Toto – Rosanna

“Rosanna” Single by Toto from the album Toto IV
B-side “It’s a Feeling”
Released March 31, 1982 (U.S.) and April 16, 1982 (U.K.)
Recorded 1981
Label Columbia
Songwriter David Paich
Producer Toto
Charted No.2 in US, No.12 in UK, No.2 in Norway, No.24 in West Germany, No.4 in Canada.

This song got its name from the actress Rosanna Arquette, who was dating Toto keyboard player Steve Porcaro at the time. Porcaro didn’t write the song – it was written by Toto leader David Paich, who was always looking for good ideas for lyrics.

Steve Porcaro and Rosanna Arquette broke up not long after this song was released. It would not be the last time Arquette dated a musician: she had a turbulent relationship with Peter Gabriel in the early ’90s, and in 2007, she went on some dates with Paul McCartney.

This song caused some justifiable confusion, as it was written by David Paich, inspired by Steve Porcaro’s girlfriend, yet sung by lead singer Bobby Kimball. Many listeners assumed it was Kimball who was involved with Arquette.

This song won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year 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 West Side Story-inspired video was directed by Steve Barron 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.

The girl who played Rosanna in the video will look familiar to fans of the movie Dirty Dancing: It’s Cynthia Rhodes, who played Penny Johnson in the movie. Patrick Swayze is also in the video, but much less visible – that’s him wearing the red jacket among Rosanna’s suitors. The West Side Story-style dance fighting was used in the clip almost a year before Michael Jackson did it in his video for “Beat It.” Even more trivia: Rhodes was married to Richard Marx from 1989-2014.

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.