Speed Demon

"Speed Demon" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson from his seventh studio album, Bad. The song was written, composed and co-produced by Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones. "Speed Demon" is a pop song[1] whose lyrics pertain to driving fast. The song was released on October 12, 1989, as a promotional single for both the album and the 1988 film Moonwalker. The song received mixed reviews from contemporary critics.
"Speed Demon" was originally supposed to be released as a commercial single, but those plans were subsequently canceled.[1] "Speed Demon" was the tenth, and last, single to be released from Bad. The song achieved minor commercial success, having only received minor airplay in the United States.[1] Despite being featured on Bad, the song was not performed during either leg of the album's world tour.

Background


"Speed Demon" was written and co-produced by Michael Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones. The song appears on Jackson's album, Bad. The song was released as a promotion single, but reportedly was planned to be released as an official single.[1] The song's length is four-minutes-one second long.[1] The songs lyrics are about driving fast.[2] According to Jones, Jackson had written the song after he received a traffic ticket, causing him to arrive late to the recording studio. After Jackson told Jones about it, Jones told him to write how he felt about it therefore turning into a song later on. Although "Speed Demon" was part of Jackson's Bad album, Jackson did not perform the song during his Bad World Tour, nor any of his other tours.

Critical Reception


"Speed Demon" received mixed reviews from contemporary critics. Davitt Sigerson of Rolling Stone stated that the "filler" content in Bad – including songs such as "Speed Demon", "Dirty Diana" and "Liberian Girl" – made Bad "richer, sexier and better than Thriller's forgettables."[3] Sigerson described "Speed Demon" as being "the car song", commenting that the song "is a fun little power tale, in which Jackson's superego gives his id a ticket".[3] Stephen Thomas Erlewine, of Allmusic, was negative towards the song, commenting that the albums "constitute" of "near-fatal dead spot[s] on the record" were "Speed Demon" and "Another Part of Me", which were "a sequence that's utterly faceless, lacking memorable hooks and melodies".[4]
Richard Cromelin of The Los Angeles Times gave Bad a good review. He remarked that the song "Speed Demon" would "zero" audiophiles on the "race car intro-Dimensional recording...."[5] Eric Snider, of St. Petersburg Times, described "Speed Demon" as churning "along relentlessly".[6] Jay Cocks, of Time, noted that Jackson did great "vocal stunts" on Bad's tracks like "Speed Demon" and "Dirty Diana" and described the two songs as "nimble and fanciful as any of his dance steps."[7]

Promotional Video


As part promotion for "Speed Demon", Jackson filmed a promotional video for the song, which appears in Jackson's 1988 film Moonwalker.[8][9] The video was directed by Will Vinton.[10] In the video, Jackson, in an attempt to avoid overjealous fans (even The Noid), disguises himself as a rabbit named Spike, but ends up taunting the fans into chasing him. During the chase, he morphs into other celebrities, including Sylvester Stallone, Tina Turner and Pee-Wee Herman. After finally losing the fans, he removes the costume, which comes to life and challenges him to a dance-off.
In the end, Clancy Brown tells Michael Jackson he is in a "No Moonwalking Zone", and Jackson turns to point to Spike, and the rabbit has already left. The policeman then sarcastically asks for his autograph (as opposed to "signature") on the ticket. Just as Jackson is preparing to leave, the rocky crag in front of him morphs into Spike's head, who then nods to him, leaving Jackson one-upped by his own alter-ego. Nonetheless, he seems happy enough as he leaves. Dennis Hunt of The Los Angeles Times commented that the clips for "Bad" (which was featured in the film as "Badder", with children recreating the original clip), "Speed Demon" and "Leave Me Alone" are "slick, well-crafted and expensive-looking," but "they're still just [promotional] music videos" and felt that the videos were not "even strung together in any particularly imaginative fashion."
In 2010, the short version of the music video was released on the box set Michael Jackson's Vision.[9]

Credits and Personnel


Written and composed by Michael Jackson
Produced by Quincy Jones
Co-Produced by Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson: Solo and background vocals, vocal synthesizer
Larry Williams: Midi saxophone solo
Miko Brando, Ollie E. Brown, John Robinson: Drums
Douglas Getschal: Drum programming
Bill Bottrell, David Williams: Guitars
Kim Hutchcroft: Saxophone
Gary Grant, Jerry Hey: Trumpets
Paulinho Da Costa: Percussion
Christopher Currell: Synclavier, effects
John Barnes, Michael Boddicker, Greg Phillinganes: Synthesizers
Eric Persing: Synthesizer programming
Race car intro:
Dimensional Recording by Spherical Sound, Inc.
Sounds engineered by Ken Caillat and Tom Jones
Rhythm arrangement by Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones
Vocal arrangements by Michael Jackson
Synthesizer and horn arrangements by Jerry Hey