B Movies Blog

Hello, Movie Mavens! Welcome back to the B Movies Blog. Today, we’re popping the music video for “A Nightmare on My Street” into the ol’ VCR.

Welcome back to Lost and Refound Media, my friends! 

This is a nifty little series where we talk about lost media that you may or may not remember. 

Since we’re officially halfway to Halloween, I thought I’d pull out one of my favorite spooky songs, “A Nightmare on My Street,” and recount the story of how the music video was almost lost forever. 

ALMOST. 

I don’t want to spoil the ending for you, but this media was indeed refound. 

But, let’s back up. 

I do want to give a quick disclaimer because Will Smith is a controversial figure, and I’m not here to condone any of his actions (or DJ Jazzy Jeff’s defense of some of his actions); we’re simply here to discuss a song and music video the two released. 

I digress. 

Back in 1988, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince (Will Smith, for the youths) dropped their second album, He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper. 

This album contained one of the greatest Halloween bops of all time, “Nightmare on My Street,” an homage to the Nightmare on Elm Street series.  

There was just one problem…

The song and music video were, in no way, licensed. 

Plus, New Line Cinema had already gotten behind The Fat Boys’ “Are You Ready for Freddy?” for the fourth installment in the NOES franchise.

This led to a lawsuit that resulted in all copies of the music video being destroyed, presumably making it yet another example of lost media…

…but fortunately for us, a copy was uncovered. 

In October of 2018, a mysterious YouTube user by the name Nancy Thompson (get it?) uploaded a version of the music video that seemed to be ripped from a VHS tape. 

It wasn’t the best quality, but we all finally got to see “Nightmare on My Street” in all its glory (along with a few seconds of Growing Pains, which makes me laugh to think about). 

But then, a miracle happened. 

About a month later, DJ Jazzy Jeff uploaded a higher quality version of the video for us all to enjoy. 

It’s not clear where this copy originated from, but it exists, and that’s all that matters. 

So there you have it—a genuine piece of lost and refound media. 

Stay spooky, Movie Mavens. 

And remember this story the next time someone tries to tell you that physical media isn’t important.