"Smooth Criminal" | ||||
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Single by Michael Jackson | ||||
from the album Bad | ||||
B-side | "Smooth Criminal" (instrumental) | |||
Released | November 14, 1988 [1] | |||
Recorded | November 1986 – April 1987 [2] | |||
Studio | Westlake (studio D), Los Angeles | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:18 | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Songwriter(s) | Michael Jackson | |||
Producer(s) |
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Michael Jackson singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Smooth Criminal" on YouTube | ||||
Audio sample | ||||
"Smooth Criminal" is a song by the American pop singer Michael Jackson,released on November 14,1988,from his seventh studio album, Bad (1987). It was written by Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. The lyrics address a woman who has been attacked in her apartment by a "smooth criminal".
The music video for "Smooth Criminal",which premiered internationally on MTV on October 13,1988, [4] is the centerpiece of the 1988 film Moonwalker . The 1930s setting and Jackson's white suit and fedora pay tribute to the Fred Astaire musical comedy film The Band Wagon . In the video,Jackson and the dancers perform an apparently physically impossible "anti-gravity lean".
"Smooth Criminal" reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100,becoming the sixth top-10 single from Bad. [5] It reached number two on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart. It was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song reached number one in Belgium,Iceland,the Netherlands,and Spain.
Retrospective reviews have described it as one of Jackson's best songs. [6] Rolling Stone wrote that it was "his best blend of R&B groove and rock edginess,and a turning point in his shift toward darker,harder-edged material". [6] It has appeared on numerous greatest hits albums and was performed on all of Jackson's solo tours. "Smooth Criminal" was re-released in 2006 as a single as a part of Jackson's Visionary:The Video Singles boxset.
"Smooth Criminal" evolved from an earlier song written by Jackson,"Al Capone" (named after real life gangster Al Capone),released on the 2012 reissue Bad 25 . [7] It is in the key of A minor, [8] and Jackson's vocal spans from G3 to C6. [8] The lyrics describe a narrator who finds a bloodstained carpet and an unconscious body. [9] The chorus refrain,"Annie,are you OK?",was inspired by Resusci Anne,a dummy used in cardiopulmonary resuscitation training. Trainees learn to say "Annie,are you OK?" while practicing resuscitation on the dummy. [10] The original mix of the song includes the sound of Jackson's fast-thumping heart and heavy breathing,which travel from left to right thanks to Hugo Zuccarelli's Holophonics system. [11]
"Smooth Criminal" peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100,becoming the sixth top 10 single from Bad. [5] It is certified 2×platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America,and platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. [12] The song reached number one in Belgium,Iceland,the Netherlands and Spain and the top 10 in Denmark,France,Germany,Ireland,Italy,Switzerland and the UK.
Jackson asked Vincent Paterson to conceive a concept for the short film. Paterson listened to the unfinished song and came up with the concept of a 1930s gangster club. [13] Paterson,who was a lead dancer in the music videos for "Beat It" and "Thriller",co-choreographed the "Smooth Criminal" video with Jackson and Jeffrey Daniel of the soul music group Shalamar.[ citation needed ] The video and Jackson's white suit and fedora pay tribute to the Fred Astaire musical comedy film The Band Wagon ,particularly the "Girl Hunt Ballet" (itself inspired by the novels of Mickey Spillane) scene. [14] The video,directed by Colin Chilvers,was shot between mid-February and April 1987 at Culver City,California,and in the backlot at Universal Studios Hollywood [15] [16] and premiered internationally on MTV on the night of October 13,1988. [4]
In the video,Jackson and the other dancers perform a lean that appears physically impossible. [17] The dancers lean forward 45 degrees with their backs straight and feet flat on the floor,and hold the pose before returning upright. [17] The lean moves the body's center of mass further than it can support. [17] The illusion was achieved using cables and a harness. [18] [19] In October 1993,Jackson's team patented a method of performing the lean in concert using specially designed shoes that hook into pegs that rise from the stage. [17] Even with the shoes,the move requires good athletic core strength. [19]
