“I’ll get you my pretty! And you’re little dog too!” The mystery of Toto.

Is it just me, or does every college kid seem to go through a phase where they listen to nothing but Toto? I, myself, have recently hit this phase. That’s right; I know every word to “Africa”, “Hold the Line”, and even “Rosanna.” However, I refuse to be ashamed because I have expressed my love for this band, I’ve come to find that everyone else loves them too! Or at least at some point they did. “I’m on this Toto kick,” I’ll say. And whoever I am talking to will quickly respond, “Seriously? In my  junior year of college, that’s all I listened to!”

^^^ Ok. Can we just talk about their symbol? It’s a sword. That’s awesome. Kinda like that techno group named, “Gandalf.”

On the flip side, I am amazed at how many people in my generation are unfamiliar with this band. In fact, when I decided that I just HAD to download “Africa” from iTunes, I didn’t know which band name to enter in to find it. “Moooooooom! Who did that Africa song?!” Lucklily I was at home for the summer so my parents were great resources for finding all the best 80’s music. I now boast a hefty collection of Toto, Boston, Def Leppard, J. Geils Band, The Pretenders, and many more!

^^^ Boston’s emblem is a UFO. Hmm…a lower caliber of “epic” if you ask me. But I do love “Higher Power.”

To explain the title, I was driving along the other day (I’m sure I was on my way to class…or the library…or some other academic venue… because happiness is a studying student) when Toto came on my shuffle and the question hit me: “Where the heck did they get that name?” Perhaps it was symbolic of Dorothy’s dog in the Wizard of Oz. After all, Toto was one of the main characters, and while many other animals in the land of Oz have the ability to speak, Toto remained without such abilities. Maybe this band was metaphorically speaking for Dorothy’s “little dog.” By the way, this hypothesis is wrong.

^^^ Aw. Family phoTOTO!

One might also assume that the band name was derived from Japan’s largest toilet-manufacturing company, TOTO. Again, wrong. OR! We could surmise that the name was adopted from one of the member’s “true” last names: Bobby Kimball (on vocals and sometimes keyboards) is reported to have the last name “Toteaux.” Wrong again.

^^^ I have never looked so intensely for an image of a toilet on “Google Images” before…

So where in the heck did they get their name?! Ok, I’ll be lazy and cut/paste Wikipedia’s answer:

“Once all of the songs were written, the band came together in the studio to record the album. According to popular myth, in order to distinguish their own demo tapes from other bands’ in the studio, Jeff Porcaro wrote the word “Toto” on them. [...]After the completion of the first album, the band and record were still un-named. David Hungate, after viewing the name on the demo tapes, explained to the group that the word “Toto” in Latin translated to “all-encompassing”. Because the band members had played on so many different records and many different musical genres, they adopted the name Toto as their own.”

^^^ At last! The mystery is solved!

So now we know! One of the most talented, all-encompassing bands has a namesake.

In other news, some of you may have noticed that it has been a while (over a month) since I have blogged. It’s prime-time, my friends. I have two applications due in less than a month, followed by about 3 more that are due in December…followed by about three more that are due in early January. Yikes! I am very busy orchestrating all of this mess. But alas, I love bugs and plants (together) and I’m sure once everything has settled itself, I will reap the rewards of higher-higher education. On that note, I will be sure to keep everyone updated (however late those updates may be). Back to the grind! If only it was coffee…

^^^ Ironically appropriate for my current situation. Ha!