HUNGATE, DAVID
Toto's first bass-player, who left the band right after recording "Toto IV" (1982). =>Mike Porcaro stepped in to do the videos and the tour. He was the oldest member of the group and he commuted between his home in Nashville and Toto's studio in Los Angeles.In a 1985 interview with "Guitar player" he talked about leaving Toto:
After reaching the top with Toto, why did you leave it all behind and move to
Nashville?
I couldn't reconcile my family life with the life of a rock and roller. I
couldn't find any place in the middle; it got totally nuts. On the last
tour in 1980, I was real depressed. We went out for six months, and I missed my
wife and our one-year-old son. I became more aware of some spiritual things,
and I recognized that it was more important to be a good father than anything
else. I could picture my kid in school: "What does your daddy do?" "Oh,
he's on MTV with pink hair." I just couldn't make those two identities merge in
any comfortable way. The road can be fun when you're 22 and single, and you
can enjoy all of the perks, but that wasn't my situation. When I could
make a comfortable living in the studio, there was no way I could justify the road.
I also felt the need to do something -- anything -- on my own, outside the
context of Toto.
[later in the interview]
Since leaving Toto and becoming a full-time session man, do you ever miss live audiences and their adulation?
Sure. It's not a black-and-white decision, because there are still times when I say, "Damn, wouldn't it be great to have 10,000 people screaming at me again?" But that's only 10% of it. I heard Robert Blake on the Tonight Show the other night, and he said, "Yeah, it was like the jackrabbit that had just finished making love to the skunk; he hadn't had all that he wanted, but he had all he could stand." In other words, the dream of the musician's life still lingers sometimes, but the reality of it more than overwhelms that.
David Hungate released a solo album called "Souvenir" in 1994 on Clubhouse Records (CRCD 20202). It is completely instrumental (apart from the title track which features Randy Goodrum on vocals). The album consits of mainly slow jazzrock/fusion songs:
Lament* (7:16) David Hungate/Randy Goodrum
Going Home Again# (5:40) David Hungate/Shane Keister/Randy Goodrum
Souvenir (5:34)* Randy Goodrum (lyrics) - David Hungate/Randy Goodrum
Dreamland (5:34)# David Hungate/Robin Crow/Randy Goodrum
Only A Heart Can Know* (7:18) David Hungate/Randy Goodrum
Third Stone From The Sun# (7:52) Jimi Hendrix
Morning Long Ago# (7:37) David Hungate/Shane Keister/Robin Crow
A Perfect Love* (5:16) David Hungate/Randy Goodrum
The Leap (9:11)* David Hungate/Randy Goodrum
* Produced by David Hungate and Randy Goodrum
# Produced by David Hungate and Robin Crow
Musicians
David Hungate - 4-string, 5-string, 8-string bass, guitar (Going Home Again)
Randy Goodrum - piano, synthesizers and programming, vocals (Souvenir)
Shane Keister - synthesizer, Rhodes Piano (Morning Long Ago, Third Stone From The Sun)
Jeff Porcaro - drums
Larrie Londin - drums
Rob Rabbit - bass (Morning Long Ago)
Chet Atkins - guitar solo (Dreamland)
Robin Crow - acoustic guitar
Steve Lukather - electric guitar
Dave Lawbaugh - drum programming
Brandon Fields - saxophone, flute
Vince Andrews - saxophone (Going Home Again, Lament)
Sam Levine - flute (Third Stone From The Sun, The Leap)
Clayton Ivey - Rhodes Piano Fills (The Leap)
Engineered by Gary Hedden and Randy Goodrum at GHL and California Phase Recording Studios
Mixed at GHL by Gary Hedden
Photography by J.D. Stigall
Watercolor by Deborah Hungate
Graphic Design by Richard Collicott
Special Thanks To:Ken Mansfiel, Mike Pedulla & Co., the Peavey Company, and to all the musicians, writers and engineers
who particiapted in the creation of this album, and to my family for their love and encouragement
Artist Representative - Ken Mansfield
In Dedication
Larrie Londin
Jeff Porcaro