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"Rosanna" is a song written by David Paich and performed by the American rock band Toto, the opening track and the first single from their 1982 album '' Toto IV''. This song won the
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
for
Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...
at the 1983 ceremony. "Rosanna" was also nominated for the Song of the Year award. It is regarded for the half-time shuffle which drummer Jeff Porcaro developed for the song, and for its production, which is generally seen as being one of the best mastered songs of all time. The groove has become an important staple of drum repertoire and is commonly known as the " Rosanna shuffle". The song reached number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks, behind "
Don't You Want Me "Don't You Want Me" is a song by British synth-pop group the Human League (credited on the cover as the Human League 100). It was released on 27 November 1981 as the fourth single from their third studio album, '' Dare'' (1981). The band's be ...
" by
the Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic music, electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their t ...
and " Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor. It was also one of the band's most successful singles in the UK, peaking at No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart and remaining on the chart for eight weeks.David Roberts '' British Hit Singles & Albums'', Guinness World Records Limited


Composition and lyrics

The song was written by David Paich, who has 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
Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Lisa Arquette (; born August 10, 1959) is an American actress. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the TV film '' The Executioner's Song'' (1982) and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for th ...
, who was dating Toto keyboard player Steve Porcaro at the time. Arquette herself played along with the joke, commenting in an interview that the song was about "my showing up at 4 a.m., bringing them juice and beer at their sessions". In the verses, the key is changed from
G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...
to
F major F major is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat.Music Theory'. (1950). United States: Standards and Curriculum Division, Training, Bureau of Naval Personnel. 28. Its relati ...
, accompanied on the original recording by the lead vocalist changing from Steve Lukather to Bobby Kimball. The drum pattern is known as a " half-time shuffle", and shows "definite jazz influence", featuring
ghost note In music, notably in jazz, a ghost note (or a dead, muted, silenced or false note) is a musical note with a rhythmic value, but no discernible pitch when played. In musical notation, this is represented by an "X" for a note head instead of ...
s and derived from the combination of the Purdie shuffle,
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
drummer
John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician who was the drummer of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Noted for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove, John Bonh ...
's shuffle on " Fool in the Rain", and the Bo Diddley beat. The Purdie shuffle can be prominently heard on Steely Dan's track "Home at Last" from '' Aja'', which Jeff Porcaro cited as an influence. The overlapping keyboard solos in the middle were created by David Paich and Steve Porcaro recording a multitude of keyboard lines (some of which were cut from the final recording) using a Micro-Composer, a
Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...
, Yamaha CS-80s, Prophets, a
Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...
, and a GS1, among other instruments. Paich credits Porcaro with both coming up with the concept for the segment and playing a majority of the parts. The album version starts with the drum beat only then kicks into the rest of the melody, then ends with two renditions of the song's chorus and goes into a musical interlude and fades out from there. According to Lukather, this final instrumental section was a spontaneous jam during the recording session: "... the song was supposed to end but Jeff carried on and Dave started playing the honky-tonk piano and we all just followed on". The single edit goes right into the melody at the beginning, then the song fades out during the first singing of the chorus at the end. Steve Porcaro and Lukather describe it as "the ultimate Toto track". ''
Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' said that it "is a varied palette of pleasing pop shades". ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' said "The arrangement is more complex than anything Toto's known for, mixing rock power chords with softer passages". ''Classic Rock History'' critic Brian Kachejian rated it as Toto's greatest song, saying that it was "Easily one of the 1980's best singles".


Music video

The ''
West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...
''-inspired video was directed by
Steve Barron Steven Barron (born 4 May 1956) is an Irish-British filmmaker and music video director. Among the music videos he has directed are "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, " Burning Up (Madonna song), Burnin Up" by Madonna, "Summer of '69" and "Run t ...
and set in a stylized urban streetscape, with Rosanna represented by a dancer whose bright red dress contrasts with the gray surroundings. The band plays within a chain-link fence enclosure. Cynthia Rhodes is featured as the lead dancer Rosanna, which led to her being cast in '' Staying Alive'' the following year. Patrick Swayze was also uncredited as a dancer in the music video and he and Rhodes would both star in the movie '' Dirty Dancing''. Despite not playing on the actual recording, new bassist Mike Porcaro (brother of Jeff and Steve) appears in the video, as original Toto bass player David Hungate left before the video was made. Lenny Castro is also featured with the band as a percussionist.


Personnel

Adapted from album's
liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...
. Toto * Bobby Kimball – lead vocals (verses and choruses), backing vocals * Steve Lukather – lead vocals (verses), backing vocals, guitars * David Paich – backing vocals, keyboards, horn arrangements * Steve Porcaro – keyboards * David Hungate – bass guitar * Jeff Porcaro – drums, percussion * Tom Kelly – backing vocals * Lenny Castrocongas and percussion * Jim Horn – saxophone * Tom Scott – saxophone * Jimmy Pankow
trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...
* Gary Grant
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
*
Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', '' Rock with Y ...
– trumpet, horn arrangements


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Weezer cover

In 2018, American rock band
Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...
released a cover of the track to poke fun at an attempt by fans to get them to cover "
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
", another song by Toto. Weezer went on to release their cover of "Africa" five days later.


References


External links


Lyrics
on officia
Toto website

MusicStack information
{{Authority control 1982 songs 1982 singles 2018 singles Toto (band) songs Songs written by David Paich Music videos directed by Steve Barron Columbia Records singles Grammy Award for Record of the Year Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals Grammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices