nightmare on elm street

Audio

Nightmare on Rhyme Street

TRACK #299

Nightmare on Rhyme Street by Krushin MC’s

Though we uncovered 10 and featured 9 different Freddy related rap songs on Monster Raps Pt. 3, none stood out as much as Krushin MC’s Nightmare on Rhyme Street. As such, it’s getting thrown in the mix ahead of the pack.

But why is it that this song (at least as far as I’m concerned anyway) is so much better than all the rest?

Well, I think it’s 3 fold.

First and foremost, I think it sounds the least 80’s of the group. A strange stance for me to take, I know, but hear me out.

This is a track that feels a bit ahead of its time. The flow has a much smoother and rhythmic cadence than it’s brethren. Additionally, it’s packing a lot of lyrics into a tight bar. At a time when the other Freddy rappers were still drawing out sparse lyrics to match slower beats, the Krushin MC’s effortlessly flow with a tempo that feels more like something from the 90’s, and a good deal less silly.

Second is this beat, which also feels ahead of its time. Without aping the actual theme, it captures the vibe of A Nightmare on Elm Street with a downbeat and downright sinister bass line. While none of these songs are what I’d call dark, this one has the darkest tone of the bunch, which makes it feel less at odds with the subject matter.

Now, there’s something to be said and appreciated with these Freddy Raps in the juxtaposition of an upbeat rap songs about a homicidal and, most likely, pedophilic murderer turned dream demon. Freddy’s actual album, Freddy’s Greatest Hits, being perhaps chief among this strange intersection of digestible pop and disturbing subtext. But there’s also something to be said of treating this material, at least in respect to its sound, as what it is – a horrifying concept.

Now, the Krushin MC’s aren’t going that far with it. I mean this is still a song where a guy battle raps a Freddy wearing a glove with 5 microphones on it, but at least is sounds kinda appropriate.

Which bring me to the 3rd reason this song a is superior Freddy rap – it’s lyrical content.

Krushin MC’s pack a lot more, and a lot better, references to the films than their contemporaries. You got the aforementioned golden mic glove, the muddy steps, the tongue coming out an inanimate object, the girls jumping rope, the peeling of Freddy skin to reveal his brain and even Dream Warriors’ method of Freddy disposal.

Among a crew of dude who reference the same damn line from Freddy’s Revenge, lazily rhyme the numbers of the films, and even have Freddy potentially pulling has ass out at the beach, Krushin MC’s feeling like goddamn Nightmare on Elm Street scholars.

Now, those song’s’ll potentially all wind up here eventually, given enough time, but for my money, only the Krushin MC’s Nightmare on Rhyme Street deserves express service.

 

Audio

Main Titles (A Nightmare on Elm Street)

TRACK #249:

Main Titles (A Nightmare on Elm Street) by Charles Bernstein

Well, it would be practically un-Halloween Shindig of us to have a Friday the 13th song, much less 2, and not follow them up with a Nightmare on Elm Street song. It’s a practice we’ve long indulged, though typically in the reverse order, with Freddy usually getting the double shot.

As such, in its 8 years of internet life, Halloween Shindig has been home to 10 different Freddy Krueger songs, no doubt aided by his very own release, Freddy’s Greatest Hits.

However, similar to Friday the 13th (and perhaps then more understandably) we have yet to feature Charles Bernstein‘s classic theme from the original Nightmare on Elm Street.

And a fantastic theme at that.

But not just the theme, because the entire score from Freddy’s rookie outing is a stand-alone marvel of horror composition.

And though it’s intricately threaded into the fabric of the film, and largely responsible for both creating its surreal atmosphere and then using those cues to misdirect the viewer, its an album that’s just as enjoyable to hear apart for the film. If you’re into just listening to that sort of thing, that is.

In a recent interview with Gibson Guitar, Charles admitted he didn’t initially think the picture was going to do well commercially. He thought the thing was just too bizarre and destined for a straight to video release, where no one would hear his music. As such, he felt liberated to just do whatever he wanted, and thank the horror God’s for that, because what he wanted to do was unique, surreal and perfectly suited for this specific film.

And it’s all Charles on this thing, too. With a limited budget to work with, Bernstein told Wes Craven he’d have to do it alone. So with an 8 track TEAC recorder, a guitar, a bass, a few percussion instruments, a handful of synths, his own voice and a stack of Boss pedals, Charles wrote, performed, recorded and mixed everything you hear on this score himself. And that’s pretty nuts.

Various gear forums suggest large helpings of Yamaha’s DX-7 mixed with an Oberheim OB-SX, a Roland Juno-106 and possibly even an ARP 2600 as comprising the electronic palate of Elm Street’s synth ladened soundscape.

However agreed upon the above may be, there doesn’t seem to be a definitive list from Charles himself. Unfortunately, he isn’t exactly sure what all made it onto the final score. He does seem pretty convinced there’s at least an OB in there, whether an SX or something more grand, and the DX is probably a lock regardless of anyone’s memory.

Charles did say though, looking at this old photo from 1984, that he spied a Sequential Circuits’ Pro-One. Indeed! It’s right there on the stand in front of him.

The Pro-One was the monophonic little brother of the infamous Prophet-5 – the old horror composers trusty sidearm of choice. No surprises there, if that’s true, though I personally couldn’t say for sure and apparently neither can Charles.

Whatever he used exactly, it just worked. It was the right score, for the right movie at the right time, and I would certainly credit it as being an important part of what made this first Freddy film so effective and loved, and no doubt a contributor to its continued endurance.

Eerily ethereal, eminently electronic, and unmistakably Freddy, here it is at last, The Main Titles from Wes Craven’s original game changer, A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Don’t sleep! Namaste.

 

Audio

Down In The Boiler Room

TRACK #65:

Down In The Boiler Room by The Elm Street Group

Segueing nicely out of our Horror Host block is this oddity that only the 80’s could have produced, featuring a man whom himself was briefly a Horror Host, Mr. Big Time…Fred Krueger.

Between Dream Warriors and The Dream Master, Freddy-Mania was nearing its peak, and some producer (bless their soul) thought it made perfectly sound financial sense to green-light Freddy’s Greatest Hits.

Dinosaur Dracula puts it best when he writes:

Beyond the costumes and suction-cupped window dolls was this album. This beautiful album, aimed at God knows who. I doubt it sold more than a few thousand copies, but then, maybe no more than a few thousand copies were produced to begin with.
It’s a bizarre thing with no clear audience. Too sophisticated for kids, too stupid for adults. Too much like show tunes for the horror crowd, too much like scary bloody horror for anyone else.
A mix of covers and original songs, Freddy Krueger is all over the album, but only rarely does he actually “sing.” Usually, he just tacks one-liners onto the verses. The actual music-making was done by the “Elm Street Group,” who I’m guessing were regular studio musicians gathered to make two months’ rent with the weirdest work they’d ever do.

Naturally, there’s a couple of these gems on Shindig, starting out with this particularly strange number concerning Freddy’s boiler room.

Led-in with a clip from Freddy’s Nightmares – Mr. Krueger’s own personal horror anthology television show that first aired the following year. The program had Freddy playing Rod Serling to all manner of neutered Elm Street-style tales where Freddy fucked with the protagonists for any number of ridiculous reasons.

Enjoy!