Toni Basil

“Dance has been my lover, my doctor. I know I have my health because of this.”

“I've always been a dancer, and I will always be a dancer.”

“I come from a very vaudevillian family.”

“Creating a dance is like coming up with a Chuck Berry riff.”

“I was a cheerleader in grammar school. There were no cheerleaders in that school I made them have them.”

“The '60s was leather soles and a wooden floor. That's why the twist, the simplest dance, was such a sensation. Everyone could do it. They just swivel their feet and the upper body fell naturally in the opposite direction.”

“Start dancing immediately. Run to the closest dance studio, and study the style of dance of the music you love. If you love hip-hop music, go to a hip-hop class. If you love salsa, take a salsa class. It will become infectious and you'll keep going back.”

“I grew up thinking of show business as a business.”

“If I like something, it seems a pretty good bet that other people will, too.”

“I love street and I love ballet and I love to convey what I can.”

“People don't connect the girl that sang 'Mickey' with the girl who was one of the seven original Lockers or the same girl who was in 'Easy Rider' or the same girl who choreographed David Bowie, Tina Turner, and Bette Midler tours. It's like I've led five lives.”

“I don't mind having a one-hit wonder as long as I have a career in show business, which has been fabulous.”

“Mickey' is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a one-hit wonder.”

“I did 'Viva Las Vegas' with Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret. By standing in for Ann-Margret for a week, I learned the feeling of being a star in a musical number.”

“I'm surprised by the success of anything I do, but it's gratifying when the public approves.”

“I don't think my story is an unusual story for a lot of music performers. But I think that since 1982, worldwide, I have probably seen less than 3,000 American dollars in royalties.”

“I don't know how people get into show business if their family's not in it.”

“Krumping has a little anger.”

“I have an inspired career other than just singing.”

“On my 'Mickey' video, I was the director, producer, choreographer, editor, singer - everything.”