Described as the ultimate Toto track, Rosanna is a song written by David Paich.
Described as the ultimate Toto track, Rosanna is a song written by David Paich. It is the opening track and the first single from their 1982 album Toto IV. This song won the Record of the Year Grammy Award in the 1983 and is highly regarded for drummer Jeff Porcaro's half-time shuffle, commonly known as the Rosanna shuffle. David Paich said that the song is based on numerous girls he had known, as a joke, the band members initially played along with the common assumption that the song was based on actress Rosanna Arquette, who was dating Toto keyboard player Steve Porcaro at the time and coincidentally had the same name. The half-time shuffle drum pattern clearly shows jazz influence. David Frank Paich (born 1954) is an American musician, songwriter, singer, and record producer, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter and keyboard player of Toto. Paich wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the band's three most popular songs: Hold the Line, Africa and Rosanna, additionally, he has worked as a songwriter, session musician and producer with a host of artists including Boz Scaggs and Michael Jackson. Paich is the son of jazz composer, musician, and arranger Marty Paich. The American rock band Toto were formed in 1977 in Los Angeles and is known for a musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard rock, R&B, blues, and jazz. Paich and Jeff Porcaro had already played together as session musicians on several albums and decided to form a band. They recruited David Hungate, Steve Lukather, Steve Porcaro, and Bobby Kimball and together they went on to enjoy great commercial success in the late 1970s and 1980s, beginning with the band's eponymous debut released in 1978. With the release of the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Toto IV album, Toto became one of the best-selling music groups of their era. Toto has released 14 studio albums and has sold over 40 million records worldwide, been honoured with several Grammy Awards and in 2009 was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.
