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Hold The Line (Guitar Solo) Toto - Nolan Randall Of Plaid On Flannel — DeepCutsArchive
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Hold The Line (Guitar Solo) Toto - Nolan Randall Of Plaid On Flannel

Sly Stone
1970s1978Interview


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🎸 https://plaidonflannel.com 🎤 https://plaidonflannelshop.com Nolan Randall playing the guitar solo of “Hold The Line” by Toto from their 1978 self-titled debut album for Columbia Records. Words and music by David Paich It's not in the way that you hold me It's not in the way you say you care It's not in the way you've been treating my friends It's not in the way that you'll stay 'til the end It's not in the way you look or the things that you say that you do Hold the line Love isn't always on time Whoa oh oh Hold the line Love isn't always on time Whoa oh oh It's not in the words that you told me, girl It's not in the way you say you're mine, oooh It's not in the way that you came back to me It's not in the way that your love set me free It's not in the way you look or the things that you say that you do Hold the line Love isn't always on time Whoa oh oh Hold the line Love isn't always on time Whoa oh oh It's not in the words that you told me It's not in the way you say you're mine, oooh It's not in the way that you came back to me It's not in the way that your love set me free It's not in the way you look or the things that you say that you do Hold the line Love isn't always on time Whoa oh oh Hold the line Love isn't always on time (Love isn't always on time) Hold the line Love isn't always on time (Love isn't always, love isn't always on time) Hold the line Love isn't always on time Love isn't always on time Love isn't always on time Love isn't always on time Whoa oh oh *Song Facts* "Hold the Line" is a song by American rock band Toto from their 1978 eponymous debut studio album. Written by the band's keyboardist David Paich, the lead vocals on the song were performed by Bobby Kimball. The song was released as the band's debut single and lead single from the Toto album on October 2, 1978, by Columbia Records. It became a huge hit for the band, reaching number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro gave a definition for the song: "'Hold the Line' was a perfect example of what people will describe as your heavy metal chord guitar licks, your great triplet A-notes on the piano, your 'Sly'-hot-fun-in-the-summertime groove, all mishmashed together with a boy from New Orleans singing... and it really crossed over a lot of lines." Keyboardist David Paich noted that the song was relatively easy to develop. He began with the piano riff, which would become the song's intro and chorus. After toying with the piano riff one night, he started singing "Hold the line, love isn't always on time", and found the lyric to be a suitable fit. The verses were subsequently finished two hours later. Several of the band members recall hearing the song for the first time on the radio: "I flipped the first time I heard myself on the radio. My mom called me up and said, "Turn on KLOS." It was the song "Hold the Line," and I started running around the house in my underwear, screaming, "I'm on the radio!" My wife was cracking up. It was just a thrill." (Steve Lukather, Guitar Player magazine, April 1984) Bobby Kimball had a similar experience when he heard Toto for the very first time on the radio: "I was asleep, I had my alarm clock set for noon because we were gonna do something in the studio, some promo and when the alarm came on there was the radio and "Hold The Line" was playing. And my room was totally black and I was looking for the telephone and I called Paich and I heard him scream, he was living over there with his girlfriend and he was screaming around and falling over trying to get to the radio." Jeff Porcaro on "Hold the Line", in a 1988 interview with Modern Drummer: "That was me trying to play like Sly Stone's original drummer, Greg Errico, who played drums on "Hot Fun In The Summertime." The hi-hat is doing triplets, the snare drum is playing 2 and 4 backbeats, and the bass drum is on 1 and the & of 2. That 8th note on the second beat is an 8th-note triplet feel, pushed. When we did the tune, I said, "Gee, this is going to be a heavy four-on-the-floor rocker, but we want a Sly groove." The triplet groove of the tune was David's writing. It was taking the Sly groove and meshing it with a harder rock caveman approach." The song has been a live staple at Toto shows since the beginning. Steve Lukather played the song live with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band in the summer of 2012. Bobby Kimball has performed the song on all of his solo tours since 2009. In 1981, Bosnian-born Serbian singer Zdravko Čolić released a cover version of "Hold The Line" in the Serbian language, with lyrics "Oktobar je, počinje sezona kiša" ("This is October, the rain season begins"). The Belgian blues band Blue Blot covered the song on their album Where Do We Go. In 2018, German metal band Bonfire covered "Hold The Line" on their album Legends. British heavy metal band Saxon covered the song on their 2021 album of covers Inspirations. #Toto #HoldTheLine #ClassicRock

Added 15 Jul 2026

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