Toto ~ Rosanna 1982 Extended Meow Mix

Hey Rossana, this one is for you! I first met Rossana A. through my friend Michael Y when I worked for the federal tax department as a Tax information officer. Bright eyed with a magnetic personality and a killer smile, she has so much love in her heart. It was sad to find out her brother was dying of AIDS, and she took care of him without complaint. I did what I could to help out during that trying time. Recently, she has been caregiver to a very sick ex-colleague of mine from our tax days whose condition is terminal. Being with someone I loved who faced death and needed someone to lean on. It is never easy to watch someone you care about fade away. So here is my dedication to you, I salute you Rossana. When "Rosanna" came out many assumed that the song was about Rosanna Arquette who was then dating Steve Porcaro. Steve Lukather confirmed that the song was written by David Paich, who thought the name had potential as the subject and fit the music. The members of Toto met in 1972 while the individuals were gigging and doing session work for Boz Scaggs and Jackson Browne when they decided to formalize the group and record. The name is mistakenly believed to be derived from the little dog in "The Wizard Of Oz", and the rumour that Toto was derived from Toteaux which was lead singer Bobby Kimball's real last name, (it isn't). In reality, Jeff and Dave used the word "toto" to identify the demo tapes they were working on while they searched for a record deal and a real name for the band. In Latin the word means "everything" which fit well with the philosophy of the band that they liked all kinds of music. They just adopted it as the official name. "Rosanna" was a major hit and it spent five weeks at #2 behind a pair of #1 singles, The Human League "Don't You Want Me" and then Survivor's "Eye Of The Tiger". Lukather knew the record was special and saw it as an obvious single. "It was funky, it had a little Spinners thing in the middle section, it had horns, it still had loud guitars and a little New Orleans groove. It was a lot of different influences that made that record and then we put our stamp on it and made it our own." This was their last Top 10 single, their next hit was the #11 "I'll Be Over You" and then their final showing on the Hot100 was "Pamela" that peaked at #22.