Toni Basil (born Antonia Christina Basilotta; September 22, 1943) is an American musician, video artist, actress and choreographer.
Basil was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mother was a vaudevillian and her father was an orchestra leader.
Toni Basil appeared in the 1964 concert film The T.A.M.I. Show and was quite prominent in the film as one of the go-go dancers. Basil's recording career began in 1966 with a single for A&M Records, the title song from the film Breakaway (an early form of a music video in black and white of this song with Antonia Christina Basilotta aka "Toni Basil" undressing and dancing was made by artist Bruce Conner), backed with "I'm 28" (an obscure Graham Gouldman song). Although she appeared three times as musical guest during the first season of Saturday Night Live in 1975–76, it wasn't until 1982 that she released a follow-up, the international smash "Mickey". This song is a cover of "Kitty", a 1979 release by UK band Racey, written by British hitmakers Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. (The original is sung by a man to a girl named Kitty, while Basil sings about a guy named Mickey.) Furthermore, "Mickey" was actually recorded in 1979, and when her record label wanted to release the song in 1982, Basil was reluctant, believing the song already sounded "dated". But the label persevered, and pop-music history was made.
The music video for "Mickey" was one of the most popular of the early MTV videos. In the video, Basil wore her head cheerleader uniform from Las Vegas High School, the school from which she graduated (though the year on the uniform, 81, was two decades after her actual grad year). She has a special fondness for the song today and its enduring popularity. Basil has said on more than one occasion that she would gladly put on the cheerleader uniform she wore in the video again if she was asked to. In 2003, VH1 ranked "Mickey" Number 5 on its list of the 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders.
Basil's '80s recording career consisted of only two albums: 1982's Word of Mouth (which spawned a second Hot 100 single with "Shoppin' from A to Z") and 1983's Toni Basil (which yielded Basil's third and final Hot 100 chart single "Over My Head"). Later in the 1980s, "Girls Night Out" made an appearance on the soundtrack to the 1986 film Modern Girls. To date, there have been no fewer than five Toni Basil best-of collections released on CD. In 1999, DJ and Producer Jason Nevins' dance remix of "Mickey" was a big night club hit in Europe and Australia.
Another Basil song, "Street Beat", was a smash hit in the Philippines in the mid-80s.
Basil is a prolific choreographer who began as assistant choreographer on Shindig! an American music variety show which aired on the ABC network from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. In addition, she is frequently credited with bringing street dance to prominence with The Urban Campbellocking group, The Lockers. She choreographed David Byrne's memorable, marionette-style dance from the music video for the Talking Heads song "Once in a Lifetime". She worked with Talking Heads again to direct and choreograph the music video for the song "Crosseyed and Painless". She also choreographed David Bowie's Diamond Dogs Tour in 1974 and Glass Spider Tour in 1987, and has worked with Bette Midler for many years, most recently on her 2008 Las Vegas show The Showgirl Must Go On.
UK single artwork for Toni Basil's 1982 hit song "Mickey"
Her expertise as a choreographer led her to be invited to sit as a judge in season four of Fox Television's So You Think You Can Dance.
Her film choreography work includes Pajama Party (1964) , George Lucas's American Graffiti (1973) and The Monkees 1968 film, Head, in which she makes an appearance as a dancer during Daddy's Song with Davy Jones. Other notable choreography work credited to Toni can be found in the films Delirious (2006) , That Thing You Do (1996), and My Best Friend's Wedding (1997).
Basil has appeared in the movies Easy Rider (as prostitute Mary, the brunette) and Five Easy Pieces, on television (including episodes of Laverne & Shirley and Baywatch), and has worked as a choreographer for movies such as American Graffiti, The Rose, Legally Blonde, the Beach Party series produced by AIP, as well as the The Monkees' cult film Head (in which she appeared as the (unbilled) dancer in the "Daddy's Song" sequence). In addition to her appearance in Head, she appeared in Village of the Giants, the cult film Rockula with Thomas Dolby and the 1987 B-Movie Slaughterhouse Rock. She also appeared in an episode of Baywatch Nights as a fortune teller. An appearance in cult director Robert Downey's Greaser's Palace (1970) as a Native American maiden was limited to an extended topless horseride across the desert plains.
