David Paich is one of the most accomplished musicians in rock history. Best known as one of the voices and keyboardist of Toto, as well as being responsible for writing many of their hits, he has also worked with acts like Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, Michael Jackson, and countless others. After nearly 50 years in music, David is releasing his first solo record called Forgotten Toys and recently joined me to talk about it.
Please press the PLAY icon to listen to the MisplacedStraws Conversation with David Paich –
On if he ever had a desire to do a solo record – I never really did because Toto, really, it was a vehicle for my songs and satisfied me. I got all the satisfaction I needed from doing a solo album on working with my mates in Toto doing our band records. I got to sing occasionally, I got to write some of the songs, I got to help co-produce and it was very much a very full life, being with Toto and making records with them. 1:02
On if any songs on Forgotten Toys were originally meant for Toto – After we finished the album Falling In Between, I started writing, that’s when I started writing “All The Tears That Shine”, on the last day of that mixing for that album. So I’ve had that intro to that song and the first verse for quite a few years, and then I finished it up with Michael Sherwood, who unfortunately passed away this last year. So I wanted to bring out his original vocal that was in it again because it was in a special performance. I wanted everybody to hear it and you hear the song totally stripped down, so it doesn’t have a lot of layering and production on it. Davy Johnston from Elton John’s band plays on it. But I think the vocal performance is the one that’s very special about this, that’s why I included it on the record. 1:59
On if anything he found when putting the record together surprised him – Absolutely, most of it. I had had “Lucy” for a while, ’cause I was trying to do a duo album with Mike Lange, session legend Mike Lange, and we started an album, and then we both got busy and it never came to fruition. So I decided to put it on my record and I added James Torme, son of the great Mel Torme on scat vocals on that, just to bring a little reunion back to our fathers and our heritage here in honor of our fathers. My father was Marty Paich, who was an arranger for Mel Torme and many other people. So yes, there were pleasant surprises, starting with that one, and I can tell you a story about each one. 3:13
On if it was strange asking people to guest on his record after guesting on so many himself – It was not weird to go because most of us are very close, dear friends that I can touch with. It was just awesome having them come and play on my solo record. People like Steve Jordan, who played on “Queen Charade”, played on my track and joined the Stones a week later, so we know how good a drummer he is. Steve Lukather played guitar on that, rhythm guitar, and I was lucky enough to get Don Felder to play slide guitar on it, former Eagles member, and he was incredible on it. Nathen East played bass, a very good friend of mine. Greg Bissonette on drums, a very good friend in Ringo (Starr)’s band. Nathan East is out with (Eric) Clapton right now. Davy Johnston from Elton John’s band played on “All The Tears That Shine”, and Lenny Castro, of course, is all over the album, and Mike McDonald sings on, and does some step-outs on the “Spirit of the Moonrise”, I was very fortunate to get him, he’s a dear friend for many years. I worked on his record and he came to return to favor, so it’s a lot of love and a lot of long friendships behind these castings. 4:34
On if making music with his friends ever feels like work – I can honestly say it does not get old for me. I’ve heard these songs thousands of times, and it does not get old, because when I invite your friends in, I remember making the demos to get our deal with Toto, this was the vibe that you had when friends would come in to validate what we had done, and we bring friends over to listen and just give suggestions and give us the thumbs up or the thumbs down. Fortunately was thumbs up with all this material. It’s so much fun. We really shouldn’t be paid, but we do get paid as we have bills like everybody else does. But it feels so much like fun, it’s hard to think of it as work. 6:22
On what the future of Toto is – That’s a very good question. We’re just taking it a day at a time here and trying to get through, obviously the Covid nightmare, which has kept people separated here for so long. Thanks to technology, we’re able to communicate over Zoom and other apps that help us record directly for each other. But getting back to what you were saying, I guess someone could look at that from that point of view, through that lens, that this is the beginning of another Toto record, but I think we’re gonna keep doing solo records from the time being. Toto right now is myself, Joe Williams, and Steve Lukather, along with the Dogz of Oz band that’s been put together so intricately. 7:29
On starting his career nearly 50 years ago with Boz Scaggs- I think about how grateful I am to Jeff Porcaro for introducing me to Boz Scaggs, who wanted co-writer for his next album, which I got to do with him. I look back, we were in the moment, we were at the top of our game with me, David Hungate, and Jeff along with Louie Shelton, the Seals and Crofts producer, and it just looks like a dream. It was kinda like a dream come true. You do so many albums, but none of them make quite the impact sometimes that you think they’re gonna have, and this album just went all the way. We had to hit “Lowdown” from it, which was kind of modern and jazzy. It had “Lido Shuffle” on it, and so I think that was due in part to help launching Toto after that. We’ve toured with Boz Saggs too and taking some of this material out, so we were feeling our oats and feeling quite confident that we could do our own music, and that’s when we launched Toto. I wanted to bring up the other two former sessions that I would attribute my learning curve, my learning process to producing and making records. I worked with Seals and Crofts, the great Jim Seals, who just passed. The first hit record I played on was “Diamond Girl”, I was 18 years old. I played with Steely Dan. I worked on some of their records also, so between those artists, I would say they laid the groundwork for Toto as far as how focused and how intricate and fine-tuning what all those characteristics are all about to make records. 9:06
