One of my favorite horror franchises had its share of songs made for the movies, as well as songs about the movies, and that would be the Nightmare on Elm Street Series. In the 80s there were plenty of horror franchises making movie after movie. For example, Friday the 13th was relentless in its sequels and Michael Myers even graced the screen with three more films. (Not counting him being absent from the all-time classic Halloween III Season of the Witch)
But Robert Englund brought a certain charisma, or even a swagger, to his character Freddy Kruger and even musicians were inspired to write a few songs that appeared in the films, and some that were just Freddy inspired. Imagine, such a dark and sinister persona that killed children being the subject of a song that little kids would sing along to.
You are about to enter a world of music that to some, are what nightmares are made of. To others, a quick zap right back to a time when you were afraid to go to sleep!
1. The Fat Boys – Are You Ready for Freddy
First up we have the legendary hip hop group, The Fat Boys. Originally called the Disco 3 before changing their name to what would help them gain stardom, The Fat Boys were “Crushin’” it throughout the 80’s. They were no strangers to collaborations as well. They released a single called Chillin’ With the Refrigerator that featured Chicago Bears legend William Perry. They also collaborated with the Beach Boys (Wipeout) and Chubby Checker (The Twist). So obviously, the next choice would be with the man himself Robert Englund, and to accompany such a brilliant idea, they also filmed a great music video!
2. Dokken – Dream Warriors
In 1987, hair metal was huge and Dokken got lucky enough to have the only song I know by them featured in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. If I remember it correctly, their song Dream Warriors was actually played over the end credits. But the music video was being played a lot on MTV, which was cool considering that year Peter Gabriel’s awesome video for Sledgehammer was in heavy rotation. Not bad company!
3. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince- A Nightmare on My Street
Now, I only saw this video a few years ago, but thanks to anything and everything surfacing on the internet, this video started circulating when horror fans started sharing it over and over. I was a big fan of the Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff’s album He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper, and I only found out recently that this was their second release. It came out in early 1988 and their song Parent’s Just Don’t Understand is what put them on the map. The first track on that cassette was none other than this rad jam you are about to see below. Unfortunately, they had to shelve this video because of the closeness to New Line’s iconic character, even though in the video the Freddy actor straight up looks like a shitty Punk Rock Blockhead Frankenstein. But the song does rule.
4. S.O.D. – Freddy Kruger
Stormtroopers of Death, or better known as S.O.D. record this classic track about the Nightmare series and called it simply: Freddy Kruger. The band, which featured legendary front man Billy Milano and members of Anthrax and Nuclear Assault, was put together as a quick record to eat up the left over paid for studio time Anthrax had after recording their album Spreading the Disease. After S.O.D. went their own way, Billy formed M.O.D. aka Method of Destruction. That album also featured a song about Freddy called The Man of Your Dreams. There was never an official video for either song, but this fan made video with live footage of S.O.D. is a lot of fun!
5. The Elm Street Group – Freddy’s Greatest Hits
Here’s a little bonus for all you fright fans. Released in 1987, Freddy’s Greatest Hits was a silly novelty album that featured a fictional band called The Elm Street Group and quick excerpts of Robert Englund saying wacky stuff throughout all the songs. These songs are by no means of anything you would be jamming on the regular, but it was a fun album with nine tracks like Do the Freddy, Woolly Bully and Down in the Boiler Room. There wasn’t a music video made for any of this; it really was more of a strange but fun treasure for Freddy fans. Freddy’s Greatest Hits was recently re-released by a great record label called Mondo that specializes in unique soundtracks.
It has been uploaded online a million times, but I enjoyed this video that features the whole album. Happy Halloween!
