The Band Toto Asia
Toto was expanding its production facilities in the overseas market and doing business in France, Germany, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the People's Republic of China. North America was seen as a market that would grow for Washlet toilets and bidet seats, in contrast to its "base" markets in Japan and China.
Dhaniram Toto was documenting Toto words to ensure the future generations could read the words. Many words were replaced by foreign words. For example dui, which was Bengali for verandah, was used.
Origins
The early history of Toto, which began in 1917, was a reflection of Japan's rapid economic growth. In the first half of 1917, Toto produced products to meet the growing demand for modern, brand new urban housing. It had the first tunnel kiln in the nation to produce ceramics continuously. It also pioneered the use automation to control production, which allows for greater efficiency and consistency.
The company began expanding internationally in the latter part of the 1980s to profit from new markets and sales opportunities. It launched the Cera Trading Company, importing and marketing other manufacturers' products to complement its own lines of plumbing fittings and sanitary earthenware. This strategy boosted sales and expanded the firm's market share in the world.
In the late 1990s, Toto had shifted its emphasis on research and development for household appliances that are water-related. It also upgraded its distribution system to better serve the needs of customers and to increase profits. The company implemented a just-in-time approach to managing its supply chain and used the same methodology in its sales strategy. This led to a higher degree of customer satisfaction.
Toto continues to invent in the toilet technology. The most recent toilet features an environmentally friendly, powerful tornado flush. The company also uses recycled water in its production process and has a green purchasing policy. Toto also produces faucets, bathtubs and hand dryers with greater energy efficiency than conventional models.
The first museum of the company opened in 2015 and features exhibits on Toto's most iconic products and their evolution and its group companies (all that deal with ceramics), historical background of plumbing and products like bath units and, in a different gallery, Toto products sold around the world. The museum houses the bathroom equipped with a washbasin and other toilet innovations.
Before the formation of Toto, members of the group performed session work for a variety of musicians. Keyboardist David Paich, drummer Jeff Porcaro and guitarists Mike Porcaro and Steve Lukather all played on the album Silk Degrees by Boz Scaggs. They also played on records by Steely Don, Seals and Crofts and Sonny and Cher.
Discography
You might expect a band with a name like Asia to be a prog band however it's actually a pretty straightforward rock group. The band began as four members and released two albums in 1979, the self-titled debut album and 1980's Armed to the Teeth. The group has a diverse musical background but their biggest success came in 1982 with Toto IV.
The album was a huge blockbuster but not without its difficulties. Record companies put the band on the place with the directive "give us an album that's a smash or we'll drop you" and the pressure was on them to give it. Luckily for Toto they did with the help of the smash hit single "Africa."
Toto's musical mastery is due to their previous experience since the members were session musicians for artists like Boz Scaggs, Steely Dan, and Seals and Crofts prior to forming the group. Their distinctive sound has become the norm for pop music from the 1980s, and has influenced many modern artists.
The album begins hard with songs like Running Out of Time or Unknown Soldier that show the band's ability to write great AOR songs that slowly sink into your head. But the album also contains some more mellow, jazzy tracks, like The Little Things and Chinatown. The album concludes with Great Expectations. This song is a mix of folk and the distorted AOR, which should sound completely wrong but actually works very well.
After Toto IV, the band's fortunes started to plummet. David Hungate left to concentrate on his solo career and the band was through various drummers. In 1984, Bobby Kimball was fired from the band in wake of drug charges and the group continued to perform as a trio with Michael Porcaro and Steve Lukather.
Despite the turmoil, Toto forged ahead and released Isolation, which was not as successful as IV. However, the band was able to release a chart-topping album in 1992, Kingdom of Desire. This album marked Toto's final lineup and the debut of Simon Phillips, a new singer.
Tours
The band has entertained millions of fans across the world, with sold out shows in Europe, North America and Asia and also Australia and New Zealand. totopia is vast and their catalog has amassed over billion streams on streaming services worldwide. The band's music has inspired generations of fans.
Steve Lukather has forged a rich, deep friendship with Joe Williams that is flourishing professionally around the globe. In 2018, the duo celebrated their 40 Tours Around The Sun by a hugely successful tour around the world. The album with the same name debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200. The band's latest tour includes their most popular hits, rarely performed live deep-cuts as well as a selection of songs from Lukather's and Williams' individual catalogues.
TOTO has a customer satisfaction rating of 20 Based on its Net Promoter Score which measures how likely its customers are to recommend the brand. Promoters are those who rate the company highly and actively encourage others to utilize their products or services. Detractors are those that rate the company negatively and actively discourage people from using its products or services.
Join Toto to experience a unique cultural encounter in Asia. This highlight tour of a region that the French used to call Indochine provides luxurious accommodation, a trip on a luxurious cruise ship in Halong Bay, and an exploration of the mystical temples of Angkor Wat. You will also spend an evening in the charming city of Luang Prabang. This UNESCO World Heritage City is a feast for your senses. This is a once in a lifetime trip you don't want to skip!
Line-up
Turn Back, the band's third studio album, was an attempt to return to the traditional sextet style, and a more consistent, stronger effort that had a more grittier edge. The edgier sound of Turn Back reflected the maturation in the group. Drummer Bobby Kimball's increased proficiency was evident in the vocal delivery of Joseph Williams, who had grown more confident and mature. Keyboardist David Paich's work also was more precise, sharper, and less derivative than previously recorded performances.
After touring to promote the album, the band recorded a live show in Amsterdam which was released as a set of two CDs titled Falling In Between Live on Eagle Records. The group released a new studio album a few months later and then embarked on a world tour help promote the album. In this time, keyboardist Greg Phillinganes filled in for Paich and bassist David Hungate left the group to spend more time with his family.
In 1998, Paich & Lukather began searching through old tapes & demos to find songs that had never been recorded prior to. It was released as a double album titled Then And Now in 2001. It was the band's first album without one single track titled "A". The album also included a previously unreleased track "Kari-Anne".
By 2003, Toto had begun to decline in popularity. The fourth album, Old Is New, was a commercial failure and singer Williams was suffering from a serious case of laryngitis which hampered his singing. Hungate also returned to Nashville and Leland Sklar's drumming duties were replaced by Shem Von Schroeck.
Downes and the other original members of Asia - Wetton, Palmer, and Howe--convened an event in England in the early part of 2006 to discuss the possibility of officially restructuring the band. This lineup, minus Howe who was busy with Yes during that time, became Toto XIV. They toured extensively.
In 2010, the band reunited for another reunion tour with a slightly different line-up, including guitarists Mike Porcaro and Steve Lukather, drummer John Pierce, bassist Shannon Forrest, and multi-instrumentalists Warren Ham and Dominique Taplin. The band also featured the appearance of singer Michael McDonald, and a backing singer named Mabvuto Carpenter.