It’s one of the most recognizable songs EVER and one that had DOMINATED Pop Culture as much as any piece of music in the modern era. Africa by Toto has been a part of a long list of tv and film placements and covered by hundreds of artists, this classic rock standard has become an immortal entry in the pages of music history. And yet the band called it a “wildcard song,” THEY ABSOLUTELY never Expected it would do anything close to what it did. Band members Steve Lukather, David Paich and Steve Porcaro tell the sensational story of a #1 hit that came from reading about a continent they’d never been to in National Geographic to the all time pop culture punchline it’s the definitive story on the making of this #1 80s hit from Jimmy Fallon to Weezer.
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Executive Producer:Brandon Fugal
Honorary Producers Marlon Chance, Soman2010, Craig M, Dustin Wooten, Raymond Hagen, Steve, Jeff Kolek, Charley Anne, Peggy Wolf, Dawg Fan, Junal Garnett
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Hey music junkies, Professor of Rock, always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest songs of all time. If you remember counting down the top 40 hits with Casey Kasem of the American top 40 every single week you’ll dig this channel. Make sure to subscribe below right now. So that you know when our latest and greatest interviews and videos drop and do check us out on Patreon for even more content.
I’m excited to bring you another episode from our series Revelations. This is where featured artists reveal rare stories about their biggest songs. Along with fascinating insight about their careers. And this one is going to be a good one. On this installment of Revelations I was fortunate to sit down with Toto members Steve Lukather, David Paich and Steve Porcaro and talk about their enduring 80s classic Africa.
I've had the honor of interviewing Steve Lukather and David Paich multiple times and I got to tell you, in all of the conversations we've had, you can definitely feel the respect and admiration they have for each other. Luke and Paich are two of the nicest guys in the industry. And you can tell that selling millions of records hasn’t gone to their heads.
Or maybe I should say half a billion records, since Lukather and David Paich have worked on hundreds of albums from the mid 70s on. The members of Toto have had very illustrious extracurricular career indeed, from working with Michael Jackson to Paul McCartney to Pink Floyd to the Eagles to Eddie Van Halen, to composing the score for the 1984 edition of Dune.
Within the band, Toto has had a slew of US Top 40 hits including Hold the Line, 99, Rosanna, Make Believe, I Won’t Hold you Back, Stranger in Town, I’ll Be Over You, Without Your Love, and Pamela.
And their 1982 album Toto IV, fittingly reached #4 on the Billboard 200 chart. But amongst all these bragging rights, there is one song that has persisted more than any other... One that is instantaneously connected with Toto... Africa.
Yeah, if you didn’t know, Africa was and is a kind of a big deal. It went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as #3 on the US Cashbox chart and #5 on the US AC chart. Internationally, it broke the top 10 in a number of countries, going to #8 in Belgium, #7 in Austria, #6 in Switzerland, #5 in Australia and New Zealand, #4 in the Netherlands, #3 in the UK, #2 in Ireland, and #1 in Canada.
And incidentally, in South Africa it went to #18.