Former Toto keyboardist Steve Porcaro admits his band was “a little cocky” when it came time to record their second album.
“Every band’s first album is the best stuff they’ve done their entire life,” Porcaro explained during an appearance on the Bob Lefsetz podcast. “Every single band you can name, their first album was the best shit they did their entire life. And then in those days, it was every year we had to do a new album. It was every year. And this is after you’ve toured. Have you spent any time with your family at all? [Record labels] don’t care. Give us another. We need another one.”
Such was the case for Toto, who enjoyed huge success with their self-titled debut album. The 1978 LP featured the hit single “Hold the Line,” which spent six weeks in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 10 and turned Toto into a household name. When it came time to record their sophomore album, Hydra, band’s confidence was at an all-time high.
“Did we get a little cocky after that first album did so good out of the gate? Sure,” Porcaro admitted. “Believe me, we were going for it. We did get a little cocky for sure and kind of thought, ‘Wow, we can do this. They’re buying it.’”
Toto Was ‘Definitely Self-Indulgent’ on ‘Hydra’
Toto got experimental on Hydra, embracing prog-rock influences and cryptic lyrics. While the album stretched the band musically, it was a far cry from the radio-friendly sound of their debut effort.
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“There was some definitely self-indulgent [material] there,” Porcaro confessed. “I can speak for my song that was on Hydra, the song called ‘Secret Love’ was the weirdest two and a half minutes you’ll hear on a major label release.”
“I woke up one morning, I called this place called Kasimov Blutener in Larchmont in California, and I rented a harpsichord, a clavichord, a Mozart piano,” the rocker continued, recalling how ‘Secret Love’ was made. “I rented all these these vintage keyboards, acoustic keyboards, and had this idea for this very strange song and the guys let me do it. They let me do it. It’s on the album.”
Listen to Toto’s ‘A Secret Love’
Toto Was Proud of ‘Hydra’, Even Though It Was ‘a Stiff’
Released Octo. 26, 1979, Hydra failed to live up to the commercial success of its predecessor. Only one single, “99”, managed to crack the Top 40. Though Porcaro admitted the album was “a stiff,” he and his bandmates were nonetheless proud of their work.
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“We loved Hydra. We loved it. Did we get did we get a little cocky? Sure. Now, I don’t think being cocky is necessarily a bad thing unless you get way, way, way too cocky,” the musician noted. “Were there any ‘Hold the Lines’ on it? No. But there sure was a song called ‘99’ and there still was stuff that people could relate to and was still great songwriting and great production. There was still a lot of very strong stuff on there.”
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Countless high school buddies have started their own bands, but few achieved the level of enduring success enjoyed by the guys in Toto.
Gallery Credit: Jeff Giles
