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Biography
BLP sources|date=October 2009Infobox musical artist| | name = Toni Basil| image =| caption =| image_size = | background = solo_singer| birth_name = Antonia Christina Basilotta| birth_date = birth date and age|mf=yes|1943|9|22| death_date =| origin = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , United States| instrument =| genre = Dance music|Dance , New Wave music|New Wave | occupation = Singer , Songwriter , Dancer , Choreographer , Actor | years_active = 1964& ndash;present| label = Chrysalis Records , Virgin Records|Virgin | associated_acts =| website = http://www.tonibasil.net/ Toni Basil's Site Antonia Christina Basilotta (born September 22, 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ), better known by her stage name Toni Basil , is an American singer-songwriter , actress, filmmaker , film director , choreography|choreographer , and dancer , best known for her multi-million-selling worldwide #1 hit " Mickey (song)|Mickey " from 1982.
Biography
Early life
Basil was born Antonia Christina Basilotta in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . Her mother, Jacqueline Jessica Anderson, was a Vaudeville|vaudevillian acrobatic comedian in her family's act "Billy Wells and The Four Fays." Her father, Louis Basil, was an orchestra leader who conducted orchestras at Chicago Theatre|The Chicago Theatre and at Sahara Hotel and Casino|The Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas Strip|Las Vegas , among others.cite web|url= http://www.tonibasil.net/ |title=The Authorized Site |publisher=Toni Basil |date= |accessdate=2010-09-17
Dance career
Toni Basil had been dancing professionally since childhood, but her adult career started when she served as an assistant choreographer to David Winters (choreographer)|David Winters http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0149523/fullcredits#cast Full cast and crew for "Shindig!" (1964) IMDb and dancer on Shindig! , an American music variety show which was broadcast on the ABC network from September 16, 1964, to January 8, 1966. She was also assistant choreographer and was featured as a go-go dancer on the 1964 concert film The T.A.M.I. Show (Teen-Age Music International) also choreographed by David Winters, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058631/ The T.A.M.I. Show (1964) at IMDb which also featured fellow dancer and friend, Teri Garr .
Basil choreographed, and co-directed with David Byrne , the music video for " Once in a Lifetime (Talking Heads song)|Once in a Lifetime " by Talking Heads . She worked with Talking Heads again to direct and choreograph the video for the song "Crosseyed and Painless." She also choreographed David Bowie 's Diamond Dogs Tour in 1974, and Glass Spider Tour in 1987. She has worked with Bette Midler for many years, most recently on her 2008/2009 Las Vegas show The Showgirl Must Go On. She also served as the associate director and choreographer of the worldwide Tina Turner Live: 50th Anniversary Concert Tour in 2008/2009. Her expertise as a choreographer led her to be invited to sit as a guest judge on season four and five of Fox Television's So You Think You Can Dance (US)|So You Think You Can Dance . In addition, she is credited with bringing street dance to prominence as a founding member and manager of The Lockers .citation needed|date=November 2010 Her film choreography work includes Pajama Party (1964) where she was the assistant to David Winters, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058440/ Pajama Party (1964) at IMDb 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 (actor)|Davy Jones . Other notable choreography work credited to Basil can be found in the films The Rose , Legally Blonde , That Thing You Do , and ''My Best Friend's Wedding''. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119738/ My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) at IMDb
Music career
Basil's recording career began in 1966 with a single for A& M Records which was the title song from the short film Breakaway . This film was made by internationally famous filmmaker and artist Bruce Conner, and backed with "I'm 28," an obscure Graham Gouldman song.citation needed|date=December 2011 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 songwriters 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. http://www.mtv.com/videos/toni-basil/115877/mickey.jhtml/ dead link|date=September 2010
For television, Basil has appeared as an actress and featured singer/dancer in many television shows and specials. She co-directed and choreographed two BBC specials with Adam Walsh and Ken Stephenson called "Toni Basil Tape 1" and "Toni Basil Tape 2". http://www.msaagency.com/pr/msa/toni-basil.aspx/ dead link|date=September 2010
Basil's recording career consists of only two albums. Her first album, 1982's Word of Mouth (Toni Basil album)|Word of Mouth included a second Hot 100 single "Shoppin' from A to Z," as well as three songs by Devo , with the group providing the backing track. The track "Space Girls" was a re-recording of a 1974 Devo demo titled "Space Girl Blues" that would later be released on Devo's "Hardcore Devo: Volume One". Devo member Gerald V. Casale and Toni were in a relationship at the time and Basil had been an early supporter of the group.
