than they had on past albums.
The recording took many months during 1981 and 1982 and the band was allowed a much larger than average recording budget. At a time when most bands were using a single 24-track recorder Toto used as many as 3 separate 24-track recorders at the same time. The 24-track recorders were linked with a computerized SMPTE timecode system that allowed for up to 69 individual tracks of sound simultaneously.
This was the final album with the original Toto lineup. David Hungate, who moved to Nashville during the recording of the album, left the band to spend more time with his family. Two years later, prior to beginning recording of their follow-up album, Bobby Kimball was fired by the band due to drug issues that were damaging his voice.
The band delayed touring after the release of the album to instead help in the production of Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, as well as collaborating on Chicago’s comeback album Chicago 16 that same year.
Track listing
Side one
1. “Rosanna” David Paich Steve Lukather (verse) and Bobby Kimball (pre-chorus) 5:31
2. “Make Believe” Paich Kimball 3:43
3. “I Won’t Hold You Back” Lukather Lukather 4:53
4. “Good for You”
Kimball Lukather
Kimball 3:17
5. “It’s a Feeling” Steve Porcaro S. Porcaro 3:05
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Lead vocals Length
6. “Afraid of Love”
Lukather Paich Jeff Porcaro
Lukather 3:52
7. “Lovers in the Night” Paich Paich 4:25
8. “We Made It”
Paich J. Porcaro
Kimball 3:56
9. “Waiting for Your Love”
Kimball Paich
Kimball 4:12
10. “Africa”
Paich J. Porcaro
Paich (verse) and Kimball (chorus) 4:55
Personnel
Toto
David Paich – keyboards, lead and backing vocals, orchestral arrangements on “I Won’t Hold You Back” and “It’s a Feeling”, horn arrangements on “Rosanna”
Steve Lukather – guitar, lead and backing vocals, piano on “Good For You”
Bobby Kimball – lead and backing vocals
Jeff Porcaro – drums, percussion
Steve Porcaro – keyboards, lead vocals on “It’s a Feeling”
David Hungate – bass guitar
Additional personnel
James Newton Howard – orchestral arrangements and conductor on “I Won’t Hold You Back”, “It’s a Feeling”, “Afraid of Love” and “Lovers in the Night”.
Tom Scott – saxophone on “Rosanna” and “Lovers in the Night”
Lenny Castro – percussion and congas on “Rosanna”, “Good For You”, “It’s a Feeling”, “Lovers in the Night” and “Africa”.
Joe Porcaro – percussion on “It’s a Feeling” and “Africa”, xylophone on “Afraid of Love”, tympani on “Lovers in the Night”, marimba on “Africa”.
Ralph Dyck – synthesizer on “Lovers in the Night”
The Martyn Ford Orchestra – strings on “I Won’t Hold You Back”, “It’s a Feeling”, “Afraid of Love” and “Lovers in the Night”.
Gary Grant – trumpet on “Rosanna”
Jerry Hey – trumpet and horn arrangements on “Rosanna”
James Pankow – trombone on “Rosanna”
Jim Horn – saxophone on “Rosanna” and “Lovers in the Night”, recorders on “Africa”.
Tom Kelly – backing vocals on “Rosanna” and “Make Believe”
Marty Paich – orchestral arrangements on “I Won’t Hold You Back”
Roger Linn – synthesizer programming on “Good For You”
Mike Porcaro – cello on “Good For You”
Timothy B. Schmit – backing vocals on “I Won’t Hold You Back”, “Good For You”, and “Africa” (where he also plays rhythm guitar)
Jon Smith – saxophone on “Make Believe”
Production
Produced by Toto
Engineers – Dick Gall, Bruce Heigh, Tom Knox, Greg Ladanyi, David Paich, Steve Porcaro and Al Schmitt.
Tracks recorded by Al Schmitt (1, 3, 4, 5, 7 & 10), Tom Knox (2 & 9) and Greg Ladanyi (6 & 8).
Strings on tracks # 3, 5, 6 & 7 recorded by John Kurlander.
Additional recording by Niko Bolas, Terry Christian, Jamie Ledner, Lon LeMaster, David Leonard and Peggy McCreary.
Mixed by Greg Ladanyi
Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound (New York City).
Photography – Glen Christiensen, Sam Emerson and Jim Hagopian.
Illustration – Joe Spencer
Album Package Concept – Steve Porcaro
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