A Good Day for Music

A number one song from 1982 that still gets people on their feet.

TOTO

Africa

Toto was formed in 1976 in Los Angeles by a group of studio musicians that worked and played on several albums during the 1970’s. They realized that they could work together professionally and decided that instead of playing for other artists, they would start working together in their own band.

In the beginning, the members were more focused on songs that might become hits. ‘Africa’ started out as more of an experiment where hit potential was a secondary thought. Songwriters David Paich and Jeff Porcaro liked the melody and wanted to see where it would take them. David even commented in an interview that the lyrics were a bit ‘goofy’. When it was finished and up for consideration for the album, it barely made the list. Not that any of the band member thought the song was terrible, just that it didn’t really seem to fit the rest of the songs.

When it was released, the song climbed up to the number one spot on the music charts and became Toto’s only number one record.