David Paich - Forgotten Toys (2022)

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David Paich - Forgotten Toys (2022)

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Boz Scaggs. Mötley Crüe. Steely Dan. Bryan Adams. George Martin. Michael Jackson. Quincy Jones. P!NK. Aretha Franklin. Miles Davis. The Doobie Brothers. Stevie Nicks. Dolly Parton. Jessie J. Cher. Rod Stewart. Tina Turner. Michael McDonald. Joan Baez. Ray Charles. Elton John. Barbra Streisand… and countless others. If you’ve listened to music in the last 50 years, including any of the iconic artists above, you were hearing David Paich. Music is the soundtrack of our lives, and David is one of its architects.

As a six-time Grammy® Award Winner, Paich has contributed to over 2,000 albums, shaping the sound of popular music as a songwriter, performer, producer, arranger, vocalist and primary composer of the seminal band TOTO. With TOTO, Paich has released 17 albums, sold over 40 million records and garnered over 3 billion streams worldwide. Paich wrote or co-wrote TOTO’s biggest hits, "Hold the Line", "Rosanna" and “Africa”.

Like most treasured mementos and keepsakes, we hold on to songs forever. We dust them off when we need them, put them back on the shelf, and discover them again months or sometimes years down the line. With his diverse catalogue, he has been kicking around song ideas for a solo album for some time. The COVID lockdown presented Paich the opportunity to revisit those songs, and the result being a collection of tunes that he has carried in my head for years. He shares, “It seemed like it was time to put something together. Some of these really are forgotten toys. It had been a while since I’ve been in my studio and I found myself listening to these little pieces continuously. I kept rediscovering them, hoping to fit the tracks together like a musical puzzle.”

For as much as it may be a “solo” album, Paich couldn’t help but invite a few friends to play. Joined by Joseph Williams as co-producer and sometimes co-vocalist, he welcomed everyone from Toto’s Steve Lukather to Brian Eno, Michael McDonald, Ray Parker Jr., Don Felder, and Steve Jordan of The Rolling Stones.

The album cover artwork provides a poetically nostalgic representation of the concept. It features a variety of memories Paich’s wife has held onto over the years. “I hope this will give everyone a glimpse into another side of me, one they’ve never heard in a musical context.”

Music is the soundtrack of our life. For David, music is much more than the soundtrack of his life. As one of its architects, it is his life.