The video won Best Music Video at the 1989 Brit Awards [20] and the Critic's Choice awarded Jackson the "Best Video" award and the People's Choice Awards for "Favorite Music Video" for that same year. [21]
In 2019,American television personality Kim Kardashian bought Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" fedora,which still had his makeup on it,for her daughter North West. [22]
The style of clothing as well as mannerisms Jackson portrayed were reused in the numerous adaptations of the video game Michael Jackson's Moonwalker . The song serves as the background music for the "Club 30s" stage,the nightclub seen in the music video,that appears in the game. [23] The video is the centerpiece of the 1988 film Moonwalker . [24]
Jason Elias of AllMusic wrote that "Smooth Criminal" was "a gorgeous and exhilarating record ... [it] presents Michael Jackson at his most captivating and it never fails to impress". [25] Rolling Stone named it the sixth best Jackson song,writing that it was "his best blend of R&B groove and rock edginess,and a turning point in his shift toward darker,harder-edged material." [26] In a retrospective review of Bad, Newsweek wrote:"[Smooth Criminal] is a sleek,exhilarating action sequence of a song that's unlike anything else in Jackson's catalog ... an urgent and inspired highlight. Bad is at its best when it explores the darker,more paranoid side that began to consume Jackson's life in the late '80s,and this song captures that impulse." [27] Entertainment Weekly wrote:"If there was one song on Bad that truly captured the sense of artistic freedom that Jackson felt after Thriller ,it was this track ... This is pop music as suspense drama." [28]
CD side:
DVD side:
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Adapted from single liner notes and Michael Jackson's website. [30]
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Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [67] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
France (SNEP) [68] | Silver | 200,000* |
Germany (BVMI) [69] | Gold | 250,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [70] | Gold | 25,000‡ |
Japan (RIAJ) [71] Full-length ringtone | Gold | 100,000* |
Mexico (AMPROFON) [72] | Gold | 30,000* |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [73] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [74] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [75] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
This section needs additional citations for verification .(July 2018) |
"Smooth Criminal" | ||||
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Single by Alien Ant Farm | ||||
from the album Anthology | ||||
B-side |
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Released | May 22, 2001 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:29 | |||
Label | DreamWorks | |||
Songwriter(s) | Michael Jackson | |||
Producer(s) | Jay Baumgardner | |||
Alien Ant Farm singles chronology | ||||
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In May 2001, American rock band Alien Ant Farm released a cover version of "Smooth Criminal" as the second single from their second studio album, Anthology (2001). According to lead singer Dryden Mitchell, the band would play a few riffs of the Jackson song while warming up before gigs and audience members would request them to play the entire song. [79] This positive feedback encouraged them to record their own rendition of "Smooth Criminal" and include it on Anthology. Originally, the song was not planned to be released due to Jackson's copyright infringement[ clarification needed ] , but when Jackson listened to the cover, he liked it and let Alien Ant Farm release the single, with the official video.
The cover became a number-one hit on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and was also a number-one hit in Australia for eight weeks. In Europe, it reached number three in the United Kingdom and charted within the top 10 in 10 other countries. Alien Ant Farm's 1999 album Greatest Hits includes a hidden track named "Slick Thief", which is an early version of "Smooth Criminal".
The music video was directed by Marc Klasfeld and shot in San Fernando, California. [80] It features the band performing in a wrestling ring, and in front of a suburban house. The video also references various Jackson music videos, including the "Smooth Criminal" video itself.
