Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm Jeff Stevens. He's been singing with Toto since nineteen
eighty six. It's Joseph Williams.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Hey, Jeff, Hey Joe. How are you doing, sir?
Speaker 3 (00:09):
I'm doing pretty well. How about you? How are you
doing this morning?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
You know what, I'm doing really great?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
And I am excited because the first pair of tickets
of all the shows I want to see this summer,
the first pair I bought was for Toto, Christopher Cross
and Men at Work. I'm like, this is a must
see show man. I'm so excited.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
I'm me too. I mean, we've we've been working with
Christopher Cross in September last year, he came to Europe
with US and Australia New Zealand. And he's the greatest
cat in the world. Great hit songs, great crew, great
everybody getting along, loving each other. And the Men at
Work guys, we can't wait to start working with them. Also,
(00:51):
of course, Steve Lucather's got a great relationship with Colin Hey.
They both play in Ringo Stars band, right, so we're
really looking forward to this particular path.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Well, Joseph Williams of Toto for many, many years, and
you guys, well, By the way, I thought it was
kind of funny when you said Steve Lukeather has a
great relationship with Colin Hay. Is there somebody that he
does not have a great relationship with because he knows everyone.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Right, els an awful lot of people, and you know,
I wouldn't even venture a guest at who doesn't get
along with them, But well, you know, I'm sure there's somebody.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
We got to find someone, Luke Man, he is amazing.
I love following you guys. You guys do a lot
of stuff on social media and I love seeing you know,
whether it's just clips from shows. I have seen you
doing some stuff on there with Christopher Cross And recently
they put out somebody put out a video of Steve
Lucas playing the solo on I Won't Hold You Back,
(01:49):
which I agreed with whatever. The caption was something like
absolutely one of the greatest guitar solos of all time,
and it just is he's so talented and that's that's
the essence of Toto. All of you guys are the
best at your craft.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Well that's true, and you know, listen, Luke, He's a
guitar hero for many but also me. I mean I
met him when I was fourteen years old. That's, you know,
more than fifty years ago. And you know, he was
just a kid and he played in these bands that
you know, we and I had a band with few
people at our school, and we would run across each
(02:26):
other and we always made sure to go out and
see his band because he was phenomenal. It was it
was just a matter of time before he hit it big.
And he's still amazing. Yeah, still plays incredible things things.
Is butt off and is probably my you know, greatest pal.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Oh that's that's awesome. Now, Joseph, what was it like
for you? And you know, roughly circle nineteen eighty six?
When was it Luke or was it somebody else that said, hey,
we want you to join Toto and you know, become
our lead singer, take on all these songs and and
you know, start recording with the band and all that stuff.
I mean, how did that first come together, you know,
some forty years ago.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Well, you know it was Jeff Picaro, the co founder
of the band and drummer who was who he was
sort of the leader back in those days. I mean
it was everybody made decisions together, but everybody respected Jeff
and he and David Page started the band, so he
was sort of the the facto leader and after whatever
(03:28):
discussions they had between themselves and after I went and
hung out with them and did a little bit of auditioning.
He was the one that called me and said, Okay,
you're in. You know that, he was that guy. But
I knew all of them before Total even ever existed,
you know, like I said, I go back with lucather
To you know, seventy four, seventy three, seventy four, and
(03:49):
David Page his parents, his father and my father were
colleagues back in the sixties, so have known their family forever.
And the same is true for the Pacaros. My Joe,
the father of the brothers, you know, played percussion in
some orchestra dates that with my dad. So I knew
(04:09):
all of them pretty well. And it was just somebody,
some friend of a friend, suggested that they take a
look at me to possibly join the band, and it
just it just worked out.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Well, it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Obviously you fit right in there with all the guys,
and you are, I mean, you are such a part
of Toto now and you guys go out and play
these songs it's got to be an interesting you know,
as you're putting together a tour like this, how do
you say, all right, here's the setlist. Because you guys,
I think the amount of hits I know, your catalog
(04:44):
back to front. But for people who might be sort
of medium casually going to the show, they're not going
to believe how many songs they went, Oh, I forgot
about this one.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I forgot about this one. Because I'm sure you guys
have a ton of those.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
We do. I mean, you know, obviously we pay we
play the big, most part popular three tunes, which is
Rosanna Africa and uh and hole the Line, but there
are tons of other ones that people don't realize that
they remember, like ninety nine or I'll Be Over You
or I Won't Hold You Back. Uh, lots of tunes
(05:16):
you know, off of those, especially those early albums. And
when we go to Europe, there's a there's a whole
other handful of songs that were big hits over there
that maybe didn't climb the charts quite as high here. So, uh,
there's a lot of stuff in our show that that,
you know, people could could have that reaction. And then
we also like to you know, pull out one or
(05:37):
two very deep cuts that like the diehard fans that
will know they you know, have just about every album,
so we we have those tunes too. It's it's a
great set. It's it's it's fun. It's to make the set.
