Toto Vinyl Records
Toto defined the slick, smooth sound of Southern California in the late '70s and early '80s. This isn't quite the same thing as saying Toto solely played soft rock, although they contributed their share of adult contemporary standards, both as a band and as session musicians for Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, George Benson, and Michael Jackson. Veterans of high-end Los Angeles studios, guitarist Steve Lukather, keyboardists David Paich and Steve Porcaro, drummer Jeff Porcaro, and bassist David Hungate could play anything from soul to hard rock, which they proceeded to do on Toto's earliest albums. They were a hit right out of the gate in 1978, with "Hold the Line" rocketing to number five, but their career was made by their 1982 album Toto IV, an immaculate collection of pop/rock confections that spun off three Billboard Top Ten hits -- "Rosanna," "Africa," and "I Won't Hold You Back" -- on its way to winning five Grammys.