Is Toto An Overrated Band?

There have been many bands that have made it big in the world in terms of hits, successes, and history; however, there are a handful of bands that may have been given more attention than they deserved and really sort of "came and went."

TOTO live 2010 in Copenhagen in KB Hallen.JPG
Last night I was at a party singing karaoke, and on the way home, I got to wondering if the American band Toto are overrated. I particularly took into the consideration that the band's hits only get rotation on classic HITS and not classic ROCK stations (although I have heard Hold the Line on some RARE occassions on classic rock stations - more frequently about ten years ago).

A Quick Background:

 What became Toto started out with a group of session musicians. These musicians backed popular artists of the day such as Boz Scaggs, Steely Dan, Seals & Crofts, etc. During the summer of 1977, they came together to make some demos. Now to distinguish themselves from other artists, keyboardist David Paich wrote "Toto" on the band's demo tapes. While it was always believed (and still is) that the band named themselves from Dorothy's dog Toto (a la Wizard of Oz), "Toto," in Latin, means "all ecompassing." In other words, they were serious about forming a band.

Toto's heydays was between 1977 and 1985. Their first and fourth album includes two of their signature songs, Hold the Line (1978 - which I also became familliar with thanks to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) and Africa (1982). Toto also scored hits on Rosana (1982), Gorgy Porgy (1979), I Won't Hold You Back (1983), and I'll Supply The Love (1979). Not that many right?

During this time Steve Procaro co-wrote Michael Jackson's Human Nature with Jackson, and the Porcaro brohters and David Paich played on Chicago's hit Hard to Say I'm Sorry, 

 For their 1985 record Isolation Fergie Fredrickson was brought on. The album sold well, but the tour was forfeited due to his vocal problems. In the years since, Toto had seen member shifts and has struggled to achieve the success of the late 70s/early 80s.

My Conclusion:

 As successful as Toto was, they are really not most popular or remembered. Unlike bands before and after them, Toto did not contribute very much to the then music scene, and did not do as well as their competitors of the day.

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