Customer Reviews

Oh Mickey!: Featuring the original albums: 'Word Of Mouth' & 'Toni Basil'

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

That's right, don't bother with this release. I had originally purchased this CD to FINALLY have Toni's perfectly robotic reading of David Essex's "Rock On" (or Michael Damian's version, depending on which generation you belong to) preserved on compact disc. Not so. While this two CD set claims to be the first time that both of Basil's LPs have ever appeared on CD in their entirety--true in some territories since this track was not issued in the UK--neglecting the inclusion of "Rock On" is a complete waste of effort on Snapper's (the record company) behalf since it has NEVER appeared on CD. With combined foreign and domestic compilations of Basil's work, most of the material on these two discs has appeared on disc somewhere--save "I Don't Hear You", "Suspense", and "Best Performance" from her S/T LP. Completists will want to own this set specifically for these tracks, however, be warned that many of the tracks on CD 2 play at a much slower pace--very annoying--than they should. And making this a 2CD set when the music spread over both would have more conveniently fit on one was just superfluous. Everything considered--notes, quality, content--this is waste of the import price. Perhaps an American reissue label will finally get this one right, including 12" versions, and the long overdue "Rock On".

I was really excited to see all of Toni Basil's second LP finally on CD, but when I got it, I initially thought I was going mad - but I can see now that another reviewer has found the same problem as me - the second album has been transferred at the wrong speed, and every track is played TOO SLOW...what a shocking and shameful way to re-issue an album on CD...did nobody listen to the remastering before releasing this? Did anyone care? Obviously not. It's really quite insulting, not to mention disappointing as there are some tracks from Toni Basil's second album that have never seen the light of day until this release, but they've unfortunately ruined it.

And yes, a collection including the cover of "Rock On" would have been very welcome, but sadly this is a UK release, and "Rock On" was never on the original albums on the UK releases, it was only a b-side (to "Street Beat"). It could have easily been added, but it looks like the label responsible for this mess have pretended to be fans but actually don't know and/or care very much about the artist they are trying to promote here. If they did, they would at least have also added the other missing single, "Shopping From A-Z". And while we're on the subject, "Street Beat" was released in a two different mixes - as a single, with a sparser and more brittle sound, and then as the more mainstreamy album version. I would tell you which one is featured here but I can't remember - as I returned this CD for a refund as soon as I heard the mess of the second disc. Until someone makes a proper anthology of Toni's full 80's musical output, I'll stick to my old vinyl for now.
P.S. To anyone considering doing this: How about tracking down her two BBC tv shows which featured two still further unreleased tracks, namely "Walking the Dog" (the old Rolling Stones number - not the song on Toni's 2nd album) and "Romeo"...I double-dare anyone to find those tracks!!!

Toni Basil's records are fantastic '80s pop. The songs are smart, uptempo and deftly produced...and Basil's songwriting and singing are unique and enjoyable. Any problems with this collection reflect on the record company itself, and not on Toni Basil.

So far three different Toni Basil "Best Of" CDs have been released and STILL Ms. Basil's excellent version of "Rock On" has not been released on CD. I realize that this CD is an import, and that "Rock On" was only included on the U.S. version of "Word of Mouth." But this set hypes itself up to be more than it is...it is, by no means, a complete collection. How hard would it have been to include "Rock On"? Because this is a 2-CD set, there was certainly more than enough room for it at the end of disc one. (Also, Shoppin' from A to Z has been left off this set!!!)

Additionally, the songs here have not been remastered, which is unforgiveable in this day and age. Perhaps some day the powers that be will release a complete collection of the songs Basil recorded during her brief pop-music career...remastered so that the music is allowed to shine, the way it's meant to.

Here we have one of the most overlooked albums in not only new wave but in the 80's in general; dubbed the ultimate one hit wonder Toni Basil is in the Smithsonian for crying out loud because "Mickey" was such a huge hit and then there was nothing else from this super duper choreographer gone new wave pop princess. Of all the songs on Word Of Mouth, "Mickey" is probably actually one of the more lackluster tunes, perhaps only because it's played to death even in 2007; I mean it is a great song and when you listen to the album in full you start tapping and chanting along with Toni and her girls but the other songs found on this album is what really makes it a premiere footnote in the new wave world of the early 80's. Incorporating members of Devo as band members, Toni used her high chirped hiccup vocals to good use on hilarious, endearing and best of all hugely fun songs. The album was released in two different versions, first as a 9 song album in the UK which is the first 9 songs of this import CD. The album was re-released in the US a few months later with a different track list and a few new songs it was released in the US.

