TOTO "africa" classic or dud

The song "Africa" by Toto, as discussed in this thread.

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/africa-by-toto?full=1

"I know there are so many 'All Star except every word is replaced with the sound of a pitch shifted fart' YouTube videos, but please don't discredit this excellent song"

I'm not buying that the spread of Africa's popularity is due to those youtubes from 2010. I did an Orlando Fringe production which had Toto and specifically "Africa" as a running joke throughout. several friends' bands would cover it at bars/restaurants etc. memes seemed more like a byproduct of the popularity than anything causal

youtubes or any memes, I should say

that Fringe production was from 2008

like sure it boosted it like any meme would but it isn't like "Africa" was like some tucked away 80s obscurity that just resurfaced over night, it p much never went away to begin with

yes

it has been a lol'd-at-yet-admired song as long as i can remember

whereas like, "Never Gonna Give You Up", sure, a lot of people remembered it, but the infamous Rickroll meme was largely responsible for its re-emergence and continued popularity. that one owed a lot more to the meme.

No, I'm not buying that "Africa" has always been this popular. I mean, I was there ... when the song was a hit. But I was also there when the song was good/funny only for people my age, a sort of ironic Gen X joke. I have no idea why the song is so popular/hilarious among people half my age, but there's no way it's just because it's "good." That's why I gravitated toward the reassuring chord progression, which makes some degree of sense to me.

the song is all of the above -- chart hit, ironic GenX joke, popular YouTube cover, lol'd-at-yet-admired, a cappella staple, legitimately popular and timeless, sync fave, target of TV jokemen, popular/hilarious among people half our age, possible meme, etc., etc. -- because it's a catchy, well-crafted song (with some bad lyrics but who cares about lyrics)

agree or disagree? everyone vote.

c'mon man, the song isn't exactly "Don't Stop Believin'", but it's always been instantly recognizable and popular. Betty White sang "Africa" on Community in 2010 ffs.

I went on my FB and found 11 friends posting about the song in 2009-2010, only two of which were in response to some obscure a capella group doing it (couldn't find earlier as most of them were still on MySpace at the time lol)

hell one of my friends recorded a 3 part a capella version of it in 09 apparently (yay for FB search)

i guess a song being a "meme" is a little weird to me, because i think you could go back pretty far, like for example the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" has always operated at that nexus of irony and genuine love. i just feel like the same thing was already happening with a lot of these songs, it just moved on the internet.

feels different than Rick Rolling which was really specifically an Internet stunt, or Rebecca Black Friday or Gangham Style, those type of viral meme songs

like Toto has had memes that might have boosted its popularity, but not an outright kingmaker like Rick Astley did.

xpost ums otm

also sorry i know i'm getting really into "who knows what a ~~~~meme~~~~ even is maaaaaan" territory here *smokes doobie*

my high school choir even had SATB sheet music for Africa lol (never got to do it tho)

a few things:

1. "Never Gonna Give You Up" is definitely a bigger meme song than "Africa", but then again, there aren't many songs in general that can match the meme power of the Rickroll.
2. "Staying Alive" is a great example of a meme song avant la lettre.
3. I don't recall really encountering "Africa" much during the 1990s, certainly not as a thing in pop culture. I kinda get the impression that people on here saying it's been a constant really mean it has been for the past 10 years or so. There was definitely a period where this track sank a bit into obscurity.

Maybe I'm wrong though, don't know when you were in HS Neanderthal.

'Africa' used to get a fair amount of play on VH-1 UK in the '90s. I remember being in a taxi in the late '90s and the taxi driver fucking playing the thing on a loop. This song has never really gone away. It doesn't feel like a meme to me either.

xp I'm willing to put in the work to make the Go-Go's "Head Over Heels" happen

― Monster fatberg (Phil D.), Thursday, September 21, 2017

let's do this!

As long as there isn't a fucking 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' resurgence...

the endtimes are near, i wouldn't rule it out

i think there is a sense to "Africa" being sort of a punchline, and I would hate for that to happen to "Head Over Heels" -- it deserves better than to be intentionally baconed

Wilson Phillips' "Release Me."

"Head Over Heels" is awesome.

There was definitely a period where this track sank a bit into obscurity.

