Antonia Christina Basilotta (born September 22, 1943),[2] better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer, choreographer, dancer, actress, and director.

Show would go on to be deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in 2006 in the National Film Registry.

[citation needed] In 1980, Basil choreographed, and co-directed with David Byrne, the music video for "Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads.

She worked with Talking Heads again to direct and choreograph the video for the song "Crosseyed and Painless", taken from the same album Remain in Light.

Her expertise as a choreographer led her to be invited to sit as a guest judge on seasons four and five of Fox Broadcasting Company's So You Think You Can Dance?

[independent source needed] She is recognized as having been a seminal influence in bringing street dance to the attention of the American public.

[17] They opened for Funkadelic at Radio City Music Hall and many acts in Las Vegas; they appeared on many television shows including the third episode of Saturday Night Live.

She choreographed Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood at the age of 75, and appeared in an uncredited cameo, wearing her trademark fedora and dancing with Margot Robbie on the Pan Am flight.

Basil was surprised by Tarantino's detailed knowledge of both 1960s dances and her previous work, and said she personally knew two of the real-life people who are portrayed in the film: Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring, who were both killed in the Tate-LaBianca murders.

Basil sang, solo, the swinging jazz number "Wham Rebop Boom Bam" in the first season of Saturday Night Live for the January 17, 1976, show with Buck Henry as host.

The song is a cover of "Kitty", a 1979 release by the UK band Racey, written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and produced by the latter.

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.

[22] In 2017, she launched an unsuccessful lawsuit against the makers of South Park over their use of the song in parodying Barack Obama's 2008 election win.

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.

[citation needed] Toni Basil (1983), her eponymous second album, yielded a third and final Hot 100 charting single, "Over My Head", which reached No.

On television she appeared in episodes of Laverne & Shirley (playing Mickie), Dark Justice, and in Baywatch Nights as a fortune teller.

The Los Angeles Times noted Basil's deft editing transformed an ordinary ping pong match into an energetic dance routine.