Smooth Criminal – Michael Jackson

Madalin Games: sites.google.com = Michael Jackson Search Engine = sites.google.com “Smooth Criminal” is the seventh single from Michael Jackson ‘s Bad album (1988). The song contains a fast-paced beat intertwined with Michael’s lyrics about a woman named Annie, who has been attacked in her apartment by a “smooth” assailant. It was released as a single on October 24, 1988 and peaked at 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was re-released on April 10, 2006 as a part of the Visionary: The Video Singles box-set. The re-released Visionary single charted at #19 in the UK. In 2003, the song appeared on the Number Ones greatest hits album. “Smooth Criminal” was presented in a ten-minute long clip in which Michael dances through a 1930s-style nightclub (known in the film as “Club 30s”). The version of the song used in the clip is different from the album version: the background beats are different, there are several new lyrics (see below), and the song is much longer overall. The version of the video that is usually aired on network television is 4 minutes long and is merely a sped up version of the clip from the film. Michael briefly moonwalks before the famous anti-gravity lean. The ten minute long “Smooth Criminal” clip is reminiscent of the musical number known as “The Girl Hunt Ballet” which is featured as the final number in the 1952 musical film The Band Wagon starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. “The Girl Hunt Ballet” is a spoof of Mickey Spillane’s hard-boiled detective …