Toto legend Steve Lukather has a list with dozens of credits including Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Paul McCartney, Steely Dan but he says he has only walked out of a session once and it was for Richard Simmons.
“Richard Simmons, yeah,” Steve tells Noise11.com. “He is the only person I have ever walked out on. Back in the day a contract was signed and you were told to be there from 12 and 6 or whatever. When I turned up and realised what I was doing I thought ‘wow I’ve got to be a lot more selective with what I am doing’. No offence to the man. Musically it was shite. It was a dancer-size music. It was before cellphones so I said ‘I’ve got to go out and make a call’ and I went out and went to the car and drove off and didn’t come back’”.
At the other end of the scale he has worked with Barbra Streisand. He says she was “very professional. She was great. Wow, to hear that voice in the headphones. She was great to the band. She was rough on the producer but that’s her job. She was great to us. She was magic man. She is a legend for a reason. Do I sit around at home playing Streisand? No! But it was late 70s session stuff and great for me”.
Its incredible looking at a list of Steve Lukather’s credits. “When you are in the midst of it you don’t think about it. I worked with legends and learned from them and created with them. Its only when you have decades behind you, you can look back and go ‘did I really do all this?’ When I read my book and they put all those records in a list I thought, “did I really do all this, and be in a band, and have four children”. I did it somehow”.
One of his favourite jobs is working with Ringo Starr. “I’m going on year seven. He is one of the finest human beings you can meet. I love him. As an artist, he is one of the Beatles for godsakes. I got to work with three out of four of them. I woke up as an older guy going ‘Ringo and I are friends’. I wrote two songs for his last album and Paul McCartney played bass. My Beatles wet dream came true”.
Toto will tour Australia over New Years.
Toto Australian dates
January 3, Sydney, Hordern Pavilion
January 4, Melbourne, Festival Hall
Plus the Falls Festival