On writing the disco hit “Got To Be Real” for Cheryl Lynn – David Foster and I, along with Cheryl Lynn (wrote the song). Cheryl and I got together when they called my father to co-produce her first album and I got to co-produce it with my father. I was in the Sunset Sound one day, and David Foster just happened to be in the next room, I think he was either with the Average White Band or some other great act he was producing. He came in the room and I played him a little bit of this, and he just added this little B-section, this transition that went from the verse to the chorus, and it just made the whole song come together. He’s a close friend, by the way. 11:39
Live Concerts From Your Favorite Artists on nugs.net. Start a 7 day trial.On if he felt pressure working with Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, & Paul McCartney on “The Girl Is Mine” – That was a little bit nervous. Whenever you are working with a Beatle it’s like rarified air. Those are true legends and stars and talent, gigantic talents. McCarty is one of my heroes. It was a “pinch me” moment for sure when I walked in the room, but right after that, we had to buckle down and get the song done, so it was a little bit of work and pleasure, but definitely one of the highlights of my career. 13:19
On whether working on Thriller led to his involvement in “We Are The World” – It may have. I’m not sure if it was based on that decision, I know that I was in Quincy’s camp, as we call it. I was one of the keyboard players that he would constantly use. I think he had heard “Africa” and liked it, the feel, the vibe of it, so he wanted a little of that sprinkled onto “We Are the World”. I did a little bit of a kalimba kind of sound in one of the verses, on one of the choruses, I think. So that may have led to that. But I can’t answer for sure. 14:00
On his thoughts about “Africa” – It’s really just been miraculous. The longevity has been unbelievable, and I attributed it to artists covering it, a lot of different artists have covered it, and Weezer covered it. That was really good for the song, they really did a great job on it, by the way. It’s one of those X variables where you go, I understand “Rosanna” being a hit and I understand “I Won’t Hold You Back”, but “Africa” was kind of 11th-hour song for me and the band, and we kind of were like, “Well, this is the little extra song now that we have the album together”. So it was a pleasant surprise for everybody. 15:05
On if he ever second-guesses the decision not to tour for Toto IV – Yeah, I do have moments when I look back on it and think about decisions we should have made, and I remember at the time though, we’ve been working so much that the band needed a break. Also, we’ve been offered the movie “Dune” to do the music for so we had a project in the making here. Technology was changing a lot too, especially in the keyboard area. Being able to take stuff and re-create it on the road, we were using everything in the studio we could possibly use to make our records, we’re doing overdubs. But to pull that off live and make it sound right, it was really a technical achievement to try and do that in those days because we’re moving along at such a rate. MIDI was just coming in, and also there wasn’t vocal harmonizers and different methods of presenting vocals. We just didn’t feel we had our live act together to just jump out on the road then from that album right there. So we wanted to take our time and build our touring show, which took some time to do. 16:31
On his current health and touring again – It’s good. My health is very good. I trained, I have a trainer three days a week, and I swim every other day, and it’s actually been really good considering I’m an old fart right now, so it’s been really good. It’s helped me mentally as a good healing element to me to be the MD (musical director), to keep my foothold in Toto, where I’m helping out pick the songs as well as help rehearse the band. So it’s a great life I have. Thank God, I went through a bad patch and came out on the other side…I’ve thought about (touring for the solo record) but I get cold feet about performing live, especially my own stuff there. So it may happen in time, but it’s not for any time in the near future. 18:18
On Toto being left out of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – Occasionally we think about that, but we don’t give it much credence because everybody seems to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I think that when we turned down the cover to Rolling Stone in 1983, I think that stuck in their craw a little bit, and they haven’t forgiven us yet, I don’t think for that. There are other bands that should be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame that aren’t as well. So we understand that and that’s just an elite award and everything like that. We know in our own minds that we’re in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame of our own, so it doesn’t bother us too much. 19:56
On Toto being the poster-children for “Yacht Rock” – When it first came out, “yacht rock” was doing spoofs on Toto and spoofs on Kenny Loggins. It makes me laugh when I hear the term “yacht rock” because it’s just a category that someone made up that exemplifies, I don’t know, sounds of the early 80s? I can’t put the finger on exactly what binds it together, but it’s very amusing to me. 21:26
