Songs You Never Knew Were Covers: ‘Mickey’ [Video]

In 1982, Choreographer Toni Basil stunned the world by selling millions of copies of her fun romp of a song called 'Mickey'. Buoyed by its iconic video of cheerleaders dancing a routine to the song, it became a number one hit in 17 countries.

But it wasn't the first incarnation of that song.

Years before Toni donned the cheerleader togs and danced her way into the national zeitgeist, a band called Racey has recorded a song called 'Kitty' which featured different lyrics and lacked the fun energy of Basil's version.

The song went nowhere for Racey in their home country of England, so Chapman reworked the lyrics so the song became about a boy rather than a girl. according to Wikipedia, Basil commented on the effect of this change: "When it's a guy singing about a girl, 'take it like a man' is a sweet line. But when a girl sings it, it must mean butt-f*****!"

For years, it had been rumoured that the name was changed to Mickey because Basil was fond of The Monkees' drummer and lead vocalist Micky Dolenz after meeting him on the set of their movie Head for which she was the choreographer; however, this claim has been disputed by Basil, who said she didn't know Dolenz that well.