Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters

Ray Parker Jr.

Some would call it one of the greatest songs of the 1980s, some may call it one of the cheesiest, but one thing is for sure… some quickly grew to hate it – as the man who designed the Ghostbusters logo once shared:

Many people said to me, ‘I love your movie, but can you get them to stop playing that f—ing song on the radio?’”

“Ghostbusters” was made exclusively for the 1984 film of the same name. Huey Lewis and the News were originally approached to write the song but could not because they were under contract already to contribute music to the 1985 film Back To The Future. Director Ivan Reitman, knowing the basic sound he wanted, used Lewis' “I Want a New Drug” as a placeholder for movie screenings.

After accumulating dozens of songs he was not happy with, Reitman recruited Parker at the last minute, telling him that within two days he wanted an upbeat song that contains the film’s name in it, which Parker originally found to be quite a challenge:

To me that was an impossible song to write. The first thing they said was ‘I want it up-tempo, I want this, I want that.’ And I said, ‘Oh that’s easy, I’m a musician, I can cut it.’ Then he says I want the word ‘Ghostbusters’ in it… I’m like ‘How am I going to sing Ghostbusters in a song? I’m ruined here, it’s never going to happen!

After waking to an insect extermination commercial in the middle of the night, Parker’s inspiration to make the song sound like an advertisement was born:

I was half asleep and they had those packs and they spray [insects] like this. To me it looked just like the Ghostbuster pack. Then the number came on the screen and I said ‘That’s what I saw in the movie!’ So I thought ‘What I am going to say is, ‘Who you gonna call’ and let everybody else say ‘Ghostbusters!’ I never say the word Ghostbusters [in the song].

When the single was released, Lewis sued Parker for copyright infringement. It was eventually settled out of court and there was a ‘gag order’ preventing both sides from discussing the suit (which Lewis violated in 2001, much to the pleasure of Parker’s bank account).

“Ghostbusters” went to #1 in the US in the summer of 1984, and also topped pop charts in Belgium and France. It also reached the top 10 in several other countries around the world.

The music video was also directed Reitman and is a cameo-filled performance including celebrities like Chevy Chase, Irene Cara, John Candy, Melissa Gilbert, Ollie E. Brown, Jeffrey Tambor, George Wendt, Al Franken, Danny DeVito, Carly Simon, Peter Falk, and Teri Garr; all of whom exclaim the song’s “Ghostbusters!” refrain when shown.