Bad (1987)

General Info
“Bad” was a 1987 hit recording by American singer Michael Jackson. The song was the second of five Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit singles from the album Bad, and was his seventh number-one single overall.

The song was originally intended as a duet with longtime rival Prince. Quincy Jones, in an interview included in the special edition of Bad, said that Prince told Jackson and him that he had not wanted to participate because “it would be a hit without (him)”.

In his 1988 autobiography Moonwalk, Jackson wrote: “‘Bad’ is a song about the street. It’s about this kid from a bad neighborhood who gets to go away to a private school. He comes back to the old neighborhood when he’s on a break from school and the kids from the neighborhood start giving him trouble. He sings, ‘I’m bad, you’re bad, who’s bad, who’s the best?’ He’s saying when you’re strong and good, then you’re bad.”

In 2006, the single, as well as the video, was re-released as part of the Visionary – The Video Singles package.

Music Video
The full music video for “Bad” is an 18-minute short film written by novelist and screenwriter Richard Price and based on the case of Edmund Perry. The video was directed by Martin Scorsese and Michael Jackson stars in it. Jackson portrays a boy named Daryl who has just completed a successful term at an expensive private school. He returns to the city by subway, arriving in a derelict neighborhood.

Daryl arrives to find his house empty (his mother is played by Roberta Flack, albeit in voiceover), but is greeted by his old friends, led by Mini Max (an emerging Wesley Snipes) and spends an evening with them. At first relations are friendly, if slightly awkward, but the situation deteriorates once the rest of the gang realize how much Daryl has changed, and in particular how uncomfortable he has become with their tendencies towards petty crime. In an attempt to show his friends he is still “bad”, Daryl takes the gang to a subway station (The Hoyt Schermerhorn Station in Brooklyn) where he attempts to mug an elderly man but bottles out at the last minute. Mini Max berates Daryl and tells him that he’s no longer bad.

After more abuse from Mini Max, the video jumps from black and white to color and Daryl, now dressed head to foot in leather and joined by a crowd of dancing punks, sings “Bad” (it is at this point that the edited video generally begins when played on television). His insistence that Max is headed for a fall are nearly Daryl’s undoing, but eventually his friend accepts that “that’s the way it goes down”, and, after a final handshake, heads off leaving Daryl. The scene shifts back to black and white as Daryl, alone and back in his tracksuit, watching them leave.

The full 18-minute-long version of the video for “Bad” first appeared on the DVD version of Video Greatest Hits – HIStory in 2001.

Chart Performance
“Bad” was the second consecutive #1 single from Jackson’s Bad album, after “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”. “Bad” appeared on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart the week of September 19, 1987, the same week “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” advanced to the #1 spot. Like its predecessor, “Bad” soared to the #1 spot, this time within six weeks, arriving at #1 the week of October 24, 1987. “Bad” remained in the top spot for two consecutive weeks, keeping Madonna’s “Causing a Commotion” out of the number-one spot.

Chart (1987)
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
Australian Kent Music Report 4
Belgian Singles Chart 1
Canadian Singles Chart 1
Danish Singles Chart 1
Dutch Singles Chart 1[2]
French Singles Chart 4
German Singles Chart 2
Italian Singles Chart 5
Norway’s Singles Chart 2
Swedish Singles Chart 4
UK Singles Chart 3
Chart (2009)
UK Singles Chart 57

Tracks
Original release
UK 7″ single
1. “Bad” (7″ single mix) – 4:06
2. “Bad” (Dance Remix Radio Edit) – 4:54
UK 12″ single
1. “Bad” (Dance Extended Mix Includes ‘False Fade’) – 8:24
2. “Bad” (Dub version) – 4:05
3. “Bad” (A cappella) – 3:49
U.S. CD single
1. “Bad” (Dance Extended Mix Includes “false fade”) – 8:24
2. “Bad” (7″ single mix) – 4:06
3. “Bad” (Dance Remix Radio Edit) – 4:54
4. “Bad” (Dub version) – 4.05
5. “Bad” (A cappella) – 3:49
Visionary single
CD side
1. “Bad” (7″ single mix) – 4:06
2. “Bad” (“False Fade” Dance Extended Mix) – 8:22
DVD side
1. “Bad” (Music video)

Mixes
* Album Version – 4:06
* 7″ Single Mix – 4:06 – Horns are removed throughout the earlier choruses. This version replaced the album version on all later pressings of the Bad album.
* Dance Extended Mix Includes “False Fade” – 8:22
* Dance Remix Radio Edit – 4:56
* Dub Version – 4:06
* A Cappella – 3:49

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