This 1983 No. 1 Hit Almost Didn’t Make the Album
This 1983 No. 1 Hit Almost Didn’t Make the Album
Nicole MooreSat, March 7, 2026 at 3:46 PM UTC
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(Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
Ten months after Totoreleased their beloved song, "Africa," it charted as number one on the Billboard Top 100 on February 2, 1983. For over four decades, the song, featured on the band's fourth studio album, Toto IV, has remained a cultural phenomenon.
However, in a 2023 interview with Smashing Interviews Magazine, the co-founder and keyboardist of Toto, David Paich, said "Africa" barely got onto Toto IV.
During the interview, Paich shared he began writing the song after he acquired a "new synthesizer from Yamaha." While toying around with the instrument for the first time, he "started playing that riff" from "the intro of 'Africa.'" He said that the song's verses, chorus, and melody soon followed. Paich also said he was immediately blown away by the song.
"I said, 'Man, I mean, I know that I'm good, I'm a decent songwriter, but this is beyond this is higher level. This is coming from above. This is God's divine intervention,'" recalled Paich in the 2023 interview.
Paich said that he called his fellow Toto co-founder, late drummer Jeff Porcaro, over to complete the song.
"I wanted Jeff Porcaro to be a co-writer on it because I wanted him to arrange the percussion on it. And make it so special that it would be hypnotic," said Paich.
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Paich described working on the song with Porcaro as "a magical experience."
The musician said, however, there was some pushback over the song's complex lyrics.
"I was roasted for that. They were like, 'People in high school can't understand these words.' And I said, 'Well, I went to college so I'm writing for college-level people.' I got a lot of s--t over that," said Paich in the 2023 interview.
In addition, Paich said he was told to "save this song for [his] solo album."
"That's a nice way of saying it's not good enough for the album, it's not really good enough for the album. It's so unique and it's done what it's done today, considering it was barely going to make the record," said Paich.
This story was originally published by Parade on Mar 7, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
