Africa (song)
Africa | |
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Toto | |
publication | June 1982 (UK) October 1982 (USA) |
length | 4:58 |
Genre (s) | Rock music |
text | David Paich |
music | David Paich, Jeff Porcaro |
album | Toto IV |
Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Singles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Africa is a song by the American rock band Toto . The lyrics are by keyboardist David Paich , the composition by Paich and drummer Jeff Porcaro .
Emergence
The song was the second song the band recorded for the album Toto IV . Was inspired Toto keyboardist David Paich through the advertising of UNICEF , the starving children in Africa were shown. With the song he wanted to draw attention to their fate. Paich wrote the melody on the piano in his living room within ten minutes . He worked on the lyrics for six months and presented the framework for the song to Jeff Porcaro. Paich's idea was that African percussion instruments should be the central element of the song. Porcaro and the percussionist Lenny Castro recorded a five-minute tape of the basic rhythm with marimbas , congas and a wooden xylophone , from which they then put together what they thought were the most successful parts by means of loops to form an approximately six-minute basic track. In the recording studio, the other instruments were recorded and overdubbed . Bobby Kimball , Steve Lukather and Paich sing in the background choir.
publication
The song was released in 1982 on the album Toto IV and reached various high chart positions, including number 1 on the US Billboard charts and number 3 on the British single charts in February 1983 .
Cover versions
- A cover version of the Los Angeles- based amateur choir Angel City Chorale , published on YouTube in 2013 , has so far (as of May 2020) had almost 16 million hits.
- In May 2018, Weezer covered the song following a fan-initiated social media campaign. Due to the continued success of this cover version, Weezer later shot a music video with artist Weird Al 'Yankovic .
Trivia
In 2019 the Namibian-German artist Max Siedentopf used the song for an "infinite installation" in the Namib desert . There, Africa is played permanently by a solar-powered system.
Awards for music sales
Toto
Country / Region | Award | Sales |
---|---|---|
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
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Australia (ARIA) | 7 × platinum | 490,000 |
Denmark (IFPI) | platinum | 90,000 |
Italy (FIMI) | platinum | 50,000 |
Canada (MC) | gold | 50,000 |
New Zealand (RMNZ) | gold | 7,500 |
United States (RIAA) | 5 × platinum | 5,000,000 |
United Kingdom (BPI) | 2 × platinum | 1,200,000 |
All in all |
2 × gold 16 × platinum |
6,887,500 |
Weezer
Country / Region | Award | Sales |
---|---|---|
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
United States (RIAA) | gold | 500,000 |
All in all |
1 × gold |
500,000 |
Web links
- Africa at songfacts.com
- Robyn Flans: Classic Tracks: Toto's "Africa". Mix Magazine, August 1, 2005, accessed October 7, 2016 .
- Lukas Karsten: Africa . In: Song Lexicon . Retrieved November 3, 2014.
- Music video on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ↑ release date UK
- ↑ release date USA
- ↑ Sources for chart placements: DE / AT / CH / UK , accessed on October 26, 2010.
- ^ Africa - Angel City Chorale. In: YouTube . Angel City Chorale, November 25, 2013, accessed May 14, 2020 .
- ↑ Jason Samenow: Watch and listen: Amazing choir creates a storm with nothing but their hands and feet. In: The Washington Post . June 15, 2017, accessed on May 14, 2020 .
- ↑ newyorker.com Hurry, Boy, It's Waiting There for You: Weezer Covers “Africa”
- ↑ Totally weird: Weird Al 'Yankovic and Weezer play Toto. Retrieved January 15, 2019 .
- ↑ Toto now part of an infinite art installation. In: 80s80s . Retrieved May 14, 2020 .
- ↑ Award in Australia
- ^ Award in Denmark
- ↑ Award in Italy
- ↑ Award in Canada
- ↑ Award in New Zealand
- ↑ Award in the United States (Toto)
- ↑ Award in the United Kingdom
- ↑ Award in the United States (Weezer)