Word of Mouth is the debut studio album by Toni Basil. It was first released in May 1981 in the United Kingdom and April 1982 in the United States. The album features the number-one worldwide hit "Mickey", as well as three covers of songs by Devo, who also performed on those three tracks ("Be Stiff", "Space Girls", which is a re-titled "Space Girl Blues", and "You Gotta Problem", which is a re-titled "Pity You"). The U.S. version of the album added the songs "Rock On" (a David Essex cover) and "Shoppin' from A to Z", deleting "Hanging Around". Word of Mouth was certified Gold by the RIAA.
Chart performance
The lead single "Mickey" became an international hit, earning a double platinum certification. The album, which was released shortly after, was also a success, peaking at number 22 and receiving a Gold certification. However, the following singles, "Nobody" in the UK and "Shoppin' from A to Z" in the US, both under-performed, which cut the album's success short. It also reached number 27 on the New Zealand albums chart.
Track listing
U.S. LP
UK LP
International cassette
Personnel
Toni Basil – vocals
Rick Parnell, Alan Myers, Ed Greene, Mike Baird – drums
Doug Lunn, Gerald Casale (credited as Jerry Casale) – bass
Mike Chapman – synthesizer and keyboards on "Mickey" Dorsey High Cheerleaders, classes of 1980–81 – stomping and chanting on "Mickey" Greg Mathieson, Michael Boddicker, Mark Mothersbaugh, Paul Delph – synthesizer Bob Mothersbaugh, John Goodsall, Bob Casale, Richie Zito, Trevor Veitch, David Storrs – guitar Richard Greene – violin on "Rock On" Dan Wyman – synthesizer programming; vocoder on "Space Girls" Allee Willis, Bruce Roberts, Bob Esty – additional vocals The Alphabet Singers – additional backing vocals on "Shoppin' from A to Z" Technical Produced by Greg Mathieson and Trevor Veitch John Michael Weaver, Joe Robb, Tony D'Amico, David Leonard – engineer Janet Levinson – design Steven Arnold – cover photography