{"id":10039,"date":"2018-08-14T05:00:26","date_gmt":"2018-08-14T09:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=10039"},"modified":"2019-01-12T14:44:31","modified_gmt":"2019-01-12T19:44:31","slug":"1988-the-summer-of-freddy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/1988-the-summer-of-freddy\/","title":{"rendered":"1988: The Summer of Freddy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In the spring of 1988, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince released the album He\u2019s the DJ, I\u2019m the Rapper<\/i>, featuring the single \u201cParents Just Don\u2019t Understand,\u201d a massive hit that would go on to win the first-ever Grammy for best rap performance. The album\u2019s next single was to be \u201cA Nightmare on My Street,\u201d an ode to Freddy Krueger inspired by the three A Nightmare on Elm Street<\/i> films. Part 4, The Dream Master<\/i>, was due at the end of the summer, and the Fresh Prince \u2014\u00a0aka future A-lister Will Smith \u2014 and Jazzy Jeff approached New Line Cinema about including the song on the soundtrack. New Line couldn\u2019t come to a financial agreement with the record label and commissioned The Fat Boys to contribute<\/span><\/a> a rap song instead, but Jeff and Fresh Prince released their single anyway, even going so far as to shoot a music video (which actually aired on MTV before New Line sued to make it disappear). \u201cA Nightmare on My Street\u201d reached #15 on the Billboard charts at the same time The Dream Master<\/i> was in theaters. And thus it came to be that one of the biggest stars in the world owes some of his early success to Freddy Krueger. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The original Freddy film, A Nightmare on Elm Street<\/i>, was a mere four years old in 1988, but in that time the character had gone from an obscure independent horror movie villain to one of the most recognizable icons in the world. It was one thing for Freddy to be popular on movie screens, as the Nightmare<\/i> films continued to rake in large amounts of money over comparatively small budgets (such that fledgling New Line Cinema would later refer to itself as \u201cthe house that Freddy built\u201d). It was quite another to have the character appear in Halloween costume shops, on T-shirts and action figures (both bootleg and, in 1989, official), in comic books (published by Marvel, no less), tie-in novels, a 1-900 entertainment phone line, music videos, and records (including an appearance in that Fat Boys song). Not just mainstream pop\/rock\/rap hits, either, but novelty records, too\u2014the album Freddy\u2019s Greatest Hits<\/i>, released in 1987 by \u201cThe Elm Street Group,\u201d is a collection of covers and original songs with the occasional vocal contribution of Robert Englund, the actor who originated the character. That such an album even existed is testament to Freddy\u2019s popularity, and is reminiscent of similar kitschy tie-in records such as \u201cChristmas in the Stars,\u201d featuring R2-D2 C-3PO from Star<\/i> Wars<\/i>. In fact, the closest thing at the time to Freddy\u2019s widespread popularity and recognizability as an original, made-for-the-movies villain would have to be Star Wars<\/i>\u2019 Darth Vader.<\/span><\/p>\n