Smooth Criminal

The story that *Smooth Criminal* tells begins with a disturbing scene: someone finds a blood-stained carpet and an unconscious body. The recurring question in the chorus, "Annie, are you okay?", comes from cardiopulmonary resuscitation practice, where a dummy named Resusci Anne is used. The recording of this song, which came to light in 1988 as part of the album *Bad*, included distinctive sound effects such as the accelerated heartbeat and deep breathing of Michael Jackson, captured with the Holophonics system by Hugo Zuccarelli. The overall sound of the piece, with its fast rhythm and dark narrative, marked a shift towards more intense material with rock edges in Jackson's work.

The production of *Smooth Criminal* extended between November 1986 and April 1987 at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles, California, under the co-production of Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. The music video, released in October 1988, became a central piece of the film *Moonwalker*. With its 1930s setting, Jackson's white suit and fedora hat pay homage to Fred Astaire's 1953 musical film *The Band Wagon*. The video is also famous for the iconic "anti-gravity lean", a physics-defying move. The song reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the sixth single from the album *Bad* to enter the top 10. It also reached number one in Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands, and Spain. In 2001, a version by the band Alien Ant Farm gave the song a new lease on life, becoming an international hit.