The surreal side of everyday life
Here’s the photographic evidence that, yes, I did meet Toto…
Left to right: Greg Phillinganes (keyboards, vocals), Dion “Dee” Detterer (hanger-on, sunburn victim), Bobby Kimball (vocals)
(Note that Bobby’s wearing a VB T-shirt. Rock on!)
Left to right: Simon Phillips (drums), Steve “Luke” Lukather (guitar, vocals), Dion Detterer (long-distance backing vocals)
Thanks again to Greg, Bobby, Simon and Luke for hanging out with me and thanks also to John for sending me the photos. You guys are all very special and I’ll never forget your kindness.
Tonight I saw Toto live, and it was the best show I’ve ever seen. Roger Waters was stirring and The Police were thrilling, but Toto were just out of this world. Great songcraft, amazing instrumental passages and the best fucking guitar solo I’ve ever seen or heard, live or not. It’d make a fan out of anyone.
Firstly, the restaurant, African Feeling, was fantastic — great food and friendly, accommodating service — but I’ll detail that another time.
Instead, let me talk about the show. Bobby Kimball’s voice is as strong as ever, Simon Phillips is an amazing drummer whose technique and abilities are extraordinary (though of course he’ll never truly replace Jeff Porcaro) and Greg Phillinganes is so exciting to watch, particularly because I still consider myself a pianist deep down.
But holy shit, Steve Lukather is just a dead-set fucking legend. His guitar chops are so far beyond the realm of mere mortals that it’s hard to comprehend what you’re actually witnessing. I mean, I can’t even begin to express it all in words.
They did, of course, play “Rosanna”, and the encore had to be “Africa”, but the show stopper (in terms of big hits) was “Hold the Line”. For a band that most people think of as being merely soft rock, these guys rocked harder than anyone would ever dream.
And then I met them after the show.
They were all wonderfully nice, spending good quality time with my friends and I, but Steve (”Luke”) in particular hung around for some real bonding. Yes, folks, I had some swigs from Steve’s beer. They’re all great guys.
If that’s not enough, I bumped into Tim Farriss from INXS as well.
Oh, and they gave me a guitar pick!!!
Photographic evidence coming soon…
In 2007 my tastes shifted rather dramatically from pastoral, symphonic progressive rock (such as Genesis and Yes) towards blues and country-influenced rock (e.g. Tom Petty and Eagles). Sure, it’s all still rock — I grew up on AOR in the ’80s, damnit, and I won’t apologise for it!
In any case, here’s 75 minutes of my favourite tracks during 2007, sorted not by preference but by flow:
The 2007 Playlist
My five favourite albums in 2007…
5. Toto: Toto IV (1982)
Winner of the 1983 Grammy for Album of the Year, Toto IV doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny beyond its two big hits, “Rosanna” and “Africa”. The other eight tracks are pretty forgettable examples of ’80s soft rock, but the album as a whole almost has an archetypal feel that gives it “guilty pleasure” appeal. Worth picking up if you’re a fan of 1980s AM rock.
4. Pink Floyd: The Wall (1979)
There are much better (and more representative) albums by Pink Floyd, but in terms of overblown 1970s rock operas, The Wall is still hard to surpass. More-or-less a Roger Waters solo album with the occasional standout contribution by David Gilmour, tracks like Waters’ “Another Brick in the Wall” and Gilmour’s “Comfortably Numb” make it a bona fide classic despite being weighed-down by angst and ego.
3. The Cars (1978)
A seminal piece of late-’70s New Wave, The Cars’ debut album combines radio-ready hits like “Just What I Needed” and “My Best Friend’s Girl” with a dark-edged song cycle (of sorts) on side two — “All Mixed Up” ends the album in a truly impressive manner. The Rhino re-release with a bonus disc of demos is the edition to seek out for true collectors.
2. Don Henley: Building the Perfect Beast (1984)
Dated by its heavy use of synths, former Eagle Don Henley’s second solo album nonetheless survives its era by including two knockout tracks: “The Boys of Summer” (co-written by “Heartbreaker” Mike Campbell) and “Sunset Grill” (also co-written by a member of the Heartbreakers — Benmont Tench — with Danny Kortchmar). Beyond that, Kortchmar’s “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” gets a gold star for being one of the most politically-subversive dance tracks of the ’80s. Henley’s follow-up, The End of the Innocence, is probably a better album overall, but Building the Perfect Beast is still more fun.
1. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Long After Dark (1982)
The third of Petty’s collaborations with producer Jimmy Iovine, Long After Dark is considered somewhat of a disappointment after Damn the Torpedoes and Hard Promises, but while it’s playing, all you hear is strong, literate rock. The New Wave-tinged “You Got Lucky” and the straight-ahead rocker “Change of Heart” are both superb, but there’s a consistency here that means nothing stands out as being particularly weak. It may not have been Petty & co.’s artistic triumph, but it’s great music nonetheless.