My Musical Evolution – Part 127 Academy Days Toto IV

Musically, Toto seemed to fit right in there with other music that I liked. It had some of the same herbs and spices as Journey, REO Speedwagon, Boston, and Styx. Toto may not have had the impact and subsequent longevity as those others.

I consider Toto IV as one of my me albums. It was one that I liked a lot and played numerous times but it was often when I was away from the crowds. Alone in my room during study hours or just doing the solitude thing, Toto IV was a good change of pace. Much of the album is of a quieter nature and sounds good at low volume. At the Academy, “Study Hours” were 8pm to 10pm. That meant the campus was quiet. Toto IV leant itself well to that.

Everybody recognizes Rosanna and most recognize Africa. I admit that in my mix tape era, those two were the go to tracks. As you know, technology dictated that we listened to the entire cassette back in the Academy Days. I makes me chuckle to think that I didn’t even have auto-reverse on my tape deck. I did have auto-stop which shut the cassette player off when it detected the end of the tape. That old stereo still had the manual controls, you really had to press on the buttons to engage them. The auto-stop would clunk the machine off when the tape would end. I haven’t really thought about that old stereo in years. I thought it was so awesome at the time. We’ll talk about the stereo more later.

As I play through Toto IV and hear some of these old gems for the first time in a long while, images of the Dungeons & Dragons books and miniatures come to mind. I can only assume that one of the things I was studying while listening to this album was the D&D rulebooks and modules. The Academy in the early 80’s was a perfect place to play Dungeons & Dragons. All your friends on campus and available for hours on end. I can’t imagine logistically sroting that out here in the city at that age.

Rosanna

Make Believe

I Won’t Hold You Back

Afraid Of Love

Lovers In The Night

Africa