"I was definitely doing too much Bolivian marching powder." Hollywood star Rob Lowe reveals that he once "cut a demo" with AOR superstars Toto, which might just be the most '80s thing ever
· louderBy Paul Brannigan
( Classic Rock )
published 10 January 2025
Wait, there's an unreleased Rob Lowe/Toto collaboration out there somewhere? Colour us intrigued!
Hollywood actor Rob Lowe has revealed that he once recorded a demo with Californian AOR giants Toto. Sadly, this no-doubt-wondrous slice of '80s cultural history has yet to make it into the public domain.
Lowe's revelation came during an interview with journalist Bill Simmons, the CEO of sports and culture website The Ringer, on the actor's SiriusXM podcast Literally! With Rob Lowe.
The pair go deep on a discussion of Yacht Rock, as Simmons has an executive producer credit on Music Box: Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary, a recently-released HBO documentary focussing upon chronicling "the rise, fall, and rise again of the soft rock epitomized by artists such as Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Steely Dan, and Toto in the late 1970s and early 1980s."
During the conversation, Lowe reveals that he first heard the term 'Yacht Rock' from actress Rashida Jones (daughter of the late Quincy Jones) who suggested that Lowe was “a Yacht Rock guy”. He and Simmons then dive into an analysis of artists labelled Yacht Rock, with Simmons pointing out how many of the most popular acts were looked down upon by 'serious' music fans and critics at the time.
“I got one for ya,” Lowe chips in. “There was a minute in the 80s where I was definitely doing too much Bolivian marching powder and just being a fucking lunatic and [it was] also coming at the time in a young actor’s career where they’re too old to play the roles they’ve been playing, but they’re too young to play the roles that will last you the rest of your life, which are really the great ones. And you can kind of feel it.
“I love music so much, as evidenced by this talk and all of that, that I got it into my head that maybe I should think more about music and I cut a demo with Toto.”
Sadly, Simmons declines to grill Lowe on this unexpected revelation, and the conversation moves on, without any more details of this somewhat unlikely collaboration being revealed.
We demand to know more!
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Watch the interview below.
Bill Simmons Pitches Rob Lowe His "St. Elmo's Fire" Sequel | Literally! with Rob Lowe - YouTube
Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder
A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.
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