Mickey Toni Basil
Posted by pete10278@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 93 comments
I was thinking at work today with this song playing on in-store broadcast, is Mickey by Toni Basil a parody, or a real pop song? It's a very silly song, but very successful. If it's a parody, the Weird Al made a parody of a parody.
Dalivus@reddit
Ah yes, Mickey! The song with the reference to anal sex that few people noticed!
Pletchner@reddit
All the gen xers who grew up with this song finding this out now after hearing the lyrics hundreds of times...
Fistofpaper@reddit
because it's also a subtle lyric as well: Murray Head - One Night in Bangkok
"I don't see you guys rating
The kind of mate I'm contemplating
I'd let you watch, I would invite you
But the queens we use would not excite you"
Otherwise_Object_446@reddit
I once read a theory about Mickey being a gay man rejecting her.
CampClear@reddit
Omg what?!?
Anonphilosophia@reddit
OMG - I just looked it up.... lololol. It's very slight, but I can see it.
holodeck_warranty@reddit
Wait, what?
Equivalent_Ad8133@reddit
It is a remake. The original is from a band called Racey off their Smash and Grab LP. It was originally called Kitty.
Fistofpaper@reddit
It's a real pop song. So was "Hollaback Girl". Cheerleader songs are a thing.
ThoughtIknewyouthen@reddit
Why would it be a parody?
HortenseDaigle@reddit
I think they mean novelty song. It's really out of place for its time and it's a hyperbole of a girl falling for a guy. Plus, like it's been said, Toni Basil was middle-aged dressed like a teen aged cheerleader.
ThoughtIknewyouthen@reddit
IDK, this was a super poppie time in music. The Go-gos, Let's hear it for the boy, Bette Davis eyes.
HortenseDaigle@reddit
That's why it was popular. I'm just suggesting that the OP meant novelty song and not parody. I just remember we all thought it was a funny song and we would do goofy Peanuts dancing to it.
UncleSlacky@reddit
In the video she's wearing her actual high school cheerleader outfit.
monarchbutterfly24@reddit
I remember calling my local radio station via rotary phone over and over to request they play Mickey.
heffel77@reddit
She was a choreographer and dancer and sang this song completely on the level. No irony at all.
IHoppo@reddit
She's still dancing in her old age too - an amazing lady.
Suspicious_Time7239@reddit
This song should never be spoken of. I saw this post in passing an hour ago and guess what? Very annoying earworm. Be gone, Mickey!! BE GONE
Sloth_grl@reddit
When it’s played in a bar, people go crazy so you may be in the minority
Impressive-Shame-525@reddit
Every time I hear / see it mentioned I have the urge to go skate as fast as I can in a circle.
Then going to order a suicide from the snack bar and using the quarters I got back to play Pac-Man.
voteblue18@reddit
Totally a skating rink staple!
Gold_Dragonfly_9174@reddit
Same. I had totally forgotten about suicides until just this moment! What a great memory, thank you.
bendingoutward@reddit
What a pity.
I_am_Partly_Dave@reddit
You don't understand
DivaJanelle@reddit
Don't say no, Mickey!
Firm_Objective_2661@reddit
Niiiiiice 🤣
LadyNorbert@reddit
It's a real song. She had an entire album of goofy songs like that, but they weren't parodies - that was just her style. My sister loved the album, she had the LP and played it until it broke.
lidder444@reddit
What’s crazy is she was 39 years old when she made that song.
At the time I thought she was a teen
She was a very successful choreographer and still posts videos of her dancing and she’s 82 years old now!!!
EastAd7676@reddit
And in the video that’s her actual cheerleader uniform she wore in high school, according to Toni herself.
Crafty_Ish1973@reddit
Mickey is actually a cover song. The original song is from 1979. It was called "Kitty" and it was by a British hand called Racey:
https://youtu.be/cQv7IgGPXLY?si=zo_9pMq0Hwa_iUdk
kraftymiles@reddit
The drummer (Clive) from Racey owned the only alternative night club in the small town I grew up in.
