Before Boz Scaggs scored a 1981 hit with “Miss Sun,” peaking at No. 14, Toto recorded it as a demo. Unfortunately, it took nearly 20 years before that demo saw the light of day on 1998’s Toto XX rarities collection.
This demo was reportedly one of the originals that helped Toto get the contract with Columbia. At the time of the demo recording, Jeff Porcaro was in a relationship with singer Lisa Dalbello and she provided the background vocals. By chance, Dalbello happened to be in Los Angeles when Scaggs was recording his version a few years later – and Dalbello stepped in to recreate the same vocal she’d laid down on the demo.
As a result of this serendipity – not to mention the presence of Jeff Porcaro, David Paich, Steve Porcaro and Steve Lukather – the 1980 update is essentially Toto featuring Boz Scaggs. As enjoyable as David Paich’s voice was and is on the demo, Paich is a keyboardist first and a singer second whereas Scaggs is a singer first – and it shows. Scaggs took Paich’s understated and subtle vocal to a different level and a new place.
Each man’s vocal performances bear an emotional honesty but – no offense to Paich or Scaggs – Lisa Dalbello steals the show vocally on both versions of the song. Her background vocals soar over the respective lead vocals on each version. It’s her soaring background vocals in counterpoint that make the song standout and such a joy to listen to.
“Miss Sun” would not have sounded out of place on their debut, but given the strength of the material that did make it onto 1978’s Toto, having to cut one of the songs to make room would not have been an easy choice for any producer to make. Some might argue that “Miss Sun” might have sounded redundant on the debut, given the presence of “Georgy Porgy” – which, stylistically, is very similar to “Miss Sun.” One could also argue that “Georgy Porgy” is the stronger of the two.
While the Toto demo is thoroughly enjoyable, in the end “Miss Sun” truly was a gift for Boz Scaggs. He took it and ran with it, knocking it out of the park.
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