Over My Head (Toni Basil song)

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"Over My Head"
Single by Toni Basil
from the album Toni Basil
Released1983
RecordedRadialchoice/Chrysalis
Genre
LabelA&M
Songwriter(s)Franne Golde, Sue Shifrin
Producer(s)Mike Chapman
Toni Basil singles chronology
"Shoppin' from A to Z"
(1983)
"Over My Head"
(1983)
"Street Beat"
(1984)

"Over My Head" is a song by American singer Toni Basil. It was featured on her self-titled 1983 album,[1] and reached number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100[2] and number 4 on the US Dance chart.

Release[edit]

"Over My Head" was the second single from Toni Basil's 1983 album Toni Basil.[1][3] The song was released as a 12" record by Chrysalis and Virgin Records.[4] The song was also featured on her 1994 greatest hits compilation The Best of Toni Basil: Mickey & Other Love Songs.[5]

Music video[edit]

A music video for the song was released, directed by Basil and Michelle Simmons.[6]

Synopsis[edit]

The video starts with Basil dancing in front of several paperback mystery novels, before being zapped into one of the books. She is suddenly featured in a dark room, clad in vampire-like fashion. She then appears on the cover of another mystery novel, before she is shown stuck on train tracks as a train flies over her. The train suddenly becomes a plane. Basil finally escapes the books and continues dancing in front of them.[7]

Accolades[edit]

The video was nominated for "Best Choreography" at the first MTV Music Video Awards, in 1984. The video lost, however, to Michael Jackson's "Thriller."[8]

Commercial performance[edit]

The song reached number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100, spending a total of 6 weeks on the chart; it was her final single to reach the Hot 100.[2] The song also went to number 4 on the US Dance chart.[9] "Over My Head" was the final charting single that Basil's record label, Radial Choice, had before folding in 1984.[10]

Charts[edit]

Chart (1984) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[2] 81
US Dance Songs[9] 4

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b ""Toni Basil" album information". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "Toni Basil Chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Toni Basil singles". Discogs. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  4. ^ "Single Release info". Discogs. 1983. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  5. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. ""The Best of Toni Basil: Mickey & Other Love Songs" review". Allmusic. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  6. ^ "Billboard magazine article". Google Books. 31 August 1985. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  7. ^ "Music Video". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-20. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  8. ^ "1984 VMA's". MTV. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  9. ^ a b Gruber, Xaque (8 November 2012). "'Mickey' Turns 30: A Closer Look at the One and Only Toni Basil". Huffington Post. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Toni Basil's Tenacious Tumble To 'Mickey'". Cuepoint. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.