Smooth Criminal

Todd plays "Smooth Criminal" on the piano

Todd: Welcome to One Hit Wonderland, where we look at bands and artists known for only one song, and our subject this week is one that owes their entire career to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Wait...


 * Brief clip of Rockwell - "Somebody's Watching Me"

Todd (VO): ...wasn't that the last episode? Huh, weird.

Todd: Anyway, YOW!


 * ''Video for "Smooth Criminal"
 * Tye Zamora: OW!

Todd (VO): Yes, Rockwell wasn't the only person whose career was launched by Michael. There's also [single cover of "Eat It"] Weird Al, [picture of...] all the other Jacksons, [clip of Usher video] nearly every male pop singer who's come up in the meantime, and the band we'll be looking at today—Alien Ant Farm, one of those eternally unlucky groups whose first hit was a cover, often the quickest route into one-hit-wonderdom.

Todd: Look, history tells us that if your first hit is a cover, just break up now and start over; you've already been consigned to the same category as [clips of "Blue Monday" by...] Orgy, [..."Funky Town" by...] Pseudo Echo, [...and "Puttin' on the Ritz" by...] and Taco.


 * Dryden Mitchell: Annie, are you okay
 * Are you okay

Todd (VO): But for a brief moment in 2001, when Korn and Limp Bizkit were still some of the biggest names in music, Alien Ant Farm looked like they might be able to step up and take their place...

Todd: ...alongside those legends of rock. Kill me.


 * Dryden: You've been hit by
 * You've been struck by a smooth criminal

Todd (VO): And yet, the cover song debut curse hit them hard, and it soon proved that Michael Jackson would have it better that decade than Alien Ant Farm.

Todd: And he died.

Todd (VO): But that stated, when your only hit is a cover, people can't ever really get a sense of who you really are or what you're like musically. What's the rest of Alien Ant Farm's musical output? Super smooth or utterly criminal.

Todd: Well, that's what we're here today to find out. Shamon.


 * Dryden climbs top of car, grabs crotch and screams, causing windows to explode, just like Michael in "Black or White" video

Before the hit


 * Picture of band

Todd (VO): Alien Ant Farm were formed in 1995 in Moreno Valley, California. [Band logo] The name comes from this idea that Earth is just an interstellar terrarium and that we were all put here by aliens. You know, like at the beginning of [clip from...] Prometheus? I think that's what Prometheus was about.

Todd: I have no idea what Prometheus was about. Their official biography says that this whole idea came from a "daydream" their guitarist had, and [picture of two guys lighting up] you can infer what that means on your own.


 * Early clip of performance

Todd (VO): There's not a lot of information about their pre-signing days, but according to Allmusic, their main influence is [clip of "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" by...] Primus. [pause] Well, congratulations, guys, you sound absolutely nothing like Primus. Uh...

Todd: ...lead singer Dryden Mitchell [consulting script] also counts among his influences Edie Brickell and Tracy Chapman.

''Drops script as if to say, "what?"


 * Clips of Edie Brickell - "What I Am"
 * Edie: I'm not aware of too many things
 * I know what I know, if you know what I mean


 * ...and Tracy Chapman - "Fast Car"
 * Tracy: You've got a fast car
 * I want a ticket to anywhere

Todd: You guys...not know what the word "influence" means?


 * Live performance

Todd (VO): Anyway, they released an independent album in 1999 which they called Greatest Hits, and it's basically an acknowledgement that they didn't expect to ever release anything else. No, they actually did score a major label deal after striking up a powerful friendship.

Todd: Yes, they lucked into a very lucrative relationship with a band that was soon to be music legends.


 * ''Clip of Papa Roach - "Last Resort"
 * Jacoby Shaddix: Cut my life into pieces
 * This is my last resort
 * Suffocation...

Todd (VO): [laughing] Pfft! Oh, God, the memories. It was...

Todd: ...such a weird time in music; I can't believe we let this get popular. God, what do angry white boys listen to now? Do we just not have angry white boys anymore?


 * Video for "Movies"
 * Dryden: And just like the movies

Todd (VO): They made their major label release ANThology in 2000. This was a good year to be a nu metal band, but their first single "Movies" just did not take off. They must have expected this to do well because they decided to shoot a whole second video for it.


 * Second video for "Movies"
 * Dryden: I want you to be free

Todd (VO): It only got some minor play on MTV2, which means, of course, that absolutely no one heard it. It is one of their better songs, not that I would call it good or anything. It certainly doesn't live up to some of the...

Todd: ...bigger hits from similar bands around that time.


 * Clips of POD - "Alive"
 * POD: I...I feel so alive
 * Sonny: For the very first time

Todd: Right? I actually can't tell the difference between nearly any song in this genre.


 * Clip of live performance

Todd (VO): But Alien Ant Farm had one trick up their sleeve. See, their first album had a hidden track on it disguised under the name "Slick Thief". They never intended it to be a single because, again, releasing a cover song when you're just starting out is a good way to never see another hit as long as you live.

Todd: So let's see how that turned out for them.

The big hit

Transcript in progress