Not just this track, but much of the louchey-douchey radio rock music from this period. It would probably have seemed a bit ridic / faintly embarrassing to admit you liked it. To a lot of people in my social circle anyways. Not that I tested this rigorously, but I suspect it would have seemed a little weird to be unironically cranking this up at a keg party in 1993.

It was normal to like music that was older than this, or newer than this. Or obscurer than this, or more popular than this. But something like Styx or Toto fell into a kind of trough, both in terms of age (neither fresh nor classic) and in terms of exposure level (neither unknown nor popular). My high school had deadheads and metalheads, goths and punks, but nobody who walked around wearing an REO Speedwagon concert tee.

REO speedwagon was for olds

Wilson Phillips was featured at the end of Bridesmaids but I don't know if that connotes meme status.

i doubt i have heard this song played in a non-jokey way (outside of a cvs) in 30 years. i mean i've totally enjoyed this thread's discussion of the chord changes, etc, but it's a corny-ass song with in-your-face terrible lyrics, and not even in a fist-pumpy way like 'don't stop believin'

hold the line is a jam, though

tbh i'm having a hard time thinking of songs by female artists that are this aggressively corny about something so random. certainly not the go-go's. i guess we'll always have rebecca black

I think that the meme-ification process - especially of Glee and the Pitch Perfect movies (plus the accompanying popularity renaissance of a capella) - may have had a liberating effect on what people feel they can admit they always liked.

Personally I've always liked "Africa" but I probably would have been quieter about it in high school and college. Maybe that just means I suck at being a human, or am insufficiently secure in my taste/judgment, or care too much about seeming "cool." But teens and young adults generally develop a pretty good sense at what you'll get laughed at for championing.

tbh i'm having a hard time thinking of songs by female artists that are this aggressively corny

Heart, "These Dreams." It's "Total Eclipse of the Heart"-level corn.

"Black Velvet" is a borderline case. I have days when I think it's the awesomest thing that ever awesomed; at other times I think it's pretty cornish.

omg "black velvet" is horrible

I associate 'Africa' with this compilation, which my parents had on cassette and that I used to listen to a lot as a kid.

http://images.eil.com/large_image/VARIOUS-60S_%26_70S_OPEN%2BTOP%2BCARS%2BAND%2BGIRLS%2BIN%2BT%2BSHIRTS-449225.jpg

https://www.discogs.com/Various-Open-Top-Cars-And-Girls-In-TShirts/release/8718875

Looking at the tracklisting again I guess that some of those tracks would have been considered cool/'credible' at the time and some wouldn't, but I think these distinctions matter less to people the further away you get from the era they were released?

'these dreams' is a good call

I agree that Head Over Heals is not corny enough for this kind of appreciation, but maybe Heaven Is A Place On Earth/I Get Weak/Circle In The Sand? they are all great but also corny imo

Heaven is a Place on Earth has scored in this field via Black Mirror iirc

xps I don't think I ever noticed before that it's written "T'Shirts" and not T-Shirts

xps Oh and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G4O5AMSevc

Cornier than Field of Dreams.

xp LL - thanks for mentioning that! There's like 20 excellent near-forgotten songs in that Black Mirror episode.

well only one of the girls is actually wearing a t-shirt

t'shirts made me lol
it's like t'pau

As long as there isn't a fucking 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' resurgence...

I heard this in a Walgreen's yesterday and was depressed

would totally support Michael Penn "No Myth" revival imo

xpost I would enjoy that song more if 20 seconds in the music gave way to the sounds of a shotgun pump, a loud blast, screams, and then nothing but stunned silence and sobbing

That's a good song. He was kind of a proto-Elliott Smith with less self-loathing

xp

the lyrics for "no myth" are sufficiently verbose, i think this one has a chance

I mentioned it because I hear it these days at CVS

"No Myth" helped me win back an ex-girlfriend. (Reader, I married her.)

i just watched the video and 1) it's terrible 2) seeing michael penn again reminded me how cuuuuute he was and 3) all the lyrics about romeo and heathcliff and who knows what else are balanced by the repeated universally understood message that "she's just looking for someone to dance with" which let's face it, resonates in a universally understood way like "it's gonna take a lot to take me away from you"

sometime from now you'll bow to pressure!

"No Myth" is a perfect single and he was adorable. March was the first album on CD I ever bought.

No Myth > Barely Breathing > Breakfast at Tiffany's > Friends Theme.

You're welcome.

i just checked and he is still very easy on the eyes