Toni Basil (1983), her eponymous second album, yielded a third and final Hot 100 charting single, "Over My Head," which also reached #4 on the U.S. Dance chart. Her song "Girls Night Out" appeared on the soundtrack to the 1986 movie Modern Girls . To date, there have been five Toni Basil best-of collections released on CD. In 1999, DJ and producer Jason Nevins 's dance remix of "Mickey" was a club hit in Europe and Australia .
Basil had others hits internationally, like her single "Street Beat" which was a smash hit in the Philippines .citation needed|date=May 2011 Basil also contributed vocals for the Devo song "The Only One" in 1987, which wasn't released until 2000 on the demo compilation Recombo DNA.
Acting career
As an actress, Basil started off in the films Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces . Some of her other films include The Last Movie directed by Dennis Hopper , '' Greaser's Palace directed by Robert Downey, Sr. , Mother, Jugs & Speed , Village of the Giants , Rockula with Thomas Dolby and Slaughterhouse Rock . On TV, she has appeared in episodes of Laverne And Shirley and in Baywatch Nights as a fortune teller. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111892/ Baywatch Nights TV Series at IMDb
Filmmaking and music videos
Basil's late 1960s 8mm and 16mm films recently toured the U.S. with the show "Semina Culture: WallaceBerman and His Circle". http://www.nyu.edu/greyart/exhibits/semina/semina.html/Dead link|date=June 2011 Aside from directing her own video for "Mickey," she also directed and choreographed the video for Talking Heads ' " Once in a Lifetime (Talking Heads song)|Once in a Lifetime ", featuring lead singer David Byrne against a white background in a similar style to Basil's "Mickey."
Awards and accolades
Toni Basil's awards include Hip Hop International's Living Legend Award, a Grammy nomination for Long Form Video ("Word Of Mouth") 1983, an Emmy nomination and win for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography / The Smothers Brothers 1988,cite web|url= http://www.emmys.com/award_history_search? person=toni+basil& program=& start_year=1949& end_year=2009& network=All& web_category=All& winner=All/ |title=Primetime Emmy Award Database |publisher=Emmys.com |date=2010-08-29 |accessdate=2010-09-17 two MTV Award nominations, American Choreography Awards: Four nominations & two wins including Lifetime Achievement Innovator, and The Los Angeles Theater Ovation: Street Dance Award. Exhibitions include the Museum of Modern Art: videos and the Santa Monica Museum of Art: Short films. She has also received platinum and gold discs in the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Philippines, and France. Her single Mickey was installed in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as one of the groundbreaking singles of the 1980s. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,294825,00.html/ dead link|date=September 2010 She was given tribute at The Carnival: Choreographers Ball , Monsters of Hip-Hop Masters of Movement, and in Portraits of America's Great Choreographers. She was featured in the Museum of Modern Art Calendar of Artists and on the cover of Dance Magazine .
Certifications ( List of best selling music artists
US
AUS cite book
NZ http:/ / charts.org.nz/ showinterpret.asp? interpret=Toni+Basil Toni Basil discography charts.org.nz
UK cite book
1982
Word of Mouth (Toni Basil album)
Release date: 1982
Label: Chrysalis Records
22
43
27
15
style="text-align:left;"
Recording Industry Association of America|US : Gold
Canadian Recording Industry Association|CAN : Gold
1983
Toni Basil (album)
Release date: 1983
Label: Chrysalis Records
"" denotes releases that did not chart
Singles
Year
Single
Peak chart positions
Album
US
US Dance
UK
NZ
NL http:/ / dutchcharts.nl/ showinterpret.asp? interpret=Toni+Basil Toni Basil discography dutchcharts.nl
1966
"Breakaway"
Non-album song
1982
" Mickey (song)
1
3
2
2
39
Word of Mouth
" Nobody (Toni Basil song)
52
1983
" Shoppin' From A to Z "
77
4
" Street Beat (song)
Toni Basil
1984
"Over My Head"
81
4
"Suspense"
8
1985
"Do You Wanna Dance"
"" denotes releases that did not chart
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.tonibasil.net/ Toni Basil - The Authorized Site
IMDb name|id=0059844|name=Toni Basil
Amg name|4419
http://www.ear.fm/Encyclopedia%20B/basil_toni.htm Ear.FM entry on Toni Basil
Persondata|NAME=Basil, Toni |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= |SHORT DESCRIPTION=American singer |DATE OF BIRTH=September 22, 1943 |PLACE OF BIRTH= Philadelphia, Pennsylvania DEFAULTSORT:Basil, Toni Category:American choreographers Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:Female New Wave singers Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:American New Wave musicians
