After Dinner Speakers: Toto, Geoffrey Boycott, Beach Boys

Soft pop rock stars David Paich (keyboards, vocals), Steve Lukather (guitar/vocals), Bobby Kimball (vocals), Steve Porcaro (keyboards), David Hungate (bass) and Jeff Porcaro (drums) formed the Los Angeles-based band Toto in 1978 and influenced conventional pop music by incorporating disco disciplines and styles into traditional rock 'n' roll rhythms. During the late '70s and '80s, Toto was a huge success despite the internal struggles and resulting transitions that arose throughout their reign in the pop rock limelight. The band met in high school in the 1970s and became some of the youngest and most industrious session musicians in the industry. Their debut self-titled album was released in 1978 and sold two million copies thanks to the Top 10 single, "Hold the Line." In 1979 Toto released Hydra, which went gold and paved the way for their 1982 multi-platinum release Toto IV. The album featured the Top 10 tunes "Africa" and "Rosanna" (written for movie diva Rosanna Arquette, a one-time girlfriend of Lukather) and won Album of the Year and Best Engineered Recording. "Rosanna" stole Grammy awards for Best Pop Vocal Performance and Best Instrumental Arrangement with Vocal. Before releasing their next album, Isolation,in 1984, Mike Porcaro replaced bassist David Hungate while Dennis Frederiksen became the new lead vocalist. This was just the beginning of a long list of lineup changes for the band. For the 1986 release of Farenheit, the lead vocalist position changed once again, this time bringing to the forefront Joseph Williams, the son of award-winning composer John Williams. One third of the Porcaro Brothers trio quit in 1988 as The Seventh Sign was being released. Williams then took a bow, relinquishing his duties to Jean-Michel Byron for their new album, Past to Present 1977-1990, leaving lead vocalist duties solely to Lukather. The release of Kingdom of Desire in 1992 included the percussion work of drummer Jeff Porcaro, who died of a heart attack later that year. Tambu, the band's lastest effort, featured Simon Phillips on drums and was released in 1996. Toto's current lineup is Steve Lukather (lead vocalist/guitar), David Paich (keyboards/vocals), Mike Porcaro (bass), Simon Phillips (drums), Jenny Douglas-McRae (vocals) and John James (vocals).