He [Michael] wrote both of them, so it didn’t really make any difference to him…we were going to listen to them, the three of us, objectively and decide which one was gonna get picked. And so [Michael’s manager Frank] DiLeo was sitting down when ‘Streetwalker’ was on, and when ‘Another Part of Me’ came on, he got up with his fat ass, you know, and started [dancing]. I said, ‘You’re not helping Michael at all!’ It was so funny–Michael had a funny name for him, like, ‘Rubber…what are you doin’ man? You just blew my whole case here! So DiLeo helped me get ‘Another Part of Me’ cause he started shaking his butt on it.
“Streetwalker” resurfaced many years later. Grammy-winning songwriter/producer Bill Bottrell reworked the song. This revised version was included as a bonus track on Bad: Special Edition (2001) and Bad 25 (2012), a 25th anniversary edition reissue of the classic multiplatinum album.
“Streetwalker” is an infectious blend of funk, pop, and R&B. The upbeat, high-energy track features a funky bass line, groovy horns, sweet guitar licks, and a brilliant chorus. Michael is in top form here, delivering a vibrant and soulful vocal performance. Producer, composer, and musician Jasun Martz adds the finishing touch with a smashing harmonica solo.
The song describes a fictional infatuation that the narrator has with a prostitute and how she loves him and leaves him because that’s part of her job. He's perplexed at her ability to separate sexual engagement from emotional attachment. He wants to rescue her from this life, make her his own, and take her to interesting and exciting places that she’s never been. “I’d like to take you places, how about New York City?/Or Paris, France? What do you think of that?”
Here’s a bit of related trivia about the song. Bill Bottrell used the “Streetwalker” bass line for an early version of the song “Dangerous,” the title track of Michael’s eighth studio album, released in 1991. Bottrell was one of the album’s producers. He and Michael co-wrote and produced the album’s chart-topping global smash “Black or White,” and they also collaborated on “Give In To Me.” Bottrell, Teddy Riley, and Michael collectively wrote and produced “Dangerous.” The early 1990 demo of “Dangerous” with the “Streetwalker” bass line is included on the 2004 box set The Ultimate Collection.
“Streetwalker” was mentioned during the Cartier v. Jackson (1994) case, in which Denver singer-songwriter Crystal Cartier sued Michael for allegedly plagiarizing her song "Dangerous” for the title track of his Dangerous album. Here’s an excerpt of Michael’s testimony:
Yes, I wrote a song for the Bad album called “Streetwalker,” and it had a driving bass melody, strong bass lick. That bass lick was taken by my engineer, Billy Bottrell, cause I was kinda frustrated with this song in general, so he took the bass and put new chords to the bass melody, which is what inspired the song “Dangerous.”
Michael won the case as the federal jury ruled that he did not plagiarize Cartier’s song.
Additionally, “Streetwalker” was featured in the video game Michael Jackson: The Experience (November 2010). It was released for the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation Portable. Also, “Streetwalker” and “Shout” were released as the B-sides of “Cry,” a single from Michael’s 2001 album Invincible. “Shout” almost made it onto the album but was replaced with “You Are My Life” at the last minute. “Cry” was only released in Europe.