“Ghostbusters” – Single by Ray Parker Jr. from the album Ghostbusters: Original Soundtrack Album
B-side “Ghostbusters” (instrumental)
Released June 8, 1984
Label Arista
Songwriter Ray Parker Jr.
Producer Ray Parker Jr.
Charted No.1 in US;No.2 in UK; No.1 in Spain; No.2 in Australia; No.1 in Belgium; No.1 in Canada; No.4 in Ireland; No.5 in Italy; No.1 in France; No.4 in West Germany.
Debuting at number 68 on June 16, 1984, the song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 11, staying there for three weeks (Parker’s only number one on that chart), and at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart on September 16, staying there for three weeks.
Parker was approached by the film’s producers to create a theme song, although he only had a few days to do so. Parker had been specifically instructed to include the film’s title in the lyrics, but struggled to find a way to do so. However, when watching television late at night, Parker saw a cheap commercial for a local service that reminded him that the film had a similar commercial featured for the fictional business. This inspired him to include the phrase “Who ya gonna call?”, which allows a crowd to respond with “Ghostbusters!” sparing him from needing to sing the phrase.
Martin Page played keyboards on this song, and Brian Fairweather played guitar. The English duo had a group called Q-Feel that got a lot of attention when their song “Dancing In Heaven (Orbital Be-Bop)” was put in rotation on the Los Angeles radio station KROQ. They had done session work in England, performing on records for the group Tight Fit. When they came to America, they were thrilled to get the call to work on this track, as they were big fans of Ray Parker, Jr. and his group Raydio. Martin Page quickly established himself as a top songwriter, co-writing the #1 hits “We Built This City” and “These Dreams.”
The music video for the song was directed by Ivan Reitman, who also directed the Ghostbusters film, and produced by Jeffrey Abelson. It features a young woman played by actress Cindy Harrell who is haunted by a ghost portrayed by Parker, roaming a nearly all-black house interior (with vibrant neon designs outlining the sparse architectural and industrial features) until the woman finally calls the service.
Directed by Reitman, the “Ghostbusters” music video was No. 1 on MTV and features cameos by celebrities 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. None of the actors were paid for participating but did so as a favor to Reitman.
This was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song From A Movie. It lost to “I Just Called To Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder.
Ghostbusters – movie – 1984 A trio of university parasychologists lose their research grant and decide to open their own business, “Ghostbusters,” and almost at once are summoned to investigate the strange happenings in a Central Park West apartment. What they discover is that all Manhattan is being besieged by other worldly demons.
