Miss Sun

This is the song that got Toto a record deal, although it was Boz Scaggs who ended up recording it. In 1977, David Paich wrote "Miss Sun" and teamed up with fellow session musicians Jeff Porcaro, Steve Lukather and David Hungate to record it as a demo. Adding Steve Porcaro and Bobby Kimball, they landed a deal with Columbia Records, but when they released their first (self-titled) album in 1978, "Miss Sun" didn't make the cut. Paich, Porcaro, Lukather and Hungate continued their session work even as they recorded with Toto, and in 1980, Boz Scaggs brought them in to record "Miss Sun" for his Hits! compilation album. Released as a single, it was one of his most successful songs, climbing to #14 in America. On this release, Scaggs is listed as a songwriter along with Paich.

Many of Toto's songs deal with the strains of love. In "Miss Sun," the singer is nearly eclipsed when the moon (his hubris) gets in the way. David Paich said the song is "about a young man who chased his dream and almost let love slip through his fingers."

The Toto version wasn't released until 1998, when the original demo was included on their album Toto XX.