The Band Toto Asia Toto was expanding its production facilities abroad and was doing business in France, Germany, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the People's Republic of China. North America was seen as an area of growth for toilets and bidet seats, in contrast to its "base" markets in Japan and China. Dhaniram Toto documented Toto words to ensure that the future generation could be able to read them. Many words were substituted with foreign ones. For example, dui, which is Bengali for verandah, was being used. Origins Toto's early history, which began in 1917, was a reflection of Japan's rapid economic growth. In the first half of 1917, Toto produced products to meet the demands for modern, contemporary urban housing. It was the first tunnel kilns in the country that could produce ceramics continuously. It also pioneered the use automation to control production, which allows for greater efficiency and consistency. In the late 1980s, the company began expanding overseas in order to benefit from sales and new markets. The company created the Cera Trading Company to import and distribute other manufacturers' products in order to expand its range of sanitary earthenwares and plumbing fittings. This strategy helped increase sales and expanded the firm's market share in the world. In the 90s, Toto began to concentrate on research and development for water-related appliances. It also improved its distribution system to better serve the needs of its customers and boost profits. The company also employed the just-in time approach in its supply chain management as well as sales program. This resulted in a greater level of customer satisfaction. Toto continues to invent in the toilet technology. Its latest toilet, for example, has an extremely powerful tornado flush that is more eco green than traditional toilets. The company also makes use of recycled water in its production process and has a green purchasing policy. Toto also produces faucets, bathtubs and hand dryers with greater energy efficiency than standard models. The first Toto museum opened in 2015. It hosts exhibits on Toto’s seminal products as well as their evolution, group companies (all of which are made from ceramics), the history of plumbing, and products such as bath units. In another gallery, visitors will find Toto products sold all over. The museum even has a bathroom that features the WASHLET toilet, as well as other toilet-related innovations. Before forming Toto the members of the band did session work for a variety of musicians. Boz Scaggs' album Silk Degrees featured keyboardist David Paich as well as guitarists Mike Porcaro & Steve Lukather and drummers Jeff Porcaro & Steve Lukather. They also performed on albums by Steely Dan, Seals and Crofts, and Sonny and Cher. Discography With a name as evocative as Asia, you would expect the group to be prog queens and kings but they're actually a fairly simple rock band. The group began as a quartet and released two albums - 1979's self-titled debut album, and 1980's Armed to the Teeth. However, even though the group have a wide range of musical backgrounds their biggest breakthrough was in 1982 with Toto IV. The album was a major blockbuster, however it did not come without its share of issues. The record companies put the band under pressure to release the top single or they would drop the album. Toto was able to do this through the aid of the hit song "Africa." Toto's musical mastery is a result of their previous experiences. Before forming the group, members were session musicians for artists such as Boz Scaggs. Steely Dan and Seals and Crofts. Their distinctive sound has become the norm for '80s pop, influencing many contemporary artists. The album begins with a hefty dose of hard rock with tracks like Running Out of Time and Unknown Soldier showcasing the bands ability to write fantastic AOR songs that slowly build their hooks into your mind. The album also features slow, jazzier tracks like The Little Things and Chinatown. The album closes with Great Expectations, a song which combines folk and distortion AOR and sounds totally wrong, but is incredibly effective. After Toto IV the band's fortunes started to plummet. David Hungate left to concentrate on his solo career, and the band had to go through various drummers. In 1984, Bobby Kimball left the band following drug-related charges. The band continued with Michael Porcaro, Steve Lukather and Michael Porcaro. Despite the turbulence, Toto forged ahead and released Isolation, which was not as successful as IV. However, the group had a successful chart-topping album in the year 1992 with Kingdom of Desire. This album marked Toto's final lineup and the debut of Simon Phillips, a new singer. Tours The band has entertained millions of fans across the world, with sold-out shows in Europe, North America and Asia as well as Australia and New Zealand. The band has a wide collection of songs, and their catalog has been listened to more than one billion times on streaming services around the globe. The band's iconic music has influenced multiple generations of fans. Steve Lukather has forged a colorful, deep friendship with Joe Williams that is flourishing professionally around the globe. In 2018, the duo celebrated 40 Tours Around the Sun with a massively successful global tour. The album that bears the same name reached #5 on Billboard 200. The band's latest tour includes their most popular hits and rarely-performed live deep cuts and a selection of songs from Lukather's and Williams catalogs. TOTO has an Net Promoter Score of 20. This score measures the likelihood that customers will recommend the brand. Promoters are those who give a good score to the company and encourage others to use its products and services. Detractors are those that have negative opinions about the company and actively discourage others from making use of its products or services. Join Toto for an unforgettable cultural experience in Asia. This highlights tour of a region that the French once called Indochine provides luxurious accommodation, a day on a luxurious cruise ship in Halong Bay, and an exploration of the mystical temples of Angkor Wat. You'll also spend one night in the charming town of Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage city that is a feast for the senses. This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip you don't want to skip! Line-up Turn Back, the band's third studio album is an ode to the traditional sextet style, and an even more consistent and powerful effort with a harder edge. Its more punk-rock sound was a reflection of the maturation of the group and featured drummer Bobby Kimball's greater proficiency on the drums, as well as a more mature, confident vocal delivery by singer Joseph Williams. David Paich's keyboard skills were also sharper, more complex, and less derivative on previous recordings. After touring to promote their album, the band recorded their Amsterdam live performance that was released on Eagle Records as a 2-CD set entitled Falling In Between. The group released their new studio album a few months later, and went on a world tour help promote it. In this time, keyboardist Greg Phillinganes replaced Paich and bassist David Hungate quit the group to spend time with his family. In 1998, Paich and Lukather started exploring old demo tapes and tapes to make a new record featuring songs that were never recorded before. The album was released in the form of a double-album called Then and Now in 2001. https://to-topia.com/ was the band's first album without one single track titled "A". The album also contained an previously unreleased track titled "Kari-Anne". By 2003, Toto had begun to decline in popularity. The group's fourth album, Old Is New was a commercial failure and vocalist Williams was suffering from laryngitis that affected his singing abilities. Hungate also returned to Nashville and Leland Sklar's drumming was replaced by Shem Von Schroeck. Downes along with the other original members of Asia - Wetton, Palmer, and Howe--convened an event in England in early 2006 to discuss the possibility of restructuring the band. The lineup, with the exception of Howe who was working with Yes during that time, was renamed Toto XIV. They toured extensively. In 2010, the band reunited for another reunion tour with a slightly different line-up, including guitarists Mike Porcaro and Steve Lukather, drummer John Pierce, bassist Shannon Forrest, and multi-instrumentalists Warren Ham and Dominique Taplin. The band also featured a guest appearance by singer Michael McDonald, and a backing singer named Mabvuto Carpenter.