"Mickey" - Toni Basil - Signature Songs That Are Actually Covers
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- Опубліковано 18 бер 2023
- "Mickey" - Toni Basil - Signature Songs That Are Actually Covers
In 1982, dancer, actress, singer, and choreographer Antonia Christina Basillotta, better known as Toni Basil, released the global smash hit “Mickey”. The song and the video epitomized 80s music and thrust the singer into the mainstream but there are a few surprising details about the song. Not least of all this signature song is in fact a cover version. It was featured on the album “Smash n Grab” released in 1979 by British band Racey. Although some may regard her as a one-hit wonder, “Mickey” is just one highlight in an illustrious career that even in 1982 had been going on for nearly 20 years.
This is the story of Toni Basil, Mickey, and the 40-year battle for royalties. - Розваги
Go Toni! Without her version, this song would be known by no one.
100%!
Um. A lot of us had that Racey LP. Lol i did. All hits were on Smash and grab.
@@jimidangertv4569 Indeed. It's like people who think Mariah Carey wrote 'Without You'.
💯
Damn straight!
Toni did more to promote cheerleading with that one video than anyone ever did . A living legend ...........
I grew up listening to that song
@@Dancestar1981 so did my g/f at the time, she credited that song to her getting into dance, something she made a career out of
yep!! a concept that Gwen Stefani would use when she did her own solo work with "Hollaback girl"..
@Creativewriter3 hollerback girl video is inspired by cheerleading and perhaps the spelling out of Bananas but the composition of the song (specifically the rhythm and cadence of the vocals) is mostly ripped off from "Heaven and Hell is on earth" by the 20th Century Steel Band. Which was also sampled by JLo for Jenny from the block.
I interviewed the singer of that track for an upcoming video as he's received nothing at all from that song.
Her dancing is so fluid. It's not a bunch of moves strung together. It's one complete movment.
I am so happy that Toni is now the sole owner of this classic. She deserves it !
Glad she’s finally got those master rights. I hope the streaming era is very good to her!
She rerecorded and re-released as "Hey Mickey" and it has 10 million plays so far...about $60k...not bad.
Now she just needs a Stranger Things-like licensing deal that worked out amazingly for Kate Bush last year.
I am going to stream it so many times.
This is a perfect example of why the copyright laws need to be rewritten in favour of the artist.
Thank you for this well-researched and fascinating behind-the-scenes story of one of the 80s greatest earworms. Toni Basil is so much more than "Mickey" but she has every right to her fair share of its success.
Toni is a badass! She's pretty close to some of my friends in the swing dance world and has taken at least one class I taught way back when.
Not to mention she's still teaching and performing to this day
She's definitely is!
The energy and enthusiasm she still has now for music and dance is so inspiring!
Wow! I've been swing dancing for 15 years now and that's the first I heard of her connection. Now that I know I am not at all surprised that she would get into it as well.
@solracer66 she's still close to some of the long time southern California lindy hoppers. I believe it was Tise Chao who arranged for Toni to teach a 60s dance series over zoom as the world got shut down for a while.
It’s all about Toni Basil. The look, the moves, the vibe. All credit goes to her, and so should the money!
Why?
i like her and the song, but it's not her song so she has no right on any money. She, could do live performances and make money from that
and that is what all artist do when they have a remake hit, but the royalties goes tot the rightfull owners!
Toni basil should receive royalties from this but not all off them.
@ronnie doorzon that's not how it works. At all.
There's 2 copyrights in music.
One for the composition, for writing the song. Another for the sound recording. When selling recorded music around 85% of the revenue goes to the owners of the sound recording. The rest to the writers.
The owner of the sound recording is usually the record label. They then pay royalties to the artist.
As explained in this video, there is clause in music contract law that allows a recording artist to reclaim the copyright in the sound recording after a certain time period has passed. A right that Toni Basil exercised. So her recording of the song now belongs to her. That has been settled in court, as explained in the video. She IS the rightful owner🤦♂️
It could also be argued that her additions to the original composition, the "Hey mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind" part, warranted her some writing credit on her version.
This happens all the time. Beyonce is credited as a writer on the Destiny's child recording of Emotion despite it being a cover of a song written before she was born. As she added parts not in the original.
Your comment makes it seem like you didn't watch all the video, or didn't understand it. As this is all very clearly explained. 🙄
@@Traxploitation When music is 50-70-80 years old or something like that, then all rights are over and then you may make your own version and then the royalties and everything is yours. When it's not the case, then you must pay the rights to the rightfull owners and then you get nothing from the sales, but you can perform on stage and get payed by selling tickets for your concert.