UK CD single [81]
UK cassette single [82]
European CD single [83]
| European maxi-CD single [84]
Australian CD single [85]
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Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [127] | 2× Platinum | 140,000^ |
Belgium (BEA) [128] | Gold | 25,000* |
Germany (BVMI) [129] | Gold | 250,000‡ |
Norway (IFPI Norway) [130] | Gold | |
Sweden (GLF) [131] | Gold | 15,000^ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [132] | Gold | 20,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [133] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref(s). |
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United States | May 22, 2001 | Alternative radio | DreamWorks | [134] |
Europe | August 20, 2001 |
| [135] | |
United States | August 21, 2001 | Contemporary hit radio | [136] | |
United Kingdom | September 17, 2001 |
| [135] [137] | |
Australia | October 15, 2001 | CD | [138] |
Croatian duo 2Cellos performed the song in a viral YouTube video. [139] Jean Rodríguez sang lead vocals for Tony Succar's Latin-flavored version of "Smooth Criminal", from the album Unity: The Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson (2015), including a section in Spanish. [140] [141] A video of their 2016 performance at the offices of Sirius XM went viral. [142]
Alien Ant Farm is an American rock band that formed in Riverside, California in 1996. They have released five studio albums and sold over 5 million units worldwide. The band's cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" topped the Billboard Alternative songs charts in 2001, and was featured in the film American Pie 2.
Bad is the seventh studio album by the American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson. It was released on August 31, 1987, by Epic Records. Written and recorded between 1985 and 1987, Bad was Jackson's third and final collaboration with the producer Quincy Jones. Jackson co-produced and composed all but two tracks, and adopted an edgier image and sound, departing from his signature groove-based style and falsetto. Bad incorporates pop, rock, funk, R&B, dance, soul, and hard rock styles, and incorporated new recording technology, including digital synthesizers. The lyrical themes include media bias, paranoia, racial profiling, romance, self-improvement, and world peace. The album features appearances from Siedah Garrett and Stevie Wonder.
"Bootylicious" is a song recorded by American group Destiny's Child for their third studio album Survivor (2001). It was written and produced by Rob Fusari, Beyoncé and Falonte Moore. The song contains a prominent sample from Stevie Nicks' song "Edge of Seventeen". It was released as the second single from Survivor on May 22, 2001, by Columbia Records.
"Ms. Jackson" is a song by the American hip hop duo Outkast, consisting of André 3000 and Big Boi. It was released on October 24, 2000, as the second single from Outkast's fourth album, Stankonia. It topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week on February 17, 2001, and reached number one in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Rolling Stone ranked it 55th on its "100 Best Songs of the 2000s" list in June 2011 and at number 145 on its "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list in 2021. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 81 on its list of the "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
"Thriller" is a song by the American singer Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records in November 1983 in the UK and on January 23, 1984, in the US, as the seventh and final single from his sixth studio album, Thriller.
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"Bad" is a song by the American singer Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records on September 7, 1987, as the second single from his seventh studio album, Bad. The song was written and composed by Jackson, and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. It was influenced by a true story Jackson read about a young man who tried to escape poverty by attending private school but was killed when he returned home.
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"Dirty Diana" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It is the ninth track on Jackson's seventh studio album, Bad (1987). The song was released by Epic Records on April 18, 1988, as the fifth single from the album. It presents a harder rock sound similar to "Beat It" from Thriller (1982) and a guitar solo played by Steve Stevens. "Dirty Diana" was written and co-produced by Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones. The song's lyrics pertain to groupies. "Dirty Diana" has a moderate tempo and is played in the key of G minor.
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American singer Michael Jackson released 67 singles as a lead artist, and 10 as a featured artist. One of the best-selling artists of all time, his album and single sales as of 2013 stood at 400 million. In the United States, Jackson amassed 13 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and was the first artist to have a top-ten single in the Billboard Hot 100 in five different decades. In 2012, Jackson was ranked the fifth best selling singles artist in the United Kingdom with 15.3 million singles sold.
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"Bad Man (Smooth Criminal)" is a song by American rapper Polo G. It was released through Columbia Records on November 12, 2021, as the only single and opening track from his reissued album, Hall of Fame 2.0. The song is an interpolation of American singer Michael Jackson's single, "Smooth Criminal", taken from his seventh studio album, Bad (1987). It was produced by J. White Did It and Larrance Dopson, while it was co-produced by Khaled Rohaim and Travis Sayles.
In the Smooth Criminal video, Jackson just used wires to support himself in that impossible position, but he wanted to be able to perform the move live. Being hooked on and off a fishing line by stagehands would rather ruin the spectacle.
Prior to the patented footwear invention, Michael had relied on supporting cables and a harness around his waist to create the illusion.
David Williams: Guitar