The Band Toto Asia
Toto was expanding its production facilities in the overseas market and doing business in France, Germany, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the People's Republic of China. Toto considered North America as a growth market for Washlet bidet seats and toilets, as opposed to its "base" markets of Japan and China.
Dhaniram Toto was documenting Toto words to ensure the future generations could read the words. Many words were replaced by foreign ones. For instance dui, which is Bengali for verandah, was used.
Origins
The company was founded in 1917 and its early years were a mirror of Japan's economic growth. In the beginning, Toto produced products to meet the demands for modern, new urban housing. To do this, it employed the country's first tunnel kiln to make ceramics in continuous flow. It also pioneered the use of automation to control production, which allows for greater efficiency and consistency.
In the late 1980s, the company began expanding overseas in order to take advantage of sales and new markets. The company created the Cera Trading Company to import and distribute other manufacturers' products in order to expand its line of sanitary earthenwares and plumbing fittings. This strategy increased sales and expanded the market share of the company globally.
In the 1990s, Toto had shifted its focus on research and development of household appliances that are water-related. It also improved its system of distribution to better serve its customers and boost profits. The company also employed the just-in-time approach to its supply chain management and sales program. This led to a higher degree of customer satisfaction.
Toto has continued to innovate on the toilet technology. The latest toilet, for example, has an extremely powerful tornado flush that is more ecologically green than traditional toilets. Toto uses recycled water for its manufacturing process, and has a green buying policy. In addition to toilets, Toto manufactures faucets and bathtubs, as well as hand dryers that are more energy efficient than conventional models.
The first museum of the company opened in the year 2015, and it has exhibitions on Toto's seminal products and their evolution and its group companies (all having to do with ceramics), history of plumbing and other products such as bath units and, in a separate gallery, Toto products sold around the world. The museum even has a bathroom that includes the WASHLET toilet, as well as other toilet-related innovations.
Before forming Toto the members of the group performed session work for many musicians. Keyboardist David Paich, drummer Jeff Porcaro and guitarists Mike Porcaro and Steve Lukather all played on the album Silk Degrees by Boz Scaggs. They also performed on albums by Steely Don, Seals and Crofts and Sonny and Cher.
Discography
You would expect a group with a name such as Asia to be a prog rock band however, it's actually a fairly straight forward rock outfit. The band started out as a quartet and recorded two albums: 1979's self-titled debut, and 1980's Armed to the Teeth. Although the band have a variety of musical backgrounds, their biggest success was achieved in 1982 with Toto IV.
The album was a major blockbuster, but not without its own set of issues. Record companies put the band on the spot with the ultimatum "give us a hit record or we'll sack you" and the pressure was on to deliver. Toto was able to achieve this with the help from the smash hit "Africa."
Toto's musical mastery is the result of their previous experiences. Before forming the group, the band members were session musicians for artists like Boz Scaggs. Steely Dan and Seals and Crofts. Their sonic signature has since become the standard for '80s pop, influencing many modern artists.
The album starts out hard with tracks like Running Out of Time or Unknown Soldier that show the band's ability to write fantastic AOR tunes that slowly creep into your head. But the album also contains some slower, more jazzy tracks like The Little Things and Chinatown. The album closes with Great Expectations, a song that combines folk with distortion AOR and could sound like a complete flop, but works amazingly well.
After Toto IV, the band's fortunes began to wane. David Hungate left the band to pursue a solo career, and the band had a variety of drummers. In 1984, Bobby Kimball left the band following drug-related charges. The band continued to play with Michael Porcaro, Steve Lukather and Michael Porcaro.
Despite the turbulence, Toto forged ahead and released Isolation that was not as successful as IV. However, the band still had a successful chart-topping album in the year 1992 with Kingdom of Desire. The album was the last of Toto's lineup and the debut of Simon Phillips, a new singer.
Tours
The band has performed across the world to a global audience of millions, with sold-out shows across Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia and New Zealand. The repertoire of the band is extensive and their catalogue has amassed over one billion streams on streaming services around the world. The band's music has inspired many generations of fans.
Steve Lukather and Joe Williams have forged a deep and vibrant friendship that flourishes professionally on a global scale. In 2018, the duo celebrated their 40 Tours Around The Sun by a hugely profitable global tour. The album of the same title ranked 5 on the Billboard 200. The latest tour of the band features their greatest hits and rarely-performed live deep cuts and some songs from Lukather's and Williams' individual catalogues.
TOTO has a Net Promoter Score of 20. This score is a measure of how likely it is that customers will recommend the brand. Promoters are those who give a high score to the company and encourage others to utilize its products or services. Detractors are those who rate the company poorly, and can even actively discourage people from using their services or products.
Join Toto to have a unique experience in Asia. This highlights tour of a region the French once called Indochine offers luxurious accommodation, a day on a deluxe junk in Halong Bay, and an exploration of the mysterious temples of Angkor Wat. Also, 토토사이트 to-topia.com will spend a night in the charming city of Luang Prabang. This UNESCO World Heritage City is a feast for your senses. This is a trip which you'll never wish to miss!
Line-up
Turn Back, the band's third studio album, was a return to a traditional sextet style, and a more consistent, stronger album with a sharper edge. The more edgier sound of Turn Back reflected the maturation in the group. Bobby Kimball's growing virtuosity was reflected by the vocals of Joseph Williams, who had become more confident and mature. Keyboardist David Paich's work also was more refined, sharper, and less derivative than on previous efforts.
After touring to promote their album, the band recorded an Amsterdam live show that was released by Eagle Records as a 2-CD set titled Falling In Between. A new studio album was released a few months later, and the group went on a world-wide tour in support of the album. In this time, keyboardist Greg Phillinganes filled in for Paich, and bassist David Hungate left the group to spend more time with his family.
In 1998, Paich & Lukather began looking through old tapes and demos to find songs that had never been recorded before. It was completed as a double-album titled Then And Now in 2001. It was the first album by the band not to include 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 a commercial failure, and singer Williams was suffering from a severe laryngitis condition that limited his singing abilities. Additionally, Hungate returned to Nashville as a drummer, and Leland Sklar was replaced by Shem von Schroeck.
Downes, Wetton Palmer and Howe, the original members of Asia The original Asia members met in England in the early part of 2006 to discuss the possibility that the band could be reformed. This lineup, with the exception of Howe (who was busy with Yes at the time) was eventually 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 band also featured the appearance of singer Michael McDonald, and a backing singer named Mabvuto Carpenter.