I learned a lot about Toni Basil today! Apparently she's awesome.
She is isn't she?! Total unsung hero for me...
Some of us knew that in 1982.
Me too! I thought she was a one hit wonder, but didn't realize she'd been in the biz for about 20 years at that point AND she continued to be in the biz after... she's prolific and amazing.. one wonders if she and Deborah Allen worked together since they seem to share that kind of artistic/choreographic vibe.
Around 2009 I used to wait tables at a place called LA piazza, in Las Vegas. Anyways, her brother is/was a officer for metro and I used to wait on him and all the officers all the time. He let me know she was choreographing Bette Midler's show at the time. Love Toni love her brother. Miss him ❤
Toni Basil deserves a lifetime achievement award. She's awesome And Mickey is an irresistible great song. I first heard it in the movie Edge of Seventeen. Toni rules
her unrelenting drive is astounding! love Toni!!!!
I wish I could dance like her. She's almost 80 and she's still an amazing dancer!
I love this record, unironically love it. It has energy, a great beat, and her singing is both odd and great, and the video is awesome. Toni Basil deserves her money tbh.
Bloody crooks all involved well done Toni xxxxx.
Love this song, and Toni's amazing dancing. Fun fact: She played a character named "Mickie" on an episode of Laverne & Shirley in 1978.
Yeah, I tried but couldn't find footage of the episode 😕 didn't know her character was called Mickie lol 😆
Holy hell, she never gave up! What an awesome lady.
I knew the drummer on this track, Ric Parnell, also the Spinal Tap drummer that actually survives, he died penniless a year ago. His story confirms what was said in this video and then some. He brought in the guys that recorded on this album and they were paid a paltry sum for the session but Ric owned up to that. He was a real great guy and player.
I have always loved Toni, and collected all of her stuff; she has been very underrated; Toni is one of the most original and fantastic dancers ever. I am so pleased that Toni finally won.
100% agree 😁
I remember when Mickey was released in Australia. It was huge, and the video was obviously featured on all the music shows at the time because it was just so damn catchy, and Toni Basil was just so damn cute (even given her age at the time).
Toni Basil's re-working of the song by Racey has left behind a legacy all of it's own.
Cute even at 80.
Yay toni! so happy you got your song back!
Good to see that she will finally get some of what she deserved. It still sucks that she wasn't allowed a co-writer credit as she added a lot to that song. Others who have added far less have been allowed to take a credit. I bought her first album a few years ago when I found it in a budget bin for $1, it's actually a really good album beyond just Mickey. Some of it is a little goofy (there's song called "Shopping From A To Z" which is like a sort of warped Sesame Street skit) but there's some great new wave and early 80s pop tunes on there. There's several songs which are basically Devo with Toni on vocals. It's quite a diverse collection of performances too.
Forty years later I'm still listening to it...got it on my phone. Great song to head to the beach with, with the top down. Toni Basil is such a bad ass...I am SO GLAD she finally got the rights to it. So glad she kept the chant in.....and finally, she did a GREAT job on the video with very limited resources.
Basil's contribution to American art and pop culture cannot be overestimated.
Also shows how corrupt the music industry is, due to greed.
Nothing's changed.
🤣🤣🤣
I remember seeing her Mickey single in the new imports bin at a record store about Christmas 1981, bought it at once, and never regretted it. Once I heard it I could tell at once that this was a song destined for fame.
This was so great. I started it at about 130 am and ended up finishing it. I was born in 1973 so this is one of the songs that shaped my childhood. There are so many.
Great video and it has a sorta-happy ending
I'd heard that she was unhappy about the song being on RuPaul's Drag Race, but it now makes much more sense as to why
I side with Toni, it's her song, as it's been given to the world. I can remember it's release, utterly unique.
Absolutely
That was interesting. Stoked she got the recorded masters and controls now where her version can be used. She still wont get royalties for songwriting as that belongs to the songwriters. Regardless if her version was bigger, without their song, she would have no song to sing, and keep in mind her Oh Mickey chant was not new , it was also derivative to a cheer.
If the owners of the masters had just shared the wealth all along, they'd still get something. ALL RESPECT to Toni for sticking to her guns and coming out on top. Sad that it took so long for her to find the trail to the courts.
Thank you Traxploitation - another fantastic video.
The algorithm brought me here. This video and the others on your channel are excellent and well produced. The quality of your content doesn't properly represent your sub count. Keep up the good work! I sense you're about to blow up.
Wow, thank you! 😊
Great research and choice of subject. Interesting channel
Thank you 😊
I get all nostalgic seeing old MTV promos with Mickey briefly featured in it.