I do usually do that with Luke, you know, is
to figure out vocal pacing and what songs have we
done in a long time, that kind of thing, and
(05:59):
it's there's just a it's a never a. It's a
bottomless pit of choices, you know. So that's a good.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Way of putting it. A bottomless pit of choices. So
many Toto songs. So excited about this tour. August third
at riverbend is when I will see you. But I
know you guys are starting. I believe it's July eighteenth,
going through the end of August. And got a chance
to see men at work like two years ago. They
were absolutely phenomenal. I've never seen Christopher Cross, so it's
(06:31):
it just to me, this is the show of the summer.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Well me too. I'm really looking forward to this, to
this package we've done. The Christopher Cross has been with
us all year. We did Europe and we did Australia
and New Zealand, and his show is fent is unbelievable.
He's plays guitar like you know, you wouldn't believe. I
think people are going to be sort of impressed with that.
Plus he's got you know, he's got half a dozen
(06:56):
major hit songs that people know and great band, great friend.
It's a lot of fun. And then you know, having
men at work also on this particular bill is you know,
it's really a dream tour.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
We're going to call it four hours of nothing but hits,
that's for sure. I'm sure from start to finish.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Man.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
And you know, Joseph, I know I got to let
you go here in a second, but holy cow, the
musical talent in your family, your father John Williams twenty
six Grammy Awards and basically the soundtrack to Our Lives
with Star Wars and Jaws and e T and Jurassic Park.
I mean, wow, between the two of you, there's so
much musical talent. It just blows my mind.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Well, I appreciate that, and he will appreciate hearing that. Also.
I've been hanging out with him a lot when I'm
off the road. He's still sharpest attack in ninety three.
And oh, actually right now we're as we speak, he's
working on a commission that the Vienna phil Harmonic gave
to him for the three hundred's birthday of Johann Strauss.
(08:03):
So he's still at it.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
You know, it's amazing. It is amazing what he has accomplished,
what you have accomplished. And I so look forward to
this tour. I hope everybody goes out. You have to
catch it. It's Toto, Christopher Cross and men at work
on tour this summer. We look forward to seeing you
at Riverbend August third. Joseph Williams, so good to talk
to you.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Man. Have a great summer. We'll see you on the road.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
You thanks, Jeff, I really appreciate the time.
I'm Jeff Stevens. He's been singing with Toto since nineteen
eighty six. It's Joseph Williams.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Hey, Jeff, Hey Joe. How are you doing, sir?
Speaker 3 (00:09):
I'm doing pretty well. How about you? How are you
doing this morning?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
You know what, I'm doing really great?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
And I am excited because the first pair of tickets
of all the shows I want to see this summer,
the first pair I bought was for Toto, Christopher Cross
and Men at Work. I'm like, this is a must
see show man. I'm so excited.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
I'm me too. I mean, we've we've been working with
Christopher Cross in September last year, he came to Europe
with US and Australia New Zealand. And he's the greatest
cat in the world. Great hit songs, great crew, great
everybody getting along, loving each other. And the Men at
Work guys, we can't wait to start working with them. Also,
(00:51):
of course, Steve Lucather's got a great relationship with Colin Hey.
They both play in Ringo Stars band, right, so we're
really looking forward to this particular path.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Well, Joseph Williams of Toto for many, many years, and
you guys, well, By the way, I thought it was
kind of funny when you said Steve Lukeather has a
great relationship with Colin Hay. Is there somebody that he
does not have a great relationship with because he knows everyone.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Right, els an awful lot of people, and you know,
I wouldn't even venture a guest at who doesn't get
along with them, But well, you know, I'm sure there's somebody.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
We got to find someone, Luke Man, he is amazing.
I love following you guys. You guys do a lot
of stuff on social media and I love seeing you know,
whether it's just clips from shows. I have seen you
doing some stuff on there with Christopher Cross And recently
they put out somebody put out a video of Steve
Lucas playing the solo on I Won't Hold You Back,
(01:49):
which I agreed with whatever. The caption was something like
absolutely one of the greatest guitar solos of all time,
and it just is he's so talented and that's that's
the essence of Toto. All of you guys are the
best at your craft.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Well that's true, and you know, listen, Luke, He's a
guitar hero for many but also me. I mean I
met him when I was fourteen years old. That's, you know,
more than fifty years ago. And you know, he was
just a kid and he played in these bands that
you know, we and I had a band with few
people at our school, and we would run across each
(02:26):
other and we always made sure to go out and
see his band because he was phenomenal. It was it
was just a matter of time before he hit it big.
And he's still amazing. Yeah, still plays incredible things things.
Is butt off and is probably my you know, greatest pal.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Oh that's that's awesome. Now, Joseph, what was it like
for you? And you know, roughly circle nineteen eighty six?
