Eric Pedersen
Topeka, KS
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So crazy you wrote this because I was just listening to this song today and thinking how brilliant every bit of it is - from the beautiful piano intro (written by Luke, played by Paich), Luke's deeply heartfelt vocal performance, the brilliant vocal harmony arrangements featuring Timothy B. Schmit's lovely tenor, to the lush-but-never-over-wrought orchestration, and Lukather's soaring and perfectly-dramatic guitar solo. (Not to mention the exactly-as-it-should-be-done performances of David Hungate and Jeff Porcaro on bass and drums.) It's a great song, performed and produced perfectly by Toto and recorded by Al Schmitt. Timeless.
It should be a legendary track - up there with so many classics - but like most of Toto's genius, it's kind of ignored and set aside because it's Toto. I guess in the end it doesn't matter, because we know it's awesome.
In this world of instant access, perhaps it will get a second life when some influencer uses it on TikTok when he or she goes through a breakup, and then everyone will realize how great it is.
You Know I Won't Hold My Breath Now...
Great one, Bob. Thanks!
Brian Vitellaro
Austin, TX
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My favorite songs by Toto were sang by Lukather. I don't know if I'd call them yacht rock necessarily but they're definitely soft rock gold.
Gary Shindler
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Toto were the FIRST punk rockers!
To heck with Patti myth!
Kenn Kweder
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You nailed it. I've always loved that song. And I've always respected that band. They were never cool… they just made really great records that still sound great four decades later.
Dave Hoeffel
SiriusXM 60s Gold
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Also Timothy B Schmit on backing vocals! Arguably Luke's greatest guitar solo. His feel when he follows the melody is unparalleled. He repeats this with the ballad Anna off the Seventh One. His memoir goes into great detail on the production of this song (and album) and is definitely worth a read.
Greg Simon
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And while you're throwing out kudos to "I Won't Hold You Back"...
Allow me to add that it is my guilty pleasure as well as my choice for best power ballad ever.
All ultimately tied together with the background vocals of Timothy B Schmit.
And speaking of Poco---
If you're looking for another similar song that is both soft and soaring...
Give "The Last Goodbye" from Legend a listen.
Marty Bender
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Great piece on the magic of TOTO's music. My favorite Fahrenheit track is the same as yours, the first side closer "I'll Be Over You."
What makes it even more special is the vocal depth and goosebump moments delivered by Michael McDonald backing up Lukather - check the video and their "beatlesesque" rooftop moment: youtu.be/r7XhWUDj-Ts (which also 'screens' the Fahrenheit album cover 1.07 into the video;)).
Cheers,
Morten Dahlgren
Malmo, Sweden
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Thank you for giving props to Steve Lukather and Toto! As a touring and session guitarist out of California and Nashville, he will always occupy a place in my guitar pantheon.
Michael Gregory
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Hey Bob,
People either get Toto, or they don't.
Glad to see you get it.
Gary Berlak
Fresno
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Agreed on Toto, great band, and many of us less-dogmatic prog rockers consider Toto prog.
American prog bands? Kansas, Starcastle, Spock's Beard, Echolyn. There are more, and granted, the genre's best are from
across the pond, but the above mentioned are not too shabby.
Best,
fritzdoddy
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When "I Won't Hold You Back" was getting its initial airplay, I thought it sounded like a more grandly arranged sequel to the Eagles "I Can't Tell You Why." When I discovered that the high vocal part on the record was Timothy B. Schmit, that revelation explained why. I think Timmy's vocal on it is as essential as Lukather's to the recording's success.
Scott Paton
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Their 35th Anniversary/Live from Poland is brilliant!! That one and Hornsby Live from Town Hall got me through the past two years.
Long live real players playing great songs live!!!
Mitchell Fox
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Toto , bigger everywhere but here...opening for Journey next month. Hope Schon brings Luke out to play together. That would be pretty cool and definitely worth seeing.
Tom Hedtke
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You wrote a wonderful piece. Paich is my buddy...bestie at my recent wedding. His first solo record is coming...I heard it today....40 years on still writin' an' playin' his ass off....and as you noted...still doin' it for music not fame.
Keep your craftsmanship comin'...Best, Steve Trudell
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Great song. I love Toto and it's interesting they sell out shows overseas but cant in the US.
Kyle J. Ferraro
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Ref: I won't hold you back.
Kudos for recognizing the talents of Toto Bob, a much underrated band.
In England they were derided as being "corporate rock", as if a bunch of suits in a smoke filled conference room had somehow drawn them up on a dry erase board.
What they were actually (shock, horror) were talented musicians who could play, sing AND write.
I saw them twice in London, the line up with Kimball, and then with Williams, and they were excellent both times.
I do take issue with your comment "there was never a credible American prog rock band" though.
