TOTO "africa" classic or dud

No one else seems to have expressed this viewpoint, so...

Weezer cover is awesome and, in part, precisely because it's note for note (the other part being that "Africa" by Toto is a good song).

^ so much this
The Weezer version came on the local AAA radio station during my commute yesterday, and I had that exact thought sequence.
The underlying song is so good that a note-perfect cover version is exactly the right way to play it.

then why play it at all

Yeah, this feels a bit like when Shakin' Stevens shows up on early 80's TOTP and I just wonder "did they not have Elvis records back then?"

I get it, weezer trying to make money, but shit, this is bottom feeder behavior

then why play it at all
― calstars, Tuesday, July 31, 2018 8:45 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Probably because that twitter campaign to get them to cover it went viral, and they decided to be good sports about it.

Here's an interview with the Weezer bassist:

Q: Would you have believed it, if someone told you a few years ago that you're going to have your biggest hit of the decade, but the bad news is, it's going to be Toto's "Africa"?

A: It's a great story how it started, with a fan reaching out, and us tweeting back. Then we released (a cover of Toto's) "Rosanna," that really confused everyone. I guess we were just kind of doing it for us, because it was fun, having no idea it was such a good story.

Q: "Africa" is all over the internet. There's even dancing dog memes. What is it about that song?

A: Obviously, it's a world class hit song, so there's that, and it's just kind of globally relatable, somehow. I don't know, it's a massive song. Wasn't it in Season 2 of "Stranger Things"? It started with that, and a lot of younger people became aware of it.

Q: Does part of you wonder if you'll be tied to Toto's "Africa" forever, and have to play it all the time?

A: Yeah, I think Rivers said as much: "OK, now we get to play this for the rest of our career. Ready? Go." How can you be mad? The whole amphitheatre lights up and sings along. No matter what I think about a particular song, to see everyone have such a great time, you can't help but have fun.

No matter what I think about a particular song, to see everyone have such a great time, you can't help but have fun.
the opposite of a board description

Toto returns the favor

This is going to be a split 7" for RSD next year, isn't it?

I get it, weezer trying to make money, but shit, this is bottom feeder behavior

i know this band and this song are both big jokes to the cool kids, but Weezer is doing just fine without covering Africa. they might've done it to feel loved, but they didn't do it for the money.

we are living in hell

Can't wait for Toto to do "Tired of Having Sex"

we are living in hell

This is going to be a split 7" for RSD next year, isn't it?

i think Weezer already put out their own 7"

we are living in hell

nah. ive made my peace w Weezer, they are just old dudes trying to stay relevant at this point. going back and listening to their first ever hit, "Buddy Holly", that cool/uncool opening line "What's with these homies dissing my girl?", etc. kind of makes you realize they've always been like this, it's just the mid-late 90s was the right time right place, they were a younger band back then, and past the mask has been slipping ever since.

Their schtick was always so calculated; can't fault them for whatever measures they may be taking to shore things up in the present day. They're pure careerists (not that there's anything wrong with that, etc.).

nah. ive made my peace w Weezer, they are just old dudes trying to stay relevant at this point. going back and listening to their first ever hit, "Buddy Holly", that cool/uncool opening line "What's with these homies dissing my girl?", etc. kind of makes you realize they've always been like this, it's just the mid-late 90s was the right time right place, they were a younger band back then, and past the mask has been slipping ever since.

― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, July 31, 2018 1:17 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i had the opportunity through a work friend who went to school with Pat the drummer to be at a BBQ of Buffalo expats and talked to him a bunch, this was on the tour right as the Green Album came out (they were at a low ebb, playing clubs again), anyway, we talked about Dio and he said that even then he didn't care about the band and it was just a paycheck, so like almost 20 years ago they were phoning it in

I've never had any love for Weezer. I only went to their concert because HEY PIXIES, and because my wife is a 90s creature and loved Pinkerton.

But I will confirm what the bass guy sez: they played Africa and thousands of middle-aged white people sang along ecstatically.