When was it Luke or was it somebody else that said, hey,
we want you to join Toto and you know, become
our lead singer, take on all these songs and and
you know, start recording with the band and all that stuff.
I mean, how did that first come together, you know,
some forty years ago.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Well, you know it was Jeff Picaro, the co founder
of the band and drummer who was who he was
sort of the leader back in those days. I mean
it was everybody made decisions together, but everybody respected Jeff
and he and David Page started the band, so he
was sort of the the facto leader and after whatever
(03:28):
discussions they had between themselves and after I went and
hung out with them and did a little bit of auditioning.
He was the one that called me and said, Okay,
you're in. You know that, he was that guy. But
I knew all of them before Total even ever existed,
you know, like I said, I go back with lucather
To you know, seventy four, seventy three, seventy four, and
(03:49):
David Page his parents, his father and my father were
colleagues back in the sixties, so have known their family forever.
And the same is true for the Pacaros. My Joe,
the father of the brothers, you know, played percussion in
some orchestra dates that with my dad. So I knew
(04:09):
all of them pretty well. And it was just somebody,
some friend of a friend, suggested that they take a
look at me to possibly join the band, and it
just it just worked out.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Well, it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Obviously you fit right in there with all the guys,
and you are, I mean, you are such a part
of Toto now and you guys go out and play
these songs it's got to be an interesting you know,
as you're putting together a tour like this, how do
you say, all right, here's the setlist. Because you guys,
I think the amount of hits I know, your catalog
(04:44):
back to front. But for people who might be sort
of medium casually going to the show, they're not going
to believe how many songs they went, Oh, I forgot
about this one.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I forgot about this one. Because I'm sure you guys
have a ton of those.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
We do. I mean, you know, obviously we pay we
play the big, most part popular three tunes, which is
Rosanna Africa and uh and hole the Line, but there
are tons of other ones that people don't realize that
they remember, like ninety nine or I'll Be Over You
or I Won't Hold You Back. Uh, lots of tunes
(05:16):
you know, off of those, especially those early albums. And
when we go to Europe, there's a there's a whole
other handful of songs that were big hits over there
that maybe didn't climb the charts quite as high here. So, uh,
there's a lot of stuff in our show that that,
you know, people could could have that reaction. And then
we also like to you know, pull out one or
(05:37):
two very deep cuts that like the diehard fans that
will know they you know, have just about every album,
so we we have those tunes too. It's it's a
great set. It's it's it's fun. It's to make the set.
I do usually do that with Luke, you know, is
to figure out vocal pacing and what songs have we
done in a long time, that kind of thing, and
(05:59):
it's there's just a it's a never a. It's a
bottomless pit of choices, you know. So that's a good.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Way of putting it. A bottomless pit of choices. So
many Toto songs. So excited about this tour. August third
at riverbend is when I will see you. But I
know you guys are starting. I believe it's July eighteenth,
going through the end of August. And got a chance
to see men at work like two years ago. They
were absolutely phenomenal. I've never seen Christopher Cross, so it's
(06:31):
it just to me, this is the show of the summer.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Well me too. I'm really looking forward to this, to
this package we've done. The Christopher Cross has been with
us all year. We did Europe and we did Australia
and New Zealand, and his show is fent is unbelievable.
He's plays guitar like you know, you wouldn't believe. I
think people are going to be sort of impressed with that.
Plus he's got you know, he's got half a dozen
(06:56):
major hit songs that people know and great band, great friend.
It's a lot of fun. And then you know, having
men at work also on this particular bill is you know,
it's really a dream tour.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
We're going to call it four hours of nothing but hits,
that's for sure. I'm sure from start to finish.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Man.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
And you know, Joseph, I know I got to let
you go here in a second, but holy cow, the
musical talent in your family, your father John Williams twenty
six Grammy Awards and basically the soundtrack to Our Lives
with Star Wars and Jaws and e T and Jurassic Park.
I mean, wow, between the two of you, there's so
much musical talent. It just blows my mind.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Well, I appreciate that, and he will appreciate hearing that. Also.
I've been hanging out with him a lot when I'm
off the road. He's still sharpest attack in ninety three.
And oh, actually right now we're as we speak, he's
working on a commission that the Vienna phil Harmonic gave
to him for the three hundred's birthday of Johann Strauss.
(08:03):
So he's still at it.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
You know, it's amazing. It is amazing what he has accomplished,
what you have accomplished. And I so look forward to
this tour. I hope everybody goes out. You have to
catch it. It's Toto, Christopher Cross and men at work
on tour this summer. We look forward to seeing you
at Riverbend August third. Joseph Williams, so good to talk
to you.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Man. Have a great summer. We'll see you on the road.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
You thanks, Jeff, I really appreciate the time.
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