Lukather Hopes New Directions Are Not a Toto Loss

The L-word sank Michael S. Dukakis’ hopes for the presidency. Steve Lukather is hoping that the T-word won’t put a whammy on his prospects for a reborn career as a hard-rock guitarist.

That’s T as in Toto, the Los Angeles pop-rock band that carted off a wagon full of Grammy awards for its 1982 album, “Toto IV”--and simultaneously was papered over with a felled-forest’s worth of derisive newsprint from music critics. Toto’s music was attacked--with considerable justification--as slick, bombastic and too often produced with eyes on the charts, rather than with hearts set on conveying honest emotion.

But now Toto--its commercial fortunes having slipped from that six-Grammy peak--has taken an indefinite vacation from performing and recording. That leaves Lukather free to pursue what he says is his true calling: a guitarist making a big noise with a hard rock approach.

Lukather (the name rhymes roughly with “Duke of Earl”) and his new, five-piece band will play tonight at Night Moves in Huntington Beach in what may be the first appearance by a Grammy winner in a venue that typically books punk bands and alternative rock groups.

“I’m not ashamed of (Toto), but what I’m doing now isn’t anything like it,” Lukather, 31, said from his home in Studio City. “I’m trying to disassociate myself from Toto for right now. I don’t want anyone to even mention it.

“I just want to get a little raw, just try to be honest. I can see where a lot of criticism about our band was valid, and I learned something from it. Some of it may have been a little cruel, but nonetheless. . . .”

Lukather’s new direction hardly renounces commercial ambition. In a recent show at the Strand in Redondo Beach, his new songs fit into the melodic but metal-edged mold of hard rock that--with the success of such bands as Van Halen, Whitesnake and Def Leppard--has become the most lucrative pop form of all.

But Lukather said his prime motivation is simply a desire to play the hard rock that was his first love as a young guitarist, growing up in the San Fernando Valley and listening to Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix.

Lukather’s dexterity has never been in doubt. Instrumental ability was Toto’s forte; like all the band’s members, Lukather was in demand as a session musician.

At the Strand, while not exploring any territory that Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen hadn’t already charted, he put on a display worth a guitar aficionado’s attention. And he was an amiable, easygoing front man.

Lukather has had plenty of expert help in recording his first post-Toto album, which should be out next spring. Steve Stevens, formerly Billy Idol’s guitarist, co-wrote and played on two songs. Lukather is collaborating on another song with his old friend, Eddie Van Halen. His core band is made up of capable if lesser-known players, including a childhood friend, John Pierce, on bass.

Toto is on hold at least until next fall--longer, Lukather said, if his own new career takes off. The band members all agreed to take a long break after finishing a 6-month tour in July.

“After working for 10 years together, there’s some strain,” he said. “The music and the attitudes started getting a little stale. We’re all still good friends from high school, and we didn’t want to screw that up. If we do get back together again, it would have to be under very different circumstances--fresher, and with a different attitude, a whole lot more focused.”

Lukather also doesn’t place much emphasis on his other calling card: a studio guitarist with high-profile credits including Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album.

“I did (sessions) for a long time, and it sucked the life out of my music,” he said. Before slacking off on session work over the past few years, he used to insist that playing extensively as a hired gun didn’t hurt his spontaneity and creativity.

“That was a lie,” he said. “It made me take the whole thing for granted. I started thinking that I knew too much, that I knew all about how to make records. I was making money, but that’s not the end of the world. To me, there’s no future in it.”

Nowadays, Lukather plays once a week for the pure pleasure of it at the Baked Potato, a small club near his house. He is part of an informal group of Los Angeles musicians who play a free-form, improvised fusion of jazz and hard rock under the name Los Lobotomies.

But don’t expect to hear anything too off center from Lukather and his own new band.

“I’m not that avant-garde of a guy,” he said. “I sing, I write songs with a form, I want to play hard rock ‘n’ roll with some melody in it, something a teen-aged kid can get ahold of without being real schooled in music.”

Lukather acknowledged that his pop background with Toto isn’t apt to impress many of the fans his current sound is geared to reach. His plan is to tour extensively to establish himself with the hard-rock audience.

“I want to get the satisfaction of doing something I really believe in,” he said, “and maybe start a following. That would be enough for me.

“And maybe change a few people’s minds who were skeptical and didn’t like” Toto.

Steve Lukather plays tonight at 9:30 at Night Moves, 5902 Warner Ave. in Huntington Beach. Admission is $10. Information: (714) 840-6118.