we tend to dismiss Toni Basil as a lightweight party gal who had a single lucky hit (“oh mickey”) and then rightfully vanished. sure, it was a catchy tune, but really? it was bubble gum pop trash, right? if that’s all you think Toni Basil ever did, they you don’t know Toni.
earliest credits i’ve found for her is way back in the beat era, when she was a fixture in the los angeles beat circles as a poet/artist/choreographer in wallace berman’s circle of artists. she was even published in “SEMINA”, that early amazing periodical art zine that wallace berman produced.
being a dancer and a singer. she immediately was attracted to the pop “teen beat” works of LA in the mid 60’s. she worked on tv shows as a dancer/choreographer and became (along with teri garr) one of the most in-demand Go-Go dancers in the mid 60’s rock scene in los angeles. you can see her dancing up a storm in virtually any of these teenage videos/movies where the go-go dancers are prancing all around the rock bands. she’s even in the TNT show movie.
later she released a series of singles aimed at the “girl group” market, songs with poppy hooks and overproduction designed to bring tears to teen girls eyes. they didn’t sell well. but, they were good singles, just the same.
by the hippie psychedelic 60’s, she was fixture in the counterculture. she was in The Monkees movie “HEAD” (directed by jack nicholson) an later she was in ‘EASY RIDER” (one of the hookers tripping in the new orleans graveyard. she’s the nude one). all the while she was constantly popping up on TV in bit parts and dancing on variety shows. she was everywhere accepted in every social strata.
by the early 1970’s, she had concentrated on her choreography work and started a pop-lock dance troup that dressed in extreme ‘soul’ clothing and did a ‘locking’ spinning dance style she developed. they were called “The Lockers” and they appeared on just about every variety show on television. she pioneered so many later pop dance moves that she can almost be credited with inventing dance styles related to rap music. no joke.
in the early 1980’s. she returned to recording , when she wanted to perform a choreographed piece based around cheerleading moves she used in high school. the song “oh mickey” was supposedly written for her to create the dance routine around that she used in the video. when it became a pop hit, it took everyone by surprise. she immediately recorded a full album of tunes and it went high on the charts.
since then, she’s settled into semi-retirement in los angeles. frankly, i lost track of her activities after that. but, to ignore Toni Basil and her intense creative contributions to american pop culture would be to turn a blind eye to rock and roll. she’s an unheralded pop genius.
https://youtu.be/LSfnopkT37I