I grew up listening and dancing to this song and also “Street Beat”. She is such an amazing performer but was largely slept on. If she came out in the age of TikTok she’d have been a massive global phenomenon. What a legend!
I'm not sure how big she could be today but she was a pretty big hit in her day, I'm an Australian & Micky was huge here both the song & the video, where I work they play music, it changes every week but Micky has occasionally been included in rotation, including recently.
I still have the vinyl record of Street Beat.
From back in my break dancing days.
@@originalsusser it's one of very few tracks that make me smile, and take me back to a far more simple world.
Except for the bullying in school and beatings at home.
Music was one of very few escape mechanisms.
She was and is just simply awesome.
Can never not watch that video. It’s amazing because of her!! ❤❤❤
I loved that song when it came out and I thought Toni Basil was hot! I knew she had been a choreographer, but I didn't know all the other work she'd done, and that she was 38 when she made 'Oh Mickey'. Thank you for all the info, another great video.👍🏻
Thanks glad u liked it.
Just like you I vaguely knew she was a choreographer and dancer, i knew it was a cover and .I had some passing knowledge of the lockers etc but the more I dug in the more crazy facts I found out about her...she's one of my favourite living people now.
She has always been such an amazing visual artist. Every nuance of her body and face is artistic.
16:13 "Incredibly vague" is almost an understatement these days... This is one of the many reasons why I hate the entertainment "industry." Go #TeamToni !!
Poor Basil, yeah Basil.🎉 Talent, Pure Talent !
I loved both Toni Basil and Toto Coelo. And I will never forget Toni on that god-awful-so-bad-that-is-good movie, Rockula! LMAO!
This track dogged my last few years at school... at least my name wasn't Gordon! Excellent video btw!
Toni the Tiger!! Vindicated finally! Li’l but fierce - she casts an impressive shadow.
How gratifying to learn that her persistence paid off.
I love her dance routine with Davy Jones in that movie head
That number was so amazing and strange! I understand the director never wanted to do quick cuts after that again though 😄
@@JP-ve7or I'm currently reading this book about Hollywood from that timer can you believe they were concerned of getting an x-rating for the belly dancing part of the movie
This song and video mean a lot to me. Let's say it's part of my life's soundtrack.
I was a kid when this came out!...R.I.P...MA💎
My Mother💎
Thanks for the biography! Her time was before the internet became popular, so I certainly didn‘t know anything else about her!
Did NOT know any of that. Great stuff guys
First song I ever remember hearing
Never in a million years would I have guessed she was the dancer in that Bruce Conner film! Amazing.
The one that surprised me the most was viva Las Vegas...you never actually see her face so it's hard to recognise its her without seeing the credits..
This is not an uncommon story in pop music, unfortunately. Good on Toni for putting up a fight to secure her rights on the recording.
Why? She didn’t write it, just stuck on a bit in the beginning
@@petersyme7083 It sounds like you're one of the 'money men' whose sole aim in life is to leach off creative artists. Go away and curl up in your cess pit.
@@petersyme7083 "stuck a bit on the beginning" or " wrote some additional lyrics that appear at the start of the song, and again in the middle 8, as well as being the lyrics people remember the most it makes up 1/5 of the songs lyrics if you remove the repetition" 🤷♂️🤦♂️
Using reductive language doesn't alter the facts.
In the Sixties,the actor, Richard Harris, recorded a song that got a lot of air play, and he said he never got a dime from it.
Amazing work, once again. Thank you!
Thanks 😀
I absolutely love her. ❤️ she is one hell of an entertainer.
She is so talented! Toni can do it all and should definitely be recognized for her genius contributions on Mickey.
Fun fact . "Mickey" was the second video ever played on MTV .
It was huge
I absolutely loved the song when it came out and I had a crush on Toni Basil. I was 4.
Thanks for your incredible research and effort. I hope you get lots of support, you deserve it.
Thanks so much for your support!
Any topics ud like to see covered?
I hope some conscientious, deep-pocketed entity makes right the decades of injustice. That song and video was as popular and loved as one can get, and she deserves all the payback in the world.
I first saw the video on Showtime and loved the cheerleader moves.
Awesome Toni 👌
Great video as always Traxploitation. Really appreciate the effort and research you do in making these videos. I didn’t realise the full extent of Toni Basil’s creativity. Glad she got her masters back. Pity it came at a heavy financial loss in royalties revenue.
Much appreciated!
Toni Basil did choreography for Linda Ronstadt's "Get Closer" dance.
This LEGEND has not only remained relevant in the entertainment industry for sixty years...she's remained relevant in YOUTH CULTURE for sixty years...and she's still a very desirable seasoned woman.
