Mickey (song)

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“Mickey”
Single by Toni Basil from the album Word of Mouth
Released	1982
Recorded	1979
Genre	Rock Power Pop
Length	4:18
Writer(s)	Mike Chapman, Nicky Chinn
Producer	Mike Chapman
Toni Basil singles chronology
- "Mickey" (1982) "Nobody" (1982)

"Mickey" is a 1982 hit U.S. pop song recorded by singer and choreographer Toni Basil. Written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn as "Kitty," it was first recorded by UK pop group Racey in 1979. Basil's crush on actor and Monkee Micky Dolenz during her work as a choreographer/dancer on the set of the Monkees 1968 movie, Head prompted her to change the lyrics to "Mickey" to better suit her real-life experience, and the gender from female to male. The single reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number two in the UK singles chart. It is usually considered a one-hit wonder.

"Mickey" is one of the most famous cheerleading songs. The line "Oh Mickey, you're so fine/ You're so fine you blow my mind/ Hey Mickey! Hey Mickey!" is also a favorite among cheerleaders. The guitars in the song sound quite similar to The Knack's "My Sharona".

George Michael 'Mickey' Dolenz, 39 years after the events leading to his being named in the song

Basil also recorded a spanish version of the song, becoming number 1 in Mexico. To this date, "Mickey" is mistaken with the singer Luis Miguel (the name "Mickey" is sometimes an alias for the name "Miguel", Mike in english).

[edit] Cover versions and parodies

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• "Weird Al" Yankovic parodied this song on his self titled debut album as "Ricky", a parody of and tribute to I Love Lucy.
• Irish girl group B*Witched covered the song for the 2000 cheerleading film Bring It On. The film's closing credits had most of the cast lip-syncing and dancing to the song while the credits rolled.
• Swedish pop singer Carola Häggkvist had a hit in Scandinavia with a Swedish language version of "Mickey" in 1983, with lyrics written by Ingela "Pling" Forsman.
• "Hey Mickey" has also been recorded in Portuguese by Brazilian star Xuxa and in French by the American singer Tanja Solnik.
• The UK singer Lolly reached number four in the UK singles chart in 1999 with a cover of this song.
• Mexican group Timbiriche recorded this song in Spanish in 1983.
• Japanese comedian-musician Gorie stayed on top of the Japanese single charts for two weeks with a version featuring vocals by American born Jasmine Ann Allen.
• The song was remade by Cheerleading Mixes.
• The Riplets, an all-girl punk rock band from the Netherlands, released a cover in 2004 on their second album Love Special Delivery Boy.
• John B released a cover in 2006 on his album Electrostep.
• The character Kahn sings the song along with his jukebox in an episode of King of the Hill.
• Wizard Rock band The Whomping Willows released a cover of this song on his album III, entitled "Hey Remus", and with lyrics rewritten to be sang by The Whomping Willow to Remus Lupin. Another WRock band, Draco and the Malfoys, also covered the chorus in their song "Hey Neville".

[edit] In popular culture

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• In the first episode of the cartoon series, Johnny Bravo, the titular character ends up on an island of Amazon women. He meets a tall woman gathering coconuts from a palm tree and asks what her name is. He guesses her name is "Mickey" and tells her it's because "she's so fine. She's so fine [she blows his mind]". Unflattered, she kicks him off her wheelbarrow.
• It has been used by the Walt Disney Corporation in advertising campaigns, with reference to Mickey Mouse.
• The song was also used by disgruntled Cincinnati Bengals fans showing their displeasure at team owner Mike Brown for his inability to field a competitive team during the 1990's until 2002. The song was renamed "Hey Mikey".
• The song is also the theme tune for prominent Canadian football expert Mickey Fairplay, who frequently gives his opinion on footballing matters in the UK.
• The song was sampled by Nitty in the song, "Hey Bitty", which can be found on his album Player's Paradise.
• The song appears in the cheerleading scene at the end of Big Momma's House 2.
• Micky Park Yoochun from the popular Korean a cappella boyband, Dong Bang Shin Ki usually has this song as his theme song whenever he appears on variety shows.
• In the 1992 film Wayne's World, Mike Myers suddenly starts singing "Mickey" in the car, explaining to Tia Carrere that it is the last song he had heard before leaving the house that day.
• Regarding the song "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne, critics have stated that it sounds similar to "Mickey".
• In "The Principal and the Pauper", a season nine episode of The Simpsons, the real Seymour Skinner asks Bart's class to recite the pledge of allegiance and Bart responds with the line "Hey, America. you're so fine you blow my mind, America".
• In the cheerleading movie Bring It On, this song was sung and danced to in the final scene of the movie, or the credits.
• The song's lyrics have been alleged contain a subversive tale of a woman's attempts to "turn" a gay man by offering him anal sex [[1]].