"Speed Demon" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson from his seventh studio album, Bad. It was written, composed and co-produced by Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones. "Speed Demon" is a funk rock song 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. "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. Despite being featured on Bad, the song was not performed during either leg of the album's world tour.

"Speed Demon" was written and co-produced by Michael Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones. It appears on Jackson's album, Bad. Reportedly the song was originally planned to be released as an official single, but it was instead released as a promotion single. The song's lyrics are about driving fast. According to Jones, Jackson wrote the song after he received a traffic ticket, which caused him to arrive late to the recording studio. Jones told him to write about how he felt, which he did, thereby turning it into a song. 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.

The song was remixed by electronic group Nero for the 25th anniversary of Bad.

"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". Sigerson described "Speed Demon" as being "the car song"..."a fun little power tale in which Jackson's superego gives his id a ticket". On the other hand, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic commented that the album's "constitute" of "near-fatal dead spot[s] on the record" were "Speed Demon" and "Another Part of Me", "a sequence that's utterly faceless, lacking memorable hooks and melodies".

...
Wikipedia