David Hungate

David Hungate (born August 5, 1948) is an American bass guitarist noted as a member of the Los Angeles pop-rock band Toto from 1976 to 1982 and again from 2014 to 2015, and the son of judge William L. Hungate.^[1] Along with most of his Toto bandmates, Hungate did sessions on a number of hit albums of the 1970s, including Boz Scaggs's Silk Degrees and Alice Cooper's From the Inside.

David Hungate
Hungate in 2007
Background information
Born	(1948-08-05) August 5, 1948 (age 75) Troy, Missouri, U.S.
Genres	Pop rock soul funk smooth jazz
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer
Years active	1976–2015
Formerly of	Toto

Career

Hungate moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s to work as a session musician. It was through his session work where he met his future Toto bandmates including David Paich and Jeff Porcaro. They approached him about starting a band, and while Hungate was initially uninterested in working in a band full-time, he joined as the bassist, while, like the other members in the band, continuing to work as a session musician. He was said to be the one who came up with the name "Toto."

Hungate played on Toto's first four records, including the Grammy award-winning album Toto IV. He left the band shortly after its release for a career as a session musician in Nashville. He relocated to the city in 1981, as session work began to decline in L.A. and he and his wife didn't want to raise their family near Hollywood. He stated the distance from his bandmates in L.A., the age gap between him and the other members of Toto (he was around 6-9 years older), plus the long touring schedules away from his family, were the reasons for his departure. Hungate, who plays many instruments including guitar, trombone, trumpet, drums, and piano, has arranged, produced and recorded with several country artists such as Chet Atkins. He was also a primary member of AOR supergroup Mecca fronted by Joe Vana and Fergie Frederiksen, the latter also of Toto fame. In 1990 he released a solo album entitled Souvenir. Jeff Porcaro played drums on some of the tracks on the album. In 1995, Hungate also played bass on all the songs on Shania Twain's second album The Woman in Me.^[2]

As of 2014^[update], he rejoined Toto in a touring capacity due to the departure of the touring bass player, Nathan East (who was, like Leland Sklar during the band's previous tour in 2006/2007, filling in for regular bassist Mike Porcaro who was forced to retire due to illness). At first, it was announced that he would retire after the 2014 tour, but he kept touring with Toto until 2015, when it was announced that he would finally retire from extensive tours.^[3][4] He also played four tracks in the band's album Toto XIV.

Other

Hungate attended Troy Buchanan High School in Troy, Missouri. Because he attended there, the band "Toto" gave the high school a signed record and now during parades the band plays the song "Hold the Line".

He attended the College of Music at North Texas State University. He played bass in their jazz ensemble, the One O'Clock Lab Band, including a performance at the 1970 Montreux Jazz Festival.^[5]

He is the son of U.S. Congressman (and later Federal District Judge) William L. Hungate.

Discography

• Souvenir (1990) [reissued in 1994]

References

1. Henderson, Alex. "Biography: David Hungate". AMG. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
2. Eggar, Robin (June 15, 2010). Shania Twain: The Biography. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781451604542. Retrieved August 31, 2023 – via Google Books.
3. "Steve Lukather Talks New Toto Album: 'I Think This Is Gonna Surprise People'". Ultimateclassicrock.com. May 13, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
4. "Toto announce European/Japan dates for 2016". Facebook. September 29, 2015. Archived from the original on February 26, 2022. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
5. Dr. Licks, Standing in the Shadows of Motown: The Life and Music of Legendary Bassist James Jamerson, pg. 157, Hal Leonard Corporation (1989)

External links

• David Hungate featured page on the Party Of The Century international music project March 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
• David Hungate: I'm so glad to be playing Toto music again!