When Weezer’s 2018 cover of Toto’s “Africa” earned the band its biggest Hot 100 smash since 2005 (and hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart), singer Rivers Cuomo marked the occasion in his own unique way.
“I had a Gmail filter that would take any e-mail that had the word ‘Africa’ in it to a separate folder, that I would check once a week,” he tells The Post on a recent Saturday morning from his Los Angeles home, ahead of Weezer’s appearance at Madison Square Garden on March 12. “I like living a quiet life, being productive, and focusing deeply on what I’m doing, which lately is computer programming.”
He’s no longer the type to pop bottles in the club. But the 48-year-old nonetheless admits to being thrilled at seeing Weezer’s stock at a high not seen since the mid-1990s, when their early singles “Undone: The Sweater Song” and “Say it Ain’t So” were hits, and the “Happy Days”-spoofing, Spike Jonze-directed video for “Buddy Holly” was played into the ground by MTV.
The “Africa” cover only came about thanks to a monthslong Twitter campaign by a teenage fan — and as if this whole sequence of events wasn’t odd enough, Cuomo cites Phil Collins as a key inspiration to their version.
“When I was a kid, Phil Collins had a big hit with ‘You Can’t Hurry Love,’ ” he says, referring to the 1966 Supremes hit. “I loved it, but I had no idea it was a cover. I just thought it was what Phil Collins does. When we were recording ‘Africa,’ I looked up the story to that cover of ‘You Can’t Hurry Love,’ and he said they just tried to copy it. That really inspired me, so I got all the a capella vocals and very carefully copied the harmonies to get it as accurate as I could.”
After releasing “Africa” in May, Weezer (Cuomo, bassist Scott Shriner, guitarist/keyboardist Brian Bell and drummer Pat Wilson) dominated the summer thanks to plentiful radio play, and a video featuring “Weird Al” Yankovic earnestly playing accordion which now has more than 9 millions views. Their version also has the Toto seal of approval. The band was so thrilled, they covered Weezer’s “Hash Pipe” in return during their summer tour, and keyboardist Steve Porcaro duetted with them on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“No one is laughing harder than me,” Toto guitarist Steve Lukather recently told guitar string-makers Ernie Ball in an interview on its Web site. “The best part of all: now they have to play our s - - t live forever!”
Weezer’s weird year got stranger still when “Saturday Night Live” devoted an entire sketch to the band and its rabid fans in December. The segment featured Leslie Jones and Matt Damon as neighbors at a Christmas get-together, arguing psychotically over the band’s best period of work (Jones: “They’ve been trash since 2001, son!” Damon: “No offense, but burn in hell!”).
Cuomo tweeted excitedly about the skit immediately after it aired, but now insists that he hasn’t watched it — and probably won’t ever. “I don’t wanna be part of all the arguments,” he says, a tad unconvincingly.
What is far more certain however, is the quality of their 13th album — officially another self-titled collection, but also referred to as the “Black Album” — which drops Friday. The songs are as catchy as ever, but Cuomo admits to touching on darker lyrical themes, inspired by working with producer Dave Sitek — who doubles as a member of New York City alt-rockers TV on the Radio.
“He’s like my muse,” says Cuomo. “His place is filled with thrift store paintings, crazy drum machines and keyboards, and mainly the house is a high-tech pot farm. He’s a wild character — in contrast to me — so I really stepped into his shoes. In fact, I stepped into his pants. I turned up to a photo shoot just wearing shorts and asked if I could borrow some of his pants and I really liked them, so I didn’t give them back.”
In May, fans will mark the 25th anniversary of Weezer’s influential self-titled debut (a k a the “Blue Album”). But don’t look for Cuomo to celebrate.
“I’m not a milestone kind of person,” he says. “I have to work very hard to remember my anniversary. It’s more important for me to remember that, than the 25th anniversary of an album.”