Today, Toni Basil is something of a household name thanks to her sensational 1981 hit song “Mickey.” But like with all artists, there was a before time – it just so happens that for Basil, even this prior to her fame was remarkable as she appeared beside Elvis Presley in Viva Las Vegas.
Born on September 22, 1943, Basil was surrounded by music, dance, and general spectacle from the start as the child of an orchestra leader father and a vaudeville performer mother. Basil had a background in cheerleading and helped herself further stand out by incorporating this skill into her dancing, including her performance in “Mickey,” which would rocket her to fame. But first, here’s “what she’d say.”
Toni Basil appeared alongside Elvis Presley in ‘Viva Las Vegas’ years before her big break
Back in a 2014 Facebook post, Basil reflected on the early days of her rising stardom. Even at that stage of her career, Basil was in a position of unique success; she would have been in her early twenties when the 1964 movie was released.
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“Over the months of rehearsing with Anne-Margret and Elvis Presley, [choreographer] David Winters and I became close friends with them,” she shared. “David the choreographer and I worked on many musical numbers for this film. Here’s ‘What’d I Say’ where I got to be the girl with the red dress on.” The Ray Charles song, covered by Presley, mentions a girl in a red dress, which Basil got to embody.
One large step for Toni Basil
As remarkable as it was to work with Presley and Ann-Margret, for Basil, this was just the start. She went on to appear in The Monkees’ film Head in 1968 and danced with Davy Jones in “Daddy’s Song.” But Basil also exercised her own creative muscles to create original masterpieces many times.
As a choreographer, Basil would create the dance routine for Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” and choreographed for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. She did the same for David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs Tour. Indeed, she served as a choreographer for some of the biggest names in film and music from the 1970s through to the 2000s.
Then, of course, there’s the success of “Mickey,” which topped the charts in the U.S., Canada, and Australia, while also making it into the top ten in many other countries. She helped popularize a fresh kind of new wave, utilizing synthesizers, guitar beats, and her signature cheerleading chants. At , Basil is still actively working, so only time will tell what other marvels she has to share with the world.