That place was a lifeline to me and my peers in the 80s when mainstream music was all Rick Astley.
Chester_Le_Street@reddit
Where (and when) was that?
kraftymiles@reddit
Photo is probably 89 or 90 ISH?
And it was here. (Signage found recently int he buildings top floor & the club closed down 20 odd years ago)
Chester_Le_Street@reddit
Brilliant! It's amazing that so many small towns used to have places like that - in my neck of the world odds (East London into Essex) we had a familiar circuit of alternative clubs we went to every week.
kraftymiles@reddit
London was a world away from us in Somerset...
BMisterGenX@reddit
why would you think its a parody?
Pavementaled@reddit
And a parody of what?
Neptunesky1221@reddit
It's a tribute to Mickey Mouse....she actually wrote the song when she lost her contact lens during the It's A Small World" ride
Error262_USRnotfound@reddit
Fun story…I’m watching MTV 120min right now and they mentioned Toni Basil Mickey as a joke not 2min before I seen this post…weird.
caryn1477@reddit
Not a parody.
jemote@reddit
It's a cover of the song "Kitty" by the band Racey.
ElectricalPlate9903@reddit
Exactly, and the producer of that song from Racey is Mickie Most.
eggs_erroneous@reddit
She was already in her 40s when she did that song.
BMisterGenX@reddit
38 technically. And had a heck of career prior to this in choreography and dance
funnyfaceking@reddit
And movies.
Bluedog007@reddit
She used to hang out with Dennis Hopper in his crazy days
bendingoutward@reddit
You're find need to narrow that down a bit.
CthulhusEvilTwin@reddit
Yep she was in Easy Rider.
CerberusInExile@reddit
It was an absolutely real song. Goofy it may have been but it's real.
SpaceChook@reddit
It’s a cover version of an older song. Toni Basil was a choreographer, dancer and performance artist. Ran with the likes of David Bowie (who she often choreographed).
It was absolutely meant to be strange. Watch the clip. She’s a middle aged woman with a group of power lifters acting as if they are teen cheerleaders. It’s great. She of course choreographed it.
splorp_evilbastard@reddit
No, they weren't power lifters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_(Toni_Basil_song)#:~:text=The%20cheerleaders%20featured%20in%20the,budget%2C%20I%20did%20everything%20myself.
Hansekins@reddit
As someone who is a lifelong fan of The Monkees, I will add this little bit of trivia:
Toni Basil appeared in the film "Head", the one feature length film starring the Monkees. She choreographed and appeared in the "Daddy's Song" clip, seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmh7_Rn2meI (She appears around 1:15)
There have been claims that the song "Mickey" was named for Micky Dolenz of the Monkees, but I believe she (or someone) has said there is no connection. (Which makes sense since they are spelled differently.)
Agent_Cow314@reddit
Mickey is a cover of Racey's song Kitty.
Hansekins@reddit
I didn't know that! Thanks for sharing!
PorcupineWarriorGod@reddit
This! i can't believe I made it this far in life without knowing that.
Facebook-virus@reddit
Remembering three girls in my high school walking down the hallway singing this always makes me happy
Adventurous_Ad1922@reddit
Real song, great video. Loved it as a kid
Jew-zilla@reddit
Not only is it a real pop song, her version is a cover. The original was released just a few years earlier.
https://youtu.be/aPw5HFbzRn8?si=zy7qfFlyzjyoCgPv
refuz04@reddit
I feel like we lost these guys to music videos.
Downtown_Anteater_38@reddit
Toni Basil and Don Campbell formed a dance group called The Lockers in 1971. They were pioneers of street dance, and Don Campbell is considered the founder of pop locking - which was called The Campbell lock at first. Toni has massive amounts of street cred in the dance community, and is still dancing and popping and locking and teaching in her 80s.
