Mickey (song)

"Mickey"
Single by Toni Basil
from the album Word of Mouth
Released	February 5, 1982
Recorded	1981
Genre	Bubblegum New wave
Length	4:12 (album) / 3:36 (single)
Label	Chrysalis (U.S.) Radial Choice (U.K.) Virgin (Canada)
Writer(s)	Mike Chapman, Nicky Chinn
Producer	Mike Chapman
Toni Basil singles chronology
"Breakaway" (1966) "Mickey" (1982) "Nobody" (1982)

"Mickey" is a 1982 U.S. new wave song recorded by singer and choreographer Toni Basil. Written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn as "Kitty", it was first recorded by UK popular music group Racey during 1979. Toni Basil changed the name from Kitty to Mickey to make the song about a man, and because she was fond of The Monkees' lead singer Micky Dolenz after meeting him on the set of their movie Head as a choreographer. A music video for the song, featuring costuming and choreography inspired by cheerleader dance routines, was played heavily on MTV.

The single scored number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for 1 week and number two in the UK singles chart. The song was Basil's only Top 40 success, making her a "one-hit wonder".^[1] It is named #5 on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of all time, #16 on 20 to 1's Top 20 One Hit Wonders Countdown and #7 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s. It has also appeared on countless Greatest or Best lists and countdowns. San Francisco Giants infielder Miguel Tejada uses this as his walk up music.

Chart positions

Chart (1982/83)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[2]	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[2]	3
Canadian Singles Chart	1
UK Singles Chart	2
Australian Singles Chart[3]	1
New Zealand Singles Chart[4]	2
German Singles Chart	69
Netherlands Singles Chart[5]	39
Danish Singles Chart[6]	69

Preceded by "I Love Rock 'n Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts	Australian Kent Music Report number-one single (Toni Basil version) June 7, 1982 - June 14, 1982	Succeeded by "I've Never Been to Me" by Charlene
Preceded by "Truly" by Lionel Richie	Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Toni Basil version) December 11, 1982	Succeeded by "Maneater" by Daryl Hall and John Oates
Preceded by "Truly" by Lionel Richie	Canadian "RPM" Singles Chart number-one single (Toni Basil version) December 25, 1982 - January 15, 1983	Succeeded by "Pass the Dutchie" by Musical Youth

Track listings

U.S. 7" single

1. "Mickey" 3:36
2. "Thief on the Loose" 3:50

International 7" single

1. "Mickey" 3:36
2. "Hanging Around" 4:06

U.S. 12" single

1. "Mickey" (Special Club Mix) (Short) 4:32
2. "Mickey" (Special Club Mix) (Long) 5:58

Alternate U.S. 12" single

1. "Mickey" (Special Club Mix) 5:58
2. "Mickey" (Spanish Version) 5:12

Lolly version

"Mickey"
Single by Lolly
from the album My First Album
Released	September 17, 1999
Recorded	1998
Genre	Pop
Length	3:36 (album version) 3:20 (edit)
Label	Polydor
Writer(s)	Mike Chapman, Nicky Chinn
Producer	Dufflebag Boys
Lolly singles chronology
"Viva La Radio" (1999) "Mickey" (1999) "Big Boys Don't Cry" (1999)

The UK singer Lolly scored a Top Ten hit in the UK singles chart in September 1999. Unlike the original, this version is very pop-heavy, and includes influences from that direction. In addition, there is also a karaoke version of the cover in the album.

Track listings

CD Single

1. "Mickey" 3:36
2. "Rockin' Robin" 2:31

Charts

Chart (1999)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	4

Other notable versions

• "Weird Al" Yankovic parodied this song for his 1983 self titled debut album as "Ricky," a parody of and tribute to I Love Lucy.
• Irish girl group B*Witched covered the song for their American EP "Across America 2000." It was released as a Promotional single outside of the UK and it was used for the film Bring It On.
• Swedish popular music singer Carola Häggkvist had a success in Scandinavia with a Swedish language version of "Mickey" during 1983, with lyrics written by Ingela "Pling" Forsman.
• Japanese comedian-musician Gorie scored #1 on the Japanese single charts for two weeks with a version featuring vocals by American-born Jasmine Ann Allen.
• On September 25, 2009, a flash mob and orchestra performed a parody version ("Oh, Mackey, you're a swine. You're a swine, you blow my mind," etc.) inside a Whole Foods grocery store in Oakland, California, to protest Whole Foods' CEO John Mackey's public opposition to health care reform in the U.S., including his rejection of the principle that people have a right to health care.
• Spanish TV show Sé lo que hicistéis... (I know what you did...) used to play the song to introduce one of the hosts, Micki Nadal.

Songs which sample the Toni Basil recording

• Heidi Montag recorded a song titled "Bad Boy", which starts off sampling the song with "Bad boy you so fine, you so fine, you blow my mind."
• The song was sampled by Nitty in the song, "Hey Bitty", which can be found on his album Player's Paradise.
• Limp Bizkit sampled the chorus in "Nookie [androids Vs. Las Putas Remix]" on their New Old Songs album.
• the starting chorus of the original song was sampled by electronic duo Boards Of Canada as a hidden song in the track "Iraq Says" on Old Tunes Vol. 2.
• Madonna sampled part of the chorus for "Dress You Up" for her 2009 Sticky & Sweet Tour.
• Kylie Minogue blended "Mickey" with her own song "Heart Beat Rock" on her tour "KylieX2008" (2008). The word "Mickey" was replaced with "Minnie".
• Katy Perry Sampled it in her song "Peacock"

References

1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications)
2. ^ ^{a b} http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p24056 Allmusic.com
3. ^ http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?status=edited&todo=viewthread&pages=&id=27137 Australian Charts Forum - Pre-1989 (1982)
4. ^ http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Toni+Basil&titel=Mickey&cat=s Charts.org.nz
5. ^ http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Toni+Basil&titel=Mickey&cat=s dutchchatrs.nl
6. ^ http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Toni+Basil&titel=Mickey&cat=s Australian-charts.com (Says chart peak in the 'In The Countries' section