Synopsis

Toni Basil performs the song as a theatrical, highly stylized visual piece rather than a literal narrative. The presentation places her at the center of a playful but slightly unsettling fantasy, with exaggerated character work, choreographed movement, and deliberately artificial studio imagery. The little red book serves as a visual emblem of romantic memory and past relationships. The tone moves between pop performance and camp spectacle, matching the song's lovelorn lyrics with an offbeat early-music-video sensibility.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Little Red Book" is Basil's version of the Burt Bacharach and Hal David song originally associated with the 1965 film "What's New Pussycat?"

• The video formed part of "Word of Mouth," a larger visual project built around Basil's 1981 album. The home-video release presented seven conceptual music videos, including "Mickey," "Nobody," "Time After Time," "Be Stiff," "Space Girls," and "You Gotta Problem."

• Basil's initial group of promotional videos for Radialchoice helped lead to a further commission of five videos. "Little Red Book" was among the resulting projects.

• The videos were made before MTV began broadcasting in July 1981, making "Word of Mouth" an early example of an album conceived as both a recording and a video program.

• The project was released on VHS and Betamax, reflecting Basil's interest in video as a primary artistic medium rather than merely as promotion for a single.

• Basil met David Byrne while working on the "Mickey" and "Little Red Book" videos. Their association later led to her work on Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime" and "Crosseyed and Painless."

• The recording appears on "Word of Mouth" as a cover alongside original material and songs associated with the new-wave and dance-oriented sound of the project.