Thirty-eight years ago tomorrow, on October 13, 1988, one of Michael Jackson’s coolest songs hit the world. “Smooth Criminal.”
The record company Epic put the single out, and MTV premiered the video that very same day. It became the centerpiece of his movie “Moonwalker,” and over the years it turned into one of his signature numbers. Fans still try to copy that famous lean today.
But here’s a little something even big fans sometimes miss. Before it was ever called “Smooth Criminal,” the song went by a completely different name.
Can you guess what it was?
The “Smooth Criminal” video in full
Give it a watch first, then see if the old name would have ever crossed your mind.
In its early demo days, Michael called the song “Al Capone.” Yes, that Al Capone, the notorious gangster from 1920s Chicago. When you think about the video, with its old-timey club, the sharp suits and that dangerous mood, the gangster theme makes perfect sense. The finished song kept the spirit of that idea but got a brand new title.
That early “Al Capone” demo didn’t just disappear either. Fans finally got to hear it in 2012, when it was released as part of the “Bad 25” collection, marking 25 years since his “Bad” album. Imagine waiting 24 years to hear the first draft of a song you loved.
Now, about that lean.
The move everyone still talks about, the anti-gravity lean
Watch his whole body tip forward like gravity just quit working. People still can’t believe their eyes.
In the “Smooth Criminal” sequence, Michael and his dancers lean far forward, way past the point where any person should be able to keep their balance. It looked impossible, and for a while nobody could figure out how he did it. The secret turned out to be a clever bit of engineering in his shoes, locking into a peg in the stage floor at just the right moment. He even helped patent the design.
That’s the kind of thinker Michael was. He took a song named after a gangster and a move that seemed to break the laws of nature, and folded them both into one unforgettable video.
The video itself has gone on to break records too. It passed 1 billion views on YouTube back in 2024, proof that new fans keep finding it decade after decade.
So this week, 38 years on, give “Smooth Criminal” another spin. Watch for the suits, the swagger and that gravity-defying lean, and remember it all started life under the name of a Chicago gangster.