Fantastic live version of Africa

[Sundet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRV-ZyCQoU8

... or maybe not. This is Jean Michel Byron and his band cranking it live and one can't help but wonder what on earth is going on there. There are also clips of Rosanna, Hold the Line and whatnot. I can imagine Lukather being overjoyed by this.

[DracIsBack]

I think Lukather's "red button" is when they go out billing themselves as "Toto" to promote themselves in concert. Bobby's done it repeatedly over the years and Fergie also did it.

Doesn't look like Byron is doing any such thing except performing some songs live from the band he was previously in.

[lordreo]

My local high school band did a better cover of this song, and they were bad...

If you don't know the text, can't reproduce the sound and you had nothing to do with the creation of the track, just keep quiet.

But yeah, as long as they don't pretend they are Toto, or better than Toto, I don't really care.

[WalrusOct9]

Love how they aped the XX intro.

I had no idea that dude was still alive. And um...wow.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Not only alive, but with a voice that's apparently dropped a few octaves. Sounds like he's taken a few too many hits from the South African whoonga pipe and looks like he shares the same legally blind hair stylist as Adam Duritz. Yikes! He also posts on YouTube and has a few choice words for the guys. See his comments in the "Love Has The Power" link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eogWayrV1Vs

[Andrew]

LOL!

[Sundet]

I think Lukather's "red button" is when they go out billing themselves as "Toto" to promote themselves in concert. Bobby's done it repeatedly over the years and Fergie also did it.

Doesn't look like Byron is doing any such thing except performing some songs live from the band he was previously in.

On his old website he had the original versions of Hold the Line, Africa and Rosanna streaming in the background... that was a bit weird.

[Sundet]

He also posts on YouTube and has a few choice words for the guys. See his comments in the "Love Has The Power" link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eogWayrV1Vs

Well, I can sort of understand him. It must hurt to be relegated to a background singer like that, first on tour and then in terms of the band's history. He was lead singer there for awhile but it obviously didn't work out. Byron's ego probably contributed to that, as did Lukather's. In any case, Byron was a terrible fit, and I think Lukather went on to handle the lead singer duties beautifully for the Kingdom and Tambu albums.

[Ehwmatt]

Pretty terrible. What the hell are they thinking adding those monkey and animal sound effects?

[DracIsBack]

Well, I can sort of understand him. It must hurt to be relegated to a background singer like that, first on tour and then in terms of the band's history. He was lead singer there for awhile but it obviously didn't work out. Byron's ego probably contributed to that, as did Lukather's. In any case, Byron was a terrible fit, and I think Lukather went on to handle the lead singer duties beautifully for the Kingdom and Tambu albums.

I understand him too. Reality is - some people just aren't meant to get along. If he and Luke (one of the key players in the band) didn't get along, that's a problem.

Bigger issue I think is the terrible fit, as you say. I actually like that "Love Has The Power" song and think Byron can carry a tune. But Toto isn't really an eccentric band with eccentric fans and he has an eccentric vibe. Plus, a lot of Toto's catalog is written for a tenor with power. Bobby had range and power, Fergie had range and power, Joe had range and power. Byron had range.

That's a problem.

I think he sounds great on "Love Has The Power". Can't imagine him singing GIRL GOODBYE or ANGEL DON'T CRY or ONLY THE CHILDREN without the force to go with the range.

[Sundet]

He sang Girl Goodbye in 1990, and it certainly wasn't anything to write home about. There is a live recording from a German radio broadcast somewhere, and I was surprised they didn't leave that one off.

[Marzdog]

The worst part about this is that there are some in the audience (and the band) who actually think this is decent...

[TotoFan77]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CHV0XKJUYU

That's him singing Girl Goodbye and Stop Loving You from the 1990 tour. As you see, Jackie or Jenny (I can't tell which one) had to help him out abit with GG. He sounds ok in Stop Loving You though.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Thanks for posting. 'Girl Goodbye' is a serviceable rendition. Not disastrous by any stretch (I've heard Bobby sing worse). But like Drac said, JMB lacked power and prolly would have flamed out fast. "Stop Loving You" is pretty bad. JMB is barely holding it together. Switching to falsetto...just crummy.

[DracIsBack]

Hmm - the Girl Goodbye was better than I thought ... had a bit more spunk than I expected. I cut him a bit of slack for Jenny singing the really high parts. That's a tough song to do live and when I saw Bobby do it, he typically really struggled with that part live.

I thought STOP LOVING YOU would be a lot better than it was. He sounded really nervous and unsure of himself, IMO. Maybe because the song was then a pretty recent and big hit, but he voice smacked of a complete lack of confidence compared to Girl Goodbye even.