“He’d be like, ‘Let’s throw Lukather in there.’ The next thing I knew, I’m in a room with Stevie Wonder and all these guys. It was like a childhood dream come true”: Steve Lukather on Quincy Jones’ ability to create “magic” in the studio

Steve Lukather.

Toto’s Steve Lukather is the latest of Quincy Jones’ former collaborators to pay tribute to him, following his death earlier this week. The guitarist says that working with the late producer was “always an incredibly positive experience”.

Lukather’s Quincy initiation was on 1981’s The Dude. Billed as a Jones solo album, this featured Patti Austin and James Ingram on lead vocals. With Rod Temperton helping out with the songwriting, Greg Phillinganes on keys and Bruce Swedien engineering, the record sounds like the missing link between Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall and Thriller albums. Indeed, Jackson himself shows up at one point, singing backing vocals on the title track.