The Band Toto Asia
Toto was expanding its production facilities overseas, and doing business in France and Germany, Indonesia, Korea and Taiwan, Thailand and the People's Republic of China. North America was seen as an area of growth for toilets and bidet seats, in contrast to its "base" markets in Japan and China.
Dhaniram Toto documented Toto words so that the next generation could be able to read the words. Many words were replaced with foreign words. For instance dui, which was Bengali for verandah was being used.
Origins
Established in 1917, Toto's beginnings mirrored Japan's growth. In the first half of its existence, the company made products to meet the demand for new, modern urban housing. To accomplish this, it employed the first tunnel kiln in the nation that produced ceramics in a continuous flow. It also pioneered the use automation to control production, allowing for greater efficiency and consistency.
In the latter half of the 1980s, the company began expanding overseas to benefit from sales and new markets. The company created the Cera Trading Company to import and distribute other products from other manufacturers in order to expand its line of sanitary earthenwares as well as plumbing fittings. This strategy helped increase sales and expand the market share of the company globally.
In the 90s, Toto began to concentrate on research and development for water-related appliances. It also upgraded its system of distribution to better serve its customers and increase profit. The company embraced a just-in time approach to supply chain management and applied the same approach for its sales process. This resulted in a greater level of satisfaction of customers.
Toto continues to invent toilet technology. The latest toilet, for instance, has a strong tornado flush that is more eco green than traditional toilets. Toto also makes use of recycled water in its manufacturing process and has a green purchasing policy. Apart from toilets, Toto produces bathtubs and faucets, as well as hand dryers that are more energy efficient than standard models.
The first Toto museum opened in the year 2015. It has exhibitions on Toto's most famous products, their evolution, the group companies (all of which are ceramics) as well as the history of plumbing and products such as bath units. In another gallery, visitors can view Toto products that are sold across the world. The museum houses bathrooms with a WASHLET and other toilet innovations.
Before forming Toto, members of the group did sessions for various musicians. Boz Scaggs album Silk Degrees featured keyboardist David Paich, guitarists Mike Porcaro & Steve Lukather as well as drummers Jeff Porcaro & Steve Lukather. They also performed on albums by Steely Dan, Seals and Crofts, and Sonny and Cher.
Discography
With a name as evocative as Asia one would expect the group to be prog queens and kings however, it's actually a fairly straightforward rock group. The band began as four-piece, and released two albums in 1979, the self-titled debut album and 1980's Armed to the Teeth. The band has a varied musical background, but their biggest success came in 1982 when they released Toto IV.
The album was a major blockbuster, but not without problems. Record companies put the band on the position with the order "give us an album that's a smash or we'll take you off the market" and the pressure was on them to give it. Toto was able to do this feat with the help of the smash hit "Africa."
Toto's musical mastery is a result of their previous experience, as the band members were session musicians for artists like Boz Scaggs, Steely Dan, and Seals and Crofts prior to forming the group. Their sonic trademark has become the standard of the '80s, and has influenced many contemporary artists.
This album starts off hard, with songs such as Running Out of Time and Unknown Soldier showcasing the bands ability to write great AOR songs that slowly build their hooks into you. But simply click the following internet page contains some more mellow, jazzy tracks like The Little Things and Chinatown. And the album ends with Great Expectations, a song which combines folk and distortion AOR and sounds completely wrong, but actually works amazingly well.
After Toto IV The band's fortunes changed towards the negative. David Hungate left the band to pursue a solo career and the band had a variety of drummers. In 1984, Bobby Kimball left the group due to drug charges. The band continued with Michael Porcaro, Steve Lukather and Michael Porcaro.
Toto released Isolation despite the turmoil. It wasn't as popular as IV. However, the band managed to release another chart-topping album in 1992, Kingdom of Desire. The album was the last of Toto's lineup and the debut of Simon Phillips, a new vocalist.
Tours
The band has performed around the world to a global crowd of millions, with sold-out shows in Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia and New Zealand. The band has a vast repertoire, and its catalog has been heard over a billion times via streaming services all over the world. The band's music has been influential to many generations of fans.
Steve Lukather has forged a rich, deep friendship with Joe Williams that is flourishing professionally all over the world. In 2018, the duo celebrated their 40th anniversary of Tours Around The Sun by a hugely profitable global tour. The album with the same name landed at #5 on the Billboard 200. The band's newest tour features their most popular hits, rarely performed live deep-cuts and a selection of songs that come from Lukather's and Williams catalogs.
TOTO has a satisfaction rating of 20 based on its Net Promoter Score, which is a measure of how likely 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 who rate the company poorly, and may even actively discourage people from using their products or services.
Join Toto for a unique cultural experience in Asia. This highlights tour offers luxury accommodations, a day aboard a deluxe junk on Halong Bay and an exploration of Angkor Wat, a mystical temple that the French called Indochine. Also, you'll spend a night in the charming town of Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage city that will delight the senses. This is a trip which you'll never want to miss!
Line-up
Turn Back, the band's third studio album, was a return to a classic sextet format and it was a more consistent, more powerful effort that had a more grittier edge. The more edgier sound of Turn Back was a reflection of the maturation in the group. The drummer Bobby Kimball's increasing ability to play was evident in the vocal delivery of Joseph Williams, who had grown more confident and mature. Keyboardist David Paich's work was more precise, sharper, and less derivative than earlier recordings.
After touring to promote their album, the band recorded the band's Amsterdam live performance which was released on Eagle Records as a 2-CD set titled Falling In Between. The group released their new studio album just a few months after and then embarked on a world tour to help promote it. During this period keyboardist Greg Phillinganes replaced Paich and bassist David Hungate quit the group to spend time with his family.
In 1998, Paich & Lukather began searching through old tapes & demos to find songs that hadn't been recorded prior to. It was released as a double-album titled Then & Now in 2001. It was the first album in the history of the band not to feature any single song that had the word "A" in the title, and it also contained one previously unreleased track, "Kari-Anne".
By 2003, Toto had begun to decline in popularity. The group's fourth record, Old Is New was a commercial failure and vocalist Williams was suffering from laryngitis, which affected his singing abilities. In addition, Hungate returned to Nashville as a drummer, and Leland Sklar was replaced by Shem von Schroeck.
Downes and the other members of Asia--Wetton, Palmer, and Howe--convened an event in England in the beginning of 2006 to discuss the possibility of officially reforming the band. The group, which was missing Howe who was occupied with Yes during that period, was later renamed 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 group also had the appearance of singer Michael McDonald, and a backing singer named Mabvuto Carpenter.