A hilarious and deep look into Toto's, "Africa"

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Chris C, Nov 13, 2013.

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  1. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last! Thread Starter

    Location:
    Ohio
    Truth be told, I'm a fan of TOTO, but the following is just too damn funny not to share, so with my apologies to David Paich and the rest of TOTO, I give you ...

     
    Orion24, rxcory, longaway and 9 others like this.
  2. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    Somehow I've managed to avoid ever hearing Toto's version of that song. But the first minute and a half of this cover (before they actually start the song, which is where I bail) is one of the greatest performances I've ever heard.

     
    JuanTCB, Rhett, bru87tr and 4 others like this.
  3. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    "Africa" by Toto. One of my favorite songs, I'll shout it from the rooftops.
     
  4. Mark Wilson

    Mark Wilson Forum Resident

    Saw them play it live in Dayton, OH this past August. The instrumental jam at the end was awesome.

    Mark
     
  5. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last! Thread Starter

    Location:
    Ohio
    Here is a pressing that is far from audiophile, but it still looks cool while playing it.

    Toto Africa.jpg
     
  6. Technocentral

    Technocentral Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    Love that song, cheesy though it may be.
     
    tcbtcb likes this.
  7. AveryKG

    AveryKG Sultan of snacks

    Location:
    west London
    I've seen this pasted on other music forums. I've never been able to make it past two minutes before and I couldn't make it past two minutes now.

    Smug hipster. Easy target. So the lyrics of some pop songs are nonsense? Wow, who knew?
     
  8. TommyTunes

    TommyTunes Senior Member

    I agree with you on this one. I only like two Toto songs Africa and Rosanna. Bought a pair of Infinity Reference Monitors back in 82 after hearing both of those tracks played on them.
     
    tomcat and hi_watt like this.
  9. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Don't forget "Hold The Line", great song. Reminds me of a girl (Theresa) I was crazy about who worked for Joan Bullard. She thought I was a dink. Ah, well.
     
  10. ConnieGuitar

    ConnieGuitar Here in my balloon...

    All I know is that almost any time I go to Europe, I will invariably end up hearing "Africa" at some point during my stay. I have heard it on my last 4 trips to Liverpool alone! A little odd, no? The moment always feels a little surreal and Groundhog Day-ish....

    Simply gorgeous track though!
     
    JuanTCB likes this.
  11. Lownote30

    Lownote30 Bass Clef Addict

    Location:
    Nashville, TN, USA
    Lots of non-hipsters dislike this song. I am one. I can make it through this guy's speech a lot easier than I can make it through the actual song. Toto receives accolades for everything they did, and yet somehow, I dislike every song they did. Rosanna did nothing for me and although Porcarro's drumming is quite awesome, the song is terrible. I was growing up as this music came out, and I even disliked it then. My apologies to everyone who thinks Rosanna and Toto are the best thing since the invention of the wheel. Having been through music school, I heard about Toto, Dream Theater and Rush way too often.
     
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  12. dat56

    dat56 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    SW Missouri
    Love this song regardless of questionable lyrics. It's a pop song for cryin' out loud!
     
    JDeanB likes this.
  13. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    His book, ROCK AND ROLL WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE, is terrific -- and probably uncomfortably close to home for a lot of us!

    And, yes, I'll second the idea that "Africa" is a stupid song, even by the standards of stupid pop songs. It's the lame attempts at profundity that make it so bad. And the instantly memorable hook that makes it so . . . evil!
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2013
    VU Master likes this.
  14. JL6161

    JL6161 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan, USA
    If you watch the whole thing, you'll discover that the guy's actually kind of affectionate toward the song and has his own amusing memories associated with it. It's just comedy, you know, and I think it's aimed more at mocking lit-crit academic parsing of lyrics than at the song itself. Because, yes, if you subject a lot of pop songs to this level of (pointless) analysis, they reveal themselves to be nonsensical.

    (He has some excellent insights about the weird American values the composition of the song reflects, though, and it's interesting that as Almond intimates, much of what a lot of Americans "know" about Africa is wildly incorrect info or cliches culled from TV/movies and songs.)
     
  15. Toto - the pinnacle of whitewashed overplayed gloss pop. Couldn't escape these guys in the 80's. This is why there was a KROQ.
     
  16. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    Hilarious and I totally agree with him!
     
  17. JFS3

    JFS3 Senior Member

    Location:
    Hooterville
    A forbidden favorite of mine as well.
     
  18. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    Boy, people piling on a guy for having an opinion about a 30-year old song. Not like any of us who choose to be here or anything.
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2013
  19. Dave B

    Dave B Senior Member

    Location:
    Nokomis, FL
    I'm afraid most pop lyrics don't stand up well under this type of scrutiny. I actually like this song and Toto in general.
     
  20. Technocentral

    Technocentral Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    Growing up I hated Toto and all that American soft rock as I was an indie and electronic fan (still primarily am) but now I love loads of it, Toto have about 4 0r 5 great songs (sorry Ian Curtis!).
     
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  21. hoggydoggy

    hoggydoggy Forum Resident

    Well, I really don't like the song, but I'm not exactly tickled by his routine either - he clearly has some affection for it though, so I'd be surprised if anyone gets upset about it.

    More interestingly, why is that, when crack session guys get together to form bands, they insist on subsuming all that ace musicianship on... ...AOR? (see also Asia, The Section, Bread etc.)
     
    rxcory likes this.
  22. herenow

    herenow New Member

    Meh. It's like a fancier version of the lame "recite rap lyrics straight" gag they do on inane morning-zoo radio shows. Boring.
     
    JDeanB likes this.
  23. Stone Turntable

    Stone Turntable Independent Head

    Location:
    New Mexico USA
    "Strange how potent cheap music can be."
     
  24. Technocentral

    Technocentral Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland

    Oh the humanity!
     
    rxcory likes this.
  25. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I know that I must do what's right . as sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti.

    That's just silly. It's a great sounding track, though.
     
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