Toni sold out solo shows at The Roxy in Los Angeles in June 1976, and sang the song on "The Merv Griffin Show". She also guested with The Lockers during the first season of "Saturday Night Live" and, on later seasons, as a singer and filmmaker, to perform in her urban style "Swan Lake". In 1982 she released the single "Mickey", which achieved international success. This song is a cover of "Kitty", a 1979 release by the UK band Racey, which was written by British songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and produced by 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 Radialchoice nearly a year before the inception of MTV in 1981. Issued on Chrysalis Records in September 1982 in the US, the song knocked Lionel Richie from No. 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in December. It also topped the chart in Canada where it was issued by Virgin Records. The 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 said that she still owns the same cheerleader sweater she wore in the video. In 2009, VH1 ranked "Mickey" Number 5 on its list of the 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the '80s. In 2017 she sued the makers of South Park over their use of the song in parodying Barack Obama's 2008 election win. 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 Alan Walsh and Ken Stephenson called "Toni Basil Tape 1" and "Toni Basil Tape 2". Basil's recording career consists of only two albums. Her first album, 1982's "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 was later released on Devo's "Hardcore Devo: Volume One".