The UK version found here had a much more interesting track sequencin, opening with "Nobody" was a single even hitting a notch in the UK, and it's one of my favorites on the album, "I don't want nobody/ I don't want no one", refraining from just the obvious of wanting to be alone, the verses of the song actually talk about body functions and you realize the whole double meaning found in the lyrics, "Hanging Around" was released only on the original UK version of the album but it's high energy fun, then onto my two favorites of Word Of Mouth - a rocking pop track called "Theif On The Loose" which changes melody a few times and is mostly just a cut up Benatarish sung doozy - "you better stop that man/cuz he's walking away with my heart in his hand.." and a new wave cover of Nick Gilder's "Time After Time" - "always changing your colored hair/I don't care if you come and go/ you're starring in my video/you're the great pretender/a hero of your gender/time after time you pretend but you don't listen/time after time you arrive another person"; then a psycho tranced version of Burt Bacharach's "Little Red Book", Devo's "Be Stiff" and the Devo written "Space Girls" both set to trancy robotic hip waves, and another Devo cover, this time of their song "Pity You" which for some reason is changed to the title "You Gotta Problem"; either way, this is a great cover and I'm sure she had the approval of the Mothersbaugh boys since they are right there on the record. When Word Of Mouth was released in the US about 6 months after the UK release, there were two songs added to the mix and the track listing was rearranged - gone was "Hanging Around" and "Mickey" became the first track; and they moved the great "Theif" and "Time" to the end of the album, but along with those changes came two newly recorded gems, a punky electronic pop version of "Rock On" which years later would give strange Michael Damien a hit; but with the robotic vocals by Toni and the boys of Devo on the music, this version is to me even better than the 70's original and just a mention of James Dean seems to put an iconic twist on any song - "hey kids rock and roll/rock on/ooh my soul/hey kids boogie too/didn't you?/hey shock/summertime blues/jump up and down in my blue suede shoes/hey kids rock and roll/rock on" and finally what would become Toni's second US single "Shoppin' From A To Z", a manic power pop new wave tune about well, grocery shopping. The album version is fun but it's really the single version that made the song what it is, as Toni declares, "good girls shop/bad girls shop/shoppin' from a to z", she goes through her list of items, "I went shoppin' with a list from a to z/a - apples, b - bananas" and then as the song progresses she has encounters with the samples lady, the check out girl and oh my she forgets her list, so in an audiable and chant worthy countdown you get to help out Toni by going through A to Z - incidentally there isn't anything on her list that starts with x (X - NOTHING!); in the single version the final countdown is done by several different back vocalists doing different styled voices on each it. It's really something to hear; and to see. In fact most of the album Word Of Mouth was done in video form. Toni was and is a choregrapher and the whole purpose in making her album was so she could have something to lip synch to when she did a videocassette. It's hard to find but Word Of Mouth, the video is out there and until then you can check out most of the videos incluuding the one for "Shoppin From A To Z" at You Tube.

Toni's second album found the woman heading into more 80's dance orientated stuff and that's not too suprising since she is a dancer. The CIA inspiring fun of "Suspense" is the definite highlight of the Toni Basil album (the second 9 songs on this disc) though "Over My Head" and "Do You Wanna Dance" are also fun. Toni Basil, the album isn't as entertaining or lasting as Word Of Mouth but it's still something to have, particularly for the ultimate fans of the 80's music.

If Chrysalis could work with the import company and Capitol and release Word Of Mouth in its complete form with all 11 songs from both issues, and tack on the second album, I think we would finally have a winner.

you would think that with all of the space on a cd and all of the "hits" cd's released for toni basil one of them...just one...would include "rock on" and "shoppin from a to z." an extra star for including "do you wanna dance."

AFTER READING THESE LINES I AM PLEASED TO OWN THE ORIGINAL CASSETTE SINCE 1983 IN MEXICO WAS RELEASE AS "OVER MY HEAD"
STILL GREAT QUALITY AFTER MORE THAN 20 YEARS,THIS REMINDS ME
I AM 38.TIME GOES BY SO QUICKLY