Hold the Line - wikipedia Hold the Line This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( November 2010 ) `` Hold the Line '' Single by Toto from the album Toto B - side `` Takin ' It Back '' Released October 2, 1978 ( 1978 - 10 - 02 ) Format 7 ``, 12 '' ( 45 rpm ) Recorded August 1978 Los Angeles, California Genre Pop rock yacht rock Length 3 : 29 ( LP : 3 : 56 ) Label Columbia Songwriter ( s ) David Paich Producer ( s ) Toto Toto singles chronology `` Hold the Line '' ( 1978 ) `` I 'll Supply the Love '' ( 1978 ) `` Hold the Line '' ( 1978 ) `` I 'll Supply the Love '' ( 1978 ) Alternative Cover German version `` Hold the Line '' is a song by the American rock band Toto. The song was written by the band 's keyboardist David Paich, and the lead vocals were performed by Bobby Kimball. The song was released as the band 's debut single, and was featured on their debut 1978 eponymous album. The song was a huge success in the U.S. ; it reached Number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the winter of 1978 -- 79, and Number 14 on the official UK chart. Contents 1 Content 2 Background and writing 3 Live performances 4 In popular culture 5 Personnel 5.1 Toto 6 Charts and certifications 6.1 Weekly charts 6.2 Year - end charts 6.3 Sales and certifications 7 Cover versions 8 References Content Jeff Porcaro, the band 's drummer, 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. '' Background and writing David Paich about writing the song : `` It started out with the piano riff that is in the intro. I started playing this riff and I just could n't stop playing it. I played it for days, and I started singing, `` Hold the line, love is n't always on time. '' It was a phrase that just came into my head... it was a blessing. ( The words ) came to me in the night, and then I went to the verse. I wrote it in 2 hours. Sometimes songs come quickly like that, and sometimes I spend 2 years trying to finish a song. '' 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. '' Several of the band members recall hearing `` Hold the Line '' 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 gon na 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. '' ( www.toto99.com ) Live performances The song has been a live staple at Toto shows. Steve Lukather played the song live with Ringo Starr & His All - Starr Band during the summer of 2012. Bobby Kimball plays it every time during his live performances with his own band since 2009. In popular culture `` Hold the Line '' was used in the video game Grand Theft Auto : San Andreas on the fictional radio station K - DST and in the 2006 film Click. The character Rex Hanson ( Chris Pine ) plays this song in the 2014 film Horrible Bosses 2. In the episode `` Magic Bus '' of the sitcom That ' 70s Show, Fez sings `` Hold the Line '' on the electric piano in a fantasy sequence parodying Casablanca. `` Hold The Line '' is featured in Rock Band 4 as downloadable content. Personnel Toto Bobby Kimball -- Lead and backing vocals Steve Lukather -- guitars, backing vocals Steve Porcaro -- keyboards David Paich -- keyboards, piano, backing vocals David Hungate -- bass Jeff Porcaro -- drums, percussion Charts and certifications Weekly charts Chart ( 1978 -- 79 ) Peak position Australia Kent Music Report 8 Belgian VRT Top 30 22 Canadian RPM Top Singles 5 Dutch Top 40 25 Euro Hit 50 21 French Singles Chart 84 German Singles Chart 23 Irish Singles Chart 24 Italian Singles Chart 19 New Zealand Singles Chart 11 South African Singles Chart Swedish Singles Chart UK Singles Chart 14 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 5 U.S. Cash Box Top 100 5 Year - end charts Chart ( 1979 ) Rank Australian KMR 66 Canadian RPM Top Singles 62 Italian Singles Chart 91 South African Singles Chart 7 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 44 U.S. Cash Box 41 Sales and certifications Region Certification Certified units / Sales Canada ( Music Canada ) Gold 75,000 United States ( RIAA ) Gold 1,000,000 sales figures based on certification alone shipments figures based on certification alone Cover versions In 1981, the Bosnian - born Serbian singer Zdravko Čolić released the cover version of this song on 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. References Jump up ^ Nelson George ( 2010 ). Thriller : The Musical Life of Michael Jackson. Da Capo Press. p. 130. ISBN 978 - 0 - 306 - 81878 - 3. Jump up ^ Lecaro, Lina ( November 19, 2016 ). `` This Monthly Club Is a Non-Ironic Celebration of Rock 's Softer Side ''. LA Weekly. Jump up ^ `` Album Search for `` toto '' ``. AllMusic. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 13. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2009 - 10 - 04. Retrieved 2009 - 10 - 09. Jump up ^ Kent, David ( 1993 ). Australian Chart Book 1970 -- 1992. Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0 - 646 - 11917 - 6. ^ Jump up to : Steffen Hung. `` Toto - Hold The Line ''. Swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 13. Jump up ^ Joel Whitburn 's Top Pop Singles 1955 - 1990 - ISBN 0 - 89820 - 089 - X Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2016 - 01 - 30. Retrieved 2016 - 01 - 24. Jump up ^ `` Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada ''. Bac-lac.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2016 - 10 - 06. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 13. Jump up ^ `` Top 100 Hits of 1979 / Top 100 Songs of 1979 ''. Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 13. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2016 - 03 - 04. Retrieved 2016 - 04 - 12. Jump up ^ `` Canadian single certifications -- Toto -- Hold the Line ''. Music Canada. Jump up ^ `` American single certifications -- Toto -- Hold the Line ''. Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH Jump up ^ `` Hold the Line - Blue Blot ''. AllMusic. Retrieved 6 February 2015. Toto Steve Lukather David Paich Steve Porcaro Joseph Williams David Hungate Bobby Kimball Jeff Porcaro Mike Porcaro Fergie Frederiksen Jean - Michel Byron Simon Phillips Greg Phillinganes Keith Carlock Studio albums Toto Hydra Turn Back Toto IV Isolation Fahrenheit The Seventh One Kingdom of Desire Tambu Toto XX Mindfields Through the Looking Glass Falling in Between Toto XIV Live albums Toto Live Absolutely Live Livefields Live in Amsterdam Falling in Between Live Compilation albums Past to Present 1977 -- 1990 Best Ballads The Essential Toto Soundtracks Dune Notable songs `` Hold the Line '' `` I 'll Supply the Love '' `` Georgy Porgy '' `` 99 '' `` Rosanna '' `` Make Believe '' `` Africa '' `` I Wo n't Hold You Back '' `` Stranger in Town '' `` I 'll Be Over You '' `` Stop Loving You '' `` Pamela '' `` 2 Hearts '' `` I Will Remember '' `` Bottom of Your Soul '' Related people Lenny Castro Nathan East Boz Scaggs Tony Spinner Leland Sklar Related articles Discography Members Book : Toto Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hold_the_Line&oldid=806571501 '' Categories : 1978 singles 1979 singles Debut singles Songs written by David Paich Toto ( band ) songs Columbia Records singles 1978 songs American pop rock songs Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from November 2010 All articles needing additional references Articles which use infobox templates with no data rows Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters Articles with hAudio microformats All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from November 2015 Certification Table Entry usages for Canada Certification Table Entry usages for United States Talk Contents About Wikipedia Eesti Español Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Português Slovenčina Suomi Svenska Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 22 October 2017, at 21 : 56. 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Question: who sang lead vocals on hold the line
Answer: Bobby Kimball