The Band Toto Asia
Toto was expanding production facilities abroad, and doing business in France and Germany, Indonesia, Korea and Taiwan, Thailand and the People's Republic of China. North America was seen as a market that would grow for toilets and bidet seats, as opposed its "base" markets in Japan and China.
Dhaniram Toto documented Toto words to ensure that the future generation could be able to read them. However, many of the words were being replaced by foreign ones, like dui, which is Bengali for verandah.
Origins
Established in 1917, Toto's beginnings mirrored Japan's development. In the early years of its existence, the company made goods to meet demand for new, modern urban housing. It was the first tunnel kilns in the country that could produce ceramics continuously. It also pioneered automation for production control, which helps to increase efficiency and a more consistent production.
The company began expanding overseas in the latter part of the 1980s to profit from new markets and sales opportunities. It created the Cera Trading Company, importing and selling other products from other manufacturers to complement its own lines of sanitary earthenware and plumbing fittings. This strategy increased sales and expanded the company's market share in the world.
In the 1990s, Toto began to concentrate on research and development of water-related appliances. It also upgraded its distribution system to better meet the needs of its customers and increase profits. The company embraced a just-in time approach to managing its supply chain and used the same approach in its sales strategy. This resulted in a greater level of satisfaction of customers.
Toto continues to invent with regard to toilet technology. The most recent toilet features a powerful, environmentally-friendly tornado flush. Toto also makes use of recycled water in its production process and has a green procurement policy. In addition to toilets Toto produces bathtubs and faucets, as well as hand dryers that are more energy efficient than standard models.
토토 꽁머니 opened in 2015. It hosts exhibits on the most iconic products of Toto and their evolution, the group companies (all of which are made of ceramics) and the history of plumbing and products such as bath units. In an additional gallery, you can view Toto products that are sold across the world. The museum also has a bathroom that features the WASHLET toilet, as well as other toilet-related innovations.
Before the formation of Toto members of the group did session work for various musicians. Boz Scaggs' album Silk Degrees featured keyboardist David Paich, guitarists Mike Porcaro & Steve Lukather, drummers Jeff Porcaro & Steve Lukather. They also performed on records by Steely Dan, Seals and Crofts, and Sonny and Cher.
Discography
You would expect a group with a name like Asia to be a prog rock group, but it is actually a fairly straight forward rock group. The band began as a four-piece and released two albums: 1979's self-titled debut and 1980's Armed to the Teeth. The group has a diverse musical background but their biggest success came in 1982 with Toto IV.
The album was a major blockbuster, but not without problems. The record companies put Toto under pressure to deliver an album that was a success or they would drop the album. Toto was able to do this with the help from the hit song "Africa."
Toto's musical mastery is due to their previous experiences since the members were session musicians for artists such as Boz Scaggs, Steely Dan, and Seals and Crofts prior to forming the group. Their distinctive sound has become the standard of '80s music, influencing many contemporary artists.
The album starts out hard with songs such as Running Out of Time or Unknown Soldier that show the band's ability to create great AOR tunes that slowly creep into your head. The album also contains more jazzy, slower tracks such as The Little Things and Chinatown. And the album ends with Great Expectations, a song that combines folk with distortion AOR and should sound like a complete flop, but works amazingly well.
After Toto IV The band's fortunes took a turn for the worse. David Hungate left the band to pursue a solo career. The band had several drummers. In 1984, Bobby Kimball left the group due to drug charges. The band continued to play with Michael Porcaro, Steve Lukather and Michael Porcaro.
Despite the chaos, Toto forged ahead and released Isolation, which was not as successful as IV. However, the group managed to release another chart-topping album in the year 1992 with Kingdom of Desire. This album marked the end of Toto's lineup and the debut of Simon Phillips, a new singer.
Tours
The band has entertained millions of people around the world, with sold out shows in Europe, North America and Asia as well as Australia and New Zealand. The band has a vast repertoire, and its catalog has been listened to over one billion times on streaming services around the world. The band's iconic music has inspired generations of fans.
Steve Lukather and Joe Williams have formed a strong and vibrant friendship that flourishes professionally on a global scale. In 2018 the duo celebrated their 40th anniversary of Tours Around the Sun with a massively successful global tour. The album of the same name debuted at 5 on the Billboard 200. The new tour of the band features their greatest hits and rarely performed live deep cuts, along with some of the songs from Lukather and Williams' individual catalogs.
TOTO has a Net Promoter Score of 20. This score measures the likelihood that customers will recommend the brand. Promoters are those who are highly satisfied with the company and actively encourage others to make use of their products or services. Detractors are those who rate the company poorly and might even actively dissuade others from using their products or services.
Join Toto to enjoy a unique cultural experience in Asia. This highlights tour offers luxury accommodation, a day on an elegant cruise ship on Halong Bay and an exploration of Angkor Wat, a mystical temple that is what the French called Indochine. Also, you will spend an evening in the charming city of Luang Prabang. This UNESCO World Heritage City is a feast for the senses. This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip that you shouldn't miss!
Line-up
Turn Back, the band's third studio album it was an attempt to return to the classic sextet format and it was a more consistent, more powerful effort with a harder edge. Its edgier sound was a reflection of the maturation of the group and included drummer Bobby Kimball's improved proficiency on the drums, as well as a more confident, mature vocal delivery from singer Joseph Williams. Keyboardist David Paich's work also was more precise, sharper and less cloying than earlier recordings.
After touring to promote their album, the band recorded an Amsterdam live performance which was released on Eagle Records as a 2-CD set entitled Falling In Between. The group released a new studio album just a few months after and embarked on a world tour support the album. During this period, keyboardist Greg Phillinganes replaced Paich and bassist David Hungate quit the group to spend time with his family.
In 1998, Paich and Lukather started looking through old demo tapes and tapes to make a new album featuring songs that were never recorded before. It was completed in 2001 as a duo album titled Then and Now. It was the first album in the band's history not to feature a single song with 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 album, Old Is New was not a commercial success and vocalist Williams was suffering from laryngitis, which restricted his singing capabilities. Hungate also returned to Nashville and Leland Sklar's drumming duties were replaced by Shem Von Schroeck.
Downes, Wetton Palmer and Howe, the founding members of Asia were in England in the early part of 2006 to discuss the possibility that the band could be reformed. The lineup, which was minus Howe (who was busy with Yes at the time) was later referred to as Toto XIV and 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.