In 1984, the movie Nightmare on Elm Street premiered and a new horror icon was born in Freddy Krueger. However, three years (and two sequels later), Freddy had already gone from being a frightening monster that killed you in your dreams to sort of a funny, smart-alecky cool guy (that, admittedly, still killed you in your dreams). Freddy seemed to be everywhere. Before you knew it, toys were even available with Freddy’s face on them. Here’s one of the more unusual products that came from the Freddy Krueger marketing blitz: an album called Freddy’s Greatest Hits.

Now, at first glance, you might think this would be just another compilation of horror-themed hits that came out every Halloween, featuring familiar songs like the umpteenth recording of “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett, all “endorsed” by Freddy Krueger himself. That is where you would be wrong. What we have is an album featuring something called the Elm Street Group, doing some ’80s pop-type songs about Freddy’s exploits. The fun part here, though, is classic songs that feature Freddy Krueger himself, and those are the songs we’ll be featuring here for your Halloweening pleasure.

First we have “In the Midnight Hour.” Not a lot of participation from Freddy on this one, probably because he sounds like he doesn’t know whether to say “you and me” or “you and I.” (more…)