Michael Jackson originally recorded "Smooth Criminal" on his 1987 album Bad. Many of Alien Ant Farm's fans were too young to know about Jackson's version.
This made Alien Ant Farm famous, but it was not their first single. They released "Movies" first, but the Los Angeles radio station KROQ started playing "Smooth Criminal" instead, which led to a great deal of exposure and prompted them to release it as a single. "Movies" was re-released later to take advantage of their new fame.
This was included on their first album, which was released on an independent label. When they signed with a big record company, they included it on their first major-label release, ANThology.
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