IIRC Cuomo was like a conservatory guy, like Berklee or whatever? In his youth he thought that because he could shred inna technically demanding stylee, his band was better than other bands. The harder the music is to play, the more popular it should be. I commend his reversal on this very wrong point. However, I still don't like or need their music in my life.

I dislike "Africa" but it's better than anything on pinkerton

one thing these covers have proved without a doubt is that pat wilson is no porcoro

I dislike "Africa" but it's better than anything on pinkerton

― aloha darkness my old friend (katherine), Tuesday, July 31, 2018 3:25 PM (eleven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

p convenient that "africa" can be replaced w just about anything

lol

Cuomo was like a conservatory guy, like Berklee or whatever?

yes. there was a podcast somewhere where he demonstrated one of his formulas for writing a song, it was this spreadsheet with chord progressions and shit. just crapping out songs on auto-pilot.

Cuomo was a shredder that was hella into hair metal. He claimedche took lessons from Jim Matheos once too.

yes. there was a podcast somewhere where he demonstrated one of his formulas for writing a song, it was this spreadsheet with chord progressions and shit. just crapping out songs on auto-pilot.

C'mon, guys... if Devo did this, they'd be hailed as geniuses!

dyl, no question the dawn song is better yeah

I honestly can't remember a time when I didn't think Weezer were phoning it in and yes that includes their first album

I heard GG Allin crapped out some masterpieces in his day.

Ask a chef though, if your masterpiece goes right into someone's mouth you don't get proper recognition

Touché

speaking of resurgences in popularity, found this quote at the top of the wiki article on "My Baby Just Cares for Me":

A stylized version of the song by Nina Simone,[2] recorded in 1958, was a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom after it was used in a 1987 perfume commercial and resulted in a renaissance for Simone.[3]

there should be a list of artists that were for a long time criminally overlooked but who are now so canonized that it's hard to imagine they were ever missing from the canon

I was first aware of Nina Simone due to this track appearing on Now 10.

Can def confirm Nina Simone's hit in 1987, Niels. The video had a lot to do with it's new success iirc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYSbUOoq4Vg

Xmas #1 in the Netherlands!

their first ever hit, "Buddy Holly"

I thought it was The Sweater Song

cool thanks!

I guess Nina didn't like the video...

xpost Sweater Song didn't crack the US top 40--peaked at 57. Buddy Holly made it to #18.

I had no idea this had happened until I finally decided to click through and find out why tf this thread kept floating to the top.

Kill me. Kill me now.

xp it made it to #6 on modern rock. that's gotta count for something.

God, ever since this thread got revived it just won't get out of my head.

are you frightened of this thing that you've become?

I’m just not sure how Africa as a metaphor fits into the general lyrical theme of dedication and devotion to a relationship (““gonna take a lot to drag me away from you, etc)

seems more like the general lyrical theme is about some journey of self-discovery and spiritual revival and the relationship stuff is shoehorned in to make it sound like a love song

My half-baked reading: dude went to Africa to get away (probably from whatever relationship issues they were going through) and think things through. However, the transformative experience helped him realize that actually his woman is the real thing and nothing can come between them so now he's having her fly down to meet him on the 12:30 flight so they can take the time to experience Africa together (and do the things they never had?).

he knows he must do what's right. just as sure as...

only one way to finish out that simile

it's about DRUGS you MORONS

I feel the drugs entering my blood

My half-baked reading is the opposite of Sund4r's.

Africa's a metaphor. Drums, wild dogs, Kilimanjaro - all are just window-dressing escapist exoticism.

The speaker is a normal pudgy aging wite guy, possibly having a run-of-the-mill romantic escapade. Perhaps not even that. Maybe just wishing he was with a woman compelling enough to justify the song's emotional level.

The straining, strident vocal of the chorus, dramatically layered music (finger cymbals? Come ON) and the exotic imagery are Walter Mitty elements. To me.

I look at a picture of Toto and I just think that without musical talent these shlubs would be working at Radio Shack. That's part of why I see it this way.

^ otm

ye def otm