Yes, my homeland certainly provided the template and the heavy hitters of the genre, but don't discount Kansas, Spock's Beard and Happy The Man, to name but three.
Keep on being an oasis of reason in this desert of craziness Bob.
Cheers, Mark Hudson. Schenectady NY.
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Thanks for the Toto review! I love these guys, and it's rare to see a positive word for their multitude of accomplishments. Give the whole catalog a try. The later albums mostly led by Steve Lukather are also quite amazing. Crank up Tambu on your favorite speakers. That opening track will blow your mind. Falling in between, Mindfields, all excellent.
Sam Glaser
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Bob!!
Can't believe you wrote about this and ever so happy you did.
That guitar solo, against the symphonic backdrop - and all of the dynamics involved harmonically are exactly why the song elevates from the speakers.
Kudos to you on recognizing that ( I Won't Hold You Back ) and also, the genius of the second album in its entirety. White Sister is a rocker that misses nothing and hits between the eyes - along w/ St. George and the Dragon etc.
Both Hydra and IV were staples for me as a young guitarist/pianist and aspiring composer back in the day.
Toto were/are no joke. The joke is on those who missed the genius. Thanks so much for this reminder, and you are spot on when saying its as good (or better) today, than when it was originally released.
Seriously great band.
Side note: Jeff Porcaro might be the most underrated session/rock drummer of his time. RIP.
Tom O'Keefe
Neurodisc Records, Inc
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Lukather is one amazingly incredible guitarist. Acknowledged as one of the best in the industry. One of those guys that is under the public's radar, but anyone who knows music, knows Steve Lukather.
Toto will live forever in our musical conscience due to Africa and Rosanna, maybe 2 of the greatest songs AND performances ever recorded.
Leigh Goldstein
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JFC I forgot all about 99. Thanks for the memory jog. Haven't heard that in probably 30 years. Not that I particularly need or want to, but it's funny how a song can bring you back to a certain time and place as though no time has elapsed and you're still there.
catmonster
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Glad you flagged this song up. It really is a gem. I discovered Toto IV when I was about 25 in 2007, and I played it to death every day for the summer. It literally blew me away. In the UK - and across Europe, I'm guessing - Roger Sanchez had had a huge hit with 'Another Chance' - a house track which sampled 'I Won't Hold Back' beautifully, so this song was already familiar to me. Check out the video which taps into the isolation within the song respectfully: youtu.be/rdlvPe959Ck
You mention the BVs - pretty sure it's Timothy B Schmidt who's bringing the honey. One of the greatest BV vocal performances in my opinion.
Despite some of the dated instrumentation on this album, it stands the rest of time. As close to perfection as a musician is likely to get in the studio. I might just put it on again now…
About 10 years ago, I finally got to see Toto at the Hammersmith Apollo in London with some close muso friends - I took my mum too. Joseph Williams killed it, and to see Nathan East on bass in addition to the regular Toto members was one of the greatest treats of our lifetimes.
Take care and keep them coming, Bob.
Dave Thorogood.
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Before I ever met him, I had always wanted to ask Steve Lukather, "Where have you been in life that your heart aches so?" These songs rip your heart out. "I Won't Hold You Back" in particular. For years, I heard he hung out at Hugo's in LA, so I would always try to "be around" when I was in town....thing is, I never asked WHICH Hugo's, so I was always at the one near Coldwater Canyon where a friend of mine lives. Was that the right one? Didn't matter, started doing the "old school" (pre-paid meet & greet days) operative and staked out the stage door after shows. He would usually be the last one out lol To that end, that heartache, where he's been in life that these words pour out of him, it's in the book, The Gospel According to Luke. A MUST read.
Roger Sanchez had an EDM oriented hit with this song in 2001....much to the surprise of the band. Another friend of mine said he ran into Luke not long after & he said it was the biggest #1 hit they ever had that they didn't get paid for. Word on the street being, the artist found a copy of IV in a used record bin and thought the hook in "I Won't Hold You Back" would work on his own recording. I'm sure that credit/payment got worked out in the end....
Once in a while, this song shows up on Sirius 80's On 8, usually in their hourly "Treasure Chest" selection or a repeat of an American Top 40 countdown. While other songs get the airplay, this is the one where it all really came together. They even had Timothy B. Schmit doing harmonies. As to the Hydra album? You really got my attention there. Worn out CD copies of that....which is nearly impossible. Several tours back, they were performing both the title track and "St George & The Dragon" back to back. Bliss. Pure bliss. The promotional videos they did for the two are interpretations of the album artwork, which features Steve Porcaro. I have a friend who lives & breathes "99", to this day his favorite Toto track. HIS fave album happens to be Fahrenheit....so this world, crazy as it may be, is a small patch in the universe.