Great example how music industry works.
Ahhh. The music industry works in many different ways.
@@Xesxs all driven by greed.
Right. Sad that such a loved industry has such a dark side.
Go girl .. justice finally done
Congratulations to Toni basil at last she’s an amazing dancer and she got paid for it she’s a hard worker ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Toni Basil, who could ever forget her, glad she's finally getting some royalties for a great tune .
Another Banger!!!!! Who knew???
Fun fact: That’s guitarist Gary Sanford and drummer Dave Houghton from Joe Jackson’s band, and Rolo from The Woodentops playing bass in the backing band!
Good for her for not letting the loss of that song rule her life.
Awesome to see she finally gained ownership of her creation.
I was getting angry, with how they screwed her over, regarding royalties.
Wow. Fantastic documentary. A great insight into the dark world of copyright. I feel so sorry for Toni Basil. I absolutely loved this song when it came out. I had the LP etc and she was on a few times on tv, the doc with a load of her videos. Didn't find out what they now say about the song being a gay icon. Mickey being gay. This also got me into The Go Team when the singer dressed as a cheerleader and had a little routein to one of their early songs.
Long live Toni Basil!
When I saw the video in the early eighties I thought Toni was the youngest cheerleader. I was living in Las Vegas at the time. When youtube came out I saw the archive footage of the family and thought I was watching her mother. Then I rewatched Viva Las Vegas and found out so much more on this talented lady and was blown away.
That song is the eighties it's a nostalgic masterpiece
She talks like an actress from the golden era of Hollywood, very elegant and poised. I love that song!
She did caught the great era 60s
Wow Wayne! Another great one and an eye-opener too, of course. When I saw the clip of her family dancing I immediately thought of break dancing and so it transpired. As you would imagine, I also found your explanation regarding producers and what they do and (sometimes) do not do very 'interesting'.
Glad you enjoyed it
Brilliant video. Really enjoyed that. Cheers!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
VICTORY FOR TONY SALUTE
I still sing Mickey while I work.
The minute I saw the picture I started singing, "Oh, Mickey, you're so fine...!"
I think she still looks good in her 70's.
When this first came out, I thought it was the Go Gos. Glad she finally won!
ABSOLUTE LEGEND 100 like none OTHER!!
I can't believe you only have 8k subs. I don't even necessarily like this song (I "like" it, but would never just put it on to listen to it) but I still watched and was fascinated by this vid. 😁🙏
glad Toni FINALLY got her rights to Mickey. The good guys DO Win sometimes.
Always interesting, thoughtful, and informative music history videos 😊
Thank you 😊
One of my first crushes! Great video.
People only know the Toni Basil version - which by definition, makes it her song. Sad she didn't see compensation for most of it
You Gotta Problem and Over My Head are two other excellent songs from Toni!
Don’t love the song or video but freely admit she was royally screwed. Life’s far from perfect and totally admire her for her will to do what’s right. Outstanding!
Its great when artists ignore the record label execs. I loved that song.
I THINK 💭 TONY BASIL GOT SCREWED BY EVERYONE WHO WORKED ON THE SONG 🎵 SHE DESERVES ALL THE ROYALTIES THAT SONG 🎶 MADE!!!! I loved 🥰 that song 🎶 it brings back memories❤️👍!!!!
Toni Basil also recorded a couple of BBC specials featuring her singing, choreography and dancing in 1982/83 called "Toni Basil Tape 1" and "Toni Basil Tape 2" respectively.
Yep, a lot of the footage in this video is from those specials.
Mind Blown !!!!
I knew some of this already
but all thisnew info Damn!!
Personally I think it is disgusting that some companies can virtually hijack an artist's work for so many years and not be seen as 'breaking the law'. Then having to fight in the courts to have your work and royalties restored, but not repaid most of the time. It is just so wrong that companies behave in this underhanded manner. Toni Basil is an amazing woman, I saw her a couple of years ago still dancing energetically inner 70s, fantastic.
She covered the song, did not write it, no composer royalties
I love you Toni Basil❤️💋❤️💋❤️💋
It's about time Toni got credit for her VISION and ARTISTRY!! Glad she got the masters and is going to get some sort of recognition and um.. CASH (ala royalties) for what essentially IS her song and HER video!!
You just gotta love that the publishers claimed the part of the song that she wrote was nothing special and is not a significant addition, but is the part featured in all of the ads that paid to use the song. Ridonculous. Good for her. Nice to hear about a well deserved win.
Tony basil should have been given all the royaltys since the 80s and then some
Toni Basil was my first crush . . . . and I was 8 years old :-)