Cultural-Pea-1516@reddit
And Fred Berry (Rerun from What's Happening) was a member. For a big guy, he had the moves!
Aware_Impression_736@reddit
Wasn't Shabba-Doo a Locker?
W0gg0@reddit
Yes he was.
IFeelFineFineFine@reddit
She did the video for Talking Heads Crosseyed and Painless. It featured her friends break dancing and no TH members. They didn’t play it on MTV because it was a bit too far out there. It’s actual geniusÂ
W0gg0@reddit
I love that video. She was also a core member of the dance group “The Lockers” along with Fred Berry, Rerun from the What’s Happening tv show.
Redkris73@reddit
And all of David Byrne's choreography in the video for Once In A Lifetime.
Madrona88@reddit
For me, forever associated with the 1983 Sacramento Freelancers Winter Guard. https://youtu.be/OZANkNWJnc0?si=5PAeyTJPPJM2JbDX
spunquee@reddit
This is incredible! thank you
slackass-Pat@reddit
Pretty sure Devo did the music for that song too
sunny_gym@reddit
Yeah, she was really tight with them. She fronted Devo on the song "The Only One" which was featured in a pretty terrible horror movie she was in (can't recall the name - maybe Slaughterhouse High?) Anyway, the song is killer, it's on YouTube.
FamousLastWords666@reddit
She dated Gerald and even covered a few DEVO songs, you can find them on YouTube.
TheFlaEd@reddit
Not a parody. Toni was a well known choreographer who worked with Bowie among others. She was also one of the hippie girls who dropped acid in the graveyard in Easy Rider.
phred_666@reddit
She also did an episode of the show Laverne & Shirley. She played a character called “Mickie”.
OmightyOmo@reddit
Bring it on
Ray_The_Engineer@reddit
I was a rock and metal kindof guy in the '80's, this song made me want to vomit when it came out.
Lost-Platypus8271@reddit
I was a 6yo kid when this song came out. I loved it!
Ray_The_Engineer@reddit
I was 14 and well past the silly stuff. I can see how it might appeal to younger kids.
CountHonorius@reddit
Should have your stomach seen to, friend.
Ray_The_Engineer@reddit
Nah, I just avoid goofy pop songs and I'm set!
Jolly-Sandwich-3345@reddit
It's a real song and has an excellent music video as well!
Lost-Platypus8271@reddit
One of the very first music videos in fact.
CountHonorius@reddit
Several versions, too!
punkarama@reddit
She was actually a top choreographer, should not have given up the day job
RandomObserver13@reddit
She didn’t, she took an extra paycheck to make an album. Only reason most people even know who she is.
CountHonorius@reddit
She was on Bowie's Glass Spider Tour as well. Toni rocks!
CountHonorius@reddit
Real pop song. Tony Basil is a respected choreographer and actor (check her out in Easy Rider) as well as as singer.
overmonk@reddit
It’s a good song too.
jstbnice@reddit
It's real!Â
tekno23@reddit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQv7IgGPXLY
Ian-Not_on_Olive@reddit
It’s a real song, with a great video. have the 45 single. It was a s serious as any early 80s pop song made for MTV.
pete10278@reddit (OP)
I remember it. Im thinking very early 80's maybe 1982. I could look it up, but I didn't. Lol. So I was around 13.
Ian-Not_on_Olive@reddit
Just checked. 1981. Damn, wez old.
UncleSlacky@reddit
Pretty sure I've shared this story in this sub before, but around that time she came to the outside broadcast of a UK Saturday morning kids' TV show called "Multi-Coloured Swap Shop". I was there, aged about 12, as was was my future wife (unknown to me at the time, of course) - she was one of the unfortunate girls rounded up for an impromptu choreography session (apparently Toni was not happy about it and wasn't nice to the girls at all). Also, after the show my dad chatted with her and her then-partner in the local pub. Unfortunately the recording of the show is probably lost, the BBC didn't tend to preserve kids' shows back in the day.