Michael Jackson, Smooth Criminal | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 122nd edition of Throwback Vibez (2025), we recollect and reflect on “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson.

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 122^nd edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2025), we recollect and reflect on “Smooth Criminal” performed by Michael Jackson.

“As he came into the window, / Was a sound of a crescendo.” Yikes! And then what happened, Michael? “We came into her apartment / He left the bloodstains on the carpet.” Not good, not good, not good at all? What is good, however, is “Smooth Criminal,” another unforgettable gem from the late, great King of Pop, Michael Jackson (1958 – 2009). “Smooth Criminal” appears as the tenth track on Jackson’s seventh studio album, Bad. He wrote this crime-driven affair and produced it with Quincy Jones (1933 – 2024). The seventh single from Bad earned Jackson another top 10 single, peaking at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2018, the Recording Industry Association of America certified it double platinum.

Fittingly, Michael asks Annie, the victim of this heinous crime (“She was struck down, it was her doom”), Are you okay? A lot (understatement)! Who was Annie? Resusci Anne, the face of the CPR doll.  Also, a CPR protocol is to ask the recipient, “Are you okay?”. In the rhythmic, repetitive pre-chorus, that is the first thing MJ asks… over and over and over… In the unforgettable chorus, he asks again, before providing details of the traumatic experience.

“Annie, are you okay

Will you tell us that you’re okay

There’s a sign at the window

That he struck you

A crescendo, Annie

He came into your apartment

Left the bloodstains on the carpet

And then you ran into the bedroom

You were struck down, it was your doom.”

Like many of his songs, “Smooth Criminal” finds Jackson bringing his A-game regarding vocals. He allures from the beginning, imparting this narrative of a nameless smooth criminal. While it seems like it would be the perfect soundtrack to the infamous 1980s serial killer Richard Ramirez, Ramirez was not the inspiration.  Beyond elite vocals, simplistic but catchy songwriting, and tuneful melodies, the musical accompaniment is fantastic.  Hear those opening, recurring riffs just once, and you won’t be able to get them out of your head.  With Quincy Jones in the producer’s seat, it’s unsurprising that the production is perfect.  The sound fuses R&B and pop seamlessly (horns, keys, programming), with rock cues thrown into the mix.  Although this crossover hit couldn’t reach the very top of the pop charts in the United States, one can’t forget it was the seventh single from a big album and still landed in the top 10. Michael ate on “Smooth Criminal” and left no crumbs! Famously, Riverside, Cali rock band Alien Ant Farm covered  “Smooth Criminal” in 2001.