I love Toto and even more love to read your interpretations and observations about them. Have been lucky to see them numerous times over the years, usually always a different incarnation. One particular tour featured original bassist David Hungate. At one time, I had always hoped to see Joseph Williams with them live and now I have seen him more than Bobby Kimball, who often plays his own live gigs now. These guys are the real deal. Completely accessible and down to Earth. Was standing behind Joseph at the in-house merch stand of The Capitol in Port Chester (NY), he was buying just like the rest of us. And Luke....once handed me his cell phone and wanted me to call his wife to come pick him up!! Ha. That was a while back. Anxious to see the NEW Toto live next month.
Thank you for the memories.
Kevin Andrusia
Orlando, FL
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Great song but you buried the lead, the secret sauce
no mention of Timothy B Schmidt of Poco and Eagles fame singing basically the lead on the chorus.
It's what drew me to the song almost 40 years ago.
Donald Furrer
Poco, Toto and Eagles fan
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Early on in college, I went with my best friend and a few other mixed mates to a house party that started small and intimate, but was quickly overrun with frat-adjacent hyperheterosexual dolts and teased-hair airheads, all intoxicated but not intoxicating, all friends of the host.
Boozing and barfing wasn't our scene — my best friend and I were the only two sober people there, and we were getting sick of being asked what was wrong with us for not drinking — so we decided to get back at the host by each stealing a small something from the house that the other person wanted. After we finished spiking a few beers with as much pepper as we could find, we settled on our contraband: sunglasses for my friend, and a cassette of "Toto IV" for me.
At the time, I was listening to a lot of rap and R&B, but I always had a soft spot for Toto and their lower charting Top 40 hits, from "99" to "Make Believe" and "Stranger in Town." And while I liked "I Won't Hold You Back" well enough, I didn't love it until I drove my gang back home, with "Toto IV" in the car cassette player, the soundtrack to a night drive full of laughter and camaraderie and Midwestern youthful dumbassery.
But "I Won't Hold You Back" didn't become my favorite Toto song ever until later in life, until I loved and lost, crushed down by failed liaisons that spoke languages for which I had no fluency, with only the right tune as a Rosetta Stone to decipher the true heart of the matter. Today, it's a struggle to hold back tears when that call-and-response between orchestra and guitar sweeps in, tears as both a appreciation of musical beauty and as a resigned understanding of romantic realities, and to have that depth of feeling from a pop song is the rarest of gifts.
As the music of my youth is pervasively strip-mined and fracked for the last traces of Meaningful Content to better sell a product or track a trailer, I'm so happy that "I Won't Hold You Back" is still mine, still connected to my thoughts and feelings and experiences, the only ownership that truly matters. I can never thank Luke and the gang enough.
Erick Haight
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Something often missed with "I Won't Hold You Back" is how Lukather's really strong guitar chords in the choruses essentially created the 80s power ballad, BEFORE Sister Christian or Home Sweet Home. And then there's a really hip arrangement trick starting at about 3:20 (I had to listen again to find the time) where they have a very nice guitar solo but descending orchestra parts with french horn featured way up in the mix. When do you hear that in pop music? And it actually works really well.
I was also a fan of Fahrenheit. Didn't always like Joseph Williams' tone in those days, but sang and wrote great melodies. Their songs got LESS slick and more "out" on that record. The title track was really hip and maybe should have been a single. Williams has really worked on this aspect of his voice, and on more recent Toto and solo records, he sounds better than ever. Really remarkable how he's been able to hold up. Lukather, too, as his little run of solo albums in and around 2010 were really outstanding. Less slick than Toto, they had a feel that you just rarely get in today's music with so much of it gridded out.
I will say that some modern producers seem to be having success without "over-gridding" things. Daniel Tashian in Nashville is doing fantastic work in the pop and pop-country crossover fields, having actual success but kind of doing it old school. That's been amazing to watch in the last few years. As when Steven Wilson rose up in the 2000s and started having a nice kind of success, sometimes sheer quality and sticking to guns is enough to get over.
Best regards,
Ross Storey
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Wow, man. I got chills reading this email. Thank you for shining an incredible positive light on a band that meant and means the world to me.
Toto IV, and yes, Fahrenheit, were supremely influential on me as a young wide-eyed wanna be studio keyboard player (I was 10 when IV was released, and the piano outro to Rosanna was so much schooling for me! Listened over and over on a cassette in our living room by our hideous Kimball piano trying to be David Paich), and I remember distinctly buying Fehrenheit, used, I confess, on vinyl when buying vinyl was "less hip" at the glorious Record Trader on Reseda Blvd.
I agree with you— Fahrenheit was a SLEEPER and a beast. "Without Your Love"— what a laid back but perfect way, somehow having an L.A. funk at such a ballad tempo… and yes, that incredible Amin Bhatia synth intro to the title track- so futuristic (I met Bhatia at the NAMM show once and after spotting his name tag COMPLETELY fan boy-ed out)… and Luke's guitar sound on the "Till the End" solo— what a record.
