Toni Basil “Mickey” 1982. 45 rpm. B-side “Thief on the Loose.”  “Mickey” hit #1 in December 1982 and it was probably around this time when I bought (or talked my folks into buying for me) this 45 single. Also it was likely around the time that I thought it would be so cool to be a cheerleader. (That sad vision did come to fruition, briefly, two years later when I was in 8th grade. I wore a black and orange wool sweater/skirt ensemble at basketball games every weekend. Yuck.)

Though it didn’t chart until ‘82, Toni Basil recorded “Mickey” in 1980 and shot the infamous video in 1981. It is pure unironic girl-pop and though she was quite a bit older than her girl-rock counterparts, this single put a nice little cherry at the end of a great year for women on the music charts (Joan Jett, the Go-Go’s, Kim Wilde, the Motels).

The B-side, “Thief on the Loose,” is another catchyish pop song. Honestly I think today may be the first time I ever bothered to flip the record over to give it a listen, judging by the extreme layer of dust on its surface.