Jeff Porcaro of Toto – interviewed by Phil Harvey – April 1982 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
The more you look at the 80s, as a decade of music and innovation, the more L.A. shows up as Ground Zero for at least a goodly chunk of the renaissance. MTV was just getting off the ground and most of the production companies making music videos were either based in L.A. or London (and many of them, both). The club scene was up and thriving – Punk and New Wave were giving us X and Black Flag (to name a few) – the Hair bands were coming out of the woodwork (Van Halen were a bunch of Valley boys after all) and those bands and artists who became synonymous with the 80s were filling the recording studios all through Southern California (Michael Jackson, Oingo-Boingo and on and on).
One of those bands, that you can’t really mention the 80s without mentioning at least two of their biggest hits, was Toto. They got started in 1977 the result of some of L.A.’s most notable session players getting together and doing it themselves. Drummer and co-founder Jeff Porcaro was already a seasoned veteran, collaborating with a virtual who’s who of bands and icons from the early 70s on.
This interview with Jeff takes place in April of 1982, just as Toto 4 was released and the milestone singles “Roseanna” and “Africa” would wind up, not only getting wall-to-wall airplay via radio, they were also two of the most popular and enduring videos on MTV.
Porcaro runs through his history of working with bands such as Steely Dan and talks about the whole scene in L.A. at the time, portraying it just as exciting as it really was. Halfway through the interview, he is joined by brother Mike who gives his own two cents, especially as a then-recent recruit to the ranks.
Sadly, Jeff Porcaro would pass away suddenly ten years after this interview took place. His presence was immense and his loss was palpable. The L.A. music scene became the poorer for it.
But for the next 30 minutes, you can dive back to 1982 and get a taste of the atmosphere and a dose of history in the bargain.
Here is that interview from April 1982, conducted by Phil Harvey for a long defunct radio syndication house.
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