I had the incredible opportunity to see the Toto "Isolation" tour at the Universal Amphitheatre- we got tickets because somehow my mom worked for Bobby Kimball's insurance (Bobby was out of the band by this point so I still don't get how this worked.).
Anyway, "I Won't Hold You Back." I mean— Luke, the guitar sensation, writes it on PIANO. And those lyrics. It was always, "wait, isn't he the real ROCKER in the band? He FEELS things too??" That song is a pop masterpiece… dripping with sentiment and perfection. And Marty Paich's orchestration and the LSO?? PLEASE.
I was somehow miraculously the first guy Toto tapped to play keys when David Paich couldn't make a couple legs of the "Mindfields" tour in 2000— he showed me all the keyboard parts firsthand (Yeah, Paich— I never did get your "Ramsey Lewis" piano break in White Sister 100% correct!!) and took me under his wing. The slightly grown up kid who worshipped his Toto IV cassette couldn't believe what was happening. I still can't believe it happened. They've been heroes and friends ever since.
I just treasure the fact that you chose to do this deep and REAL dive reflecting a little love and light onto a band, Lukather, and some records that really talented guys took a lot of time, effort and passion to create. They are really special musicians, humans, and deserve a place at music's table of greatness. While so many critics and the press took the easy pot shots saying these "hired gun pros" didn't deserve to be taken seriously— I've never heard recorded evidence that proves their incredible worth, and never come across people who worked harder to achieve musical excellence. I cherish the time I've spent with these guys— both as a listener and in their presence as inspiring and supportive people.
Bob, I really appreciate your love letter to Toto, "I Won't Hold You Back" and their music. I'll read it often.
With much respect,
Jeff Babko
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I was hired by the guys in Toto to write the album essays for their 40th Anniversary Box Set "All In". I'm a writer, but I'm a fan first and that's the approach I use when talking about bands I'm passionate about.
I became a fan of Toto back in '83 with so many others thanks to Africa, but quickly delved backwards into their completed catalogue and followed them with the release of every album since.
Not only are they the most gifted musicians I have ever had the honour to hear, watch, hang with and absorb into my listening life over the last 40 years, but they are also the most grounded, humble and self-depreciating people you will find.
They play their talent and accomplishments down, but it should be celebrated at the highest level.
And whilst they have had a few singers come and go and come back again, its always been Toto. Bobby, Fergie and Joseph have all brought their unique personalties to the band, but never have they changed the band.
I can't name my favourite Toto album, because on any given day it changes depending on my mood. Seldom has any band been so diverse across their history, but you know what? It doesn't matter what album or what singer or what song....it always sounds like Toto.
The names of Steve Lukather, David Paich, Jeff Porcaro, Mike Porcaro, David Hungate, Steve Porcaro and the unofficial member Lenny Castro, plus singers Bobby Kimball, Fergie Frederiksen (RIP), Joseph Williams and the cast of musicians that followed in their footsteps should all be celebrated by those appreciate truly great songwriting, precision arrangements and production and unbelievable musicianship.
After all, they were good enough for Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, George Benson, Art Garfunkel, Chicago, David Foster, Richard Marx, Leo Sayer, Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie, Olivia Newton John, Randy Crawford, Neil Diamond etc etc...
Andrew McNeice
MelodicRock.com
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A shit day redeemed!
While I knew Lukather shared lead vox on "Rosanna," I am embarrassed to say I thought that was a fluke, I didn't know he sang lead on all those other amazing songs.
If I'm being honest, I've only ever really known IV, which was the last album I had to have my mom buy me at the Murphy Mart before I was old enough to make my own purchases. I never made it to any of the other Toto albums, Kiss and Mötley Crüe made sure of that.
And I only remember playing "Rosanna," and then flipping the record over and getting really good at laying the needle down just perfectly so I could skip right to "Africa." But you inspired me to go back and listen to "I Won't Hold You Back," and oh man, it might be the best song on that album!
Then I dialed up "I'll Be Over You," just out of curiosity, assuming it wouldn't ring a bell—I mean, August 1986? It was all Look What the Cat Dragged In and Dancing Undercover for me at that point—but when that chorus kicked in? OF COURSE I know that song, hallelujah, its splendor had me giggling. (I think I was confusing it with "I Can't Hold Back.")
Am I a little wine-drunk here at 12:34am? Sure. But I'm almost positive these masterpieces would be making me just as giddy if I were sober. And screw it, after the day I've had, I deserve to be doing what I'm doing right now, listening to every Toto single ever in chronological order.
And I'm only through "Hold the Line" and "I'll Supply the Love," so I've got a whole lot of unbridled joy ahead of me tonight before I pass out.
Dean Moore
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They had me for life at Hold the Line.
Bill Nelson
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