Toni Basil (born Antonia Christina Basilotta on September 22, 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, filmmaker, film director and choreographer, best-known for her multi-million-selling worldwide #1 hit "Mickey" from 1982.
Basil's recording career began in 1966 with a single for A&M Records which was the title song from the short film Breakaway. She appeared as a guest during the first season of Saturday Night Live as one of The Lockers and on later seasons as a singer as well as a filmmaker with her urban style "Swan Lake".
In 1982, she released the single "Mickey", which went on to achieve international success. This song is a cover of "Kitty," a 1979 release by the UK band Racey, written by British hitmakers Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and produced by Mike Chapman. The original song did not include the famous 'Oh Mickey, you're so fine' chant, which Basil added.
"Mickey" was actually recorded in 1980 and the video was conceived, directed, and choreographed by Basil herself for the UK-based label Radial Choice nearly a year before the inception of MTV in 1981. Issued on Chrysalis Records in September 1982, the song knocked Lionel Richie from #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December.
The infectious 45 was quickly certified Gold and in early 1983 reached Platinum status for sales of over 2 million copies in the United States alone.
The music video for "Mickey" was one of the most popular early MTV videos. In the video, Basil wore her head cheerleader uniform from Las Vegas High School from which she graduated. During an interview on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of The 80's", Basil revealed that she still owns the same cheerleader sweater she wore in the video. In 2003, VH1 ranked "Mickey" Number 6 on its list of the 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the '80s.
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