Ghostbusters (song)

According to Parker, he was approached by the film's producers to create a theme song for the film, though he only had a few days to do so and the film's title seemed impossible to include in any lyrics. 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.[2] This inspired him to write the song as a pseudo-advertising jingle that the business could have commissioned as a promotion.

Lindsey Buckingham claims to have been approached to write the Ghostbusters theme based on his successful contribution to Harold Ramis's National Lampoon's Vacation (the song "Holiday Road"). He turned down the opportunity as he did not want to be known as a soundtrack artist. He mentions this on the "Words & Music" interview disc.

The music video for the song was directed by Ivan Reitman, the same director as the Ghostbusters film, and produced by Jeffrey Abelson. It features a young woman, played by actress Cindy Harrell,[3][4] 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. It also contains footage from the film and features cameos from twelve notable celebrities of the day -- 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. Chase appears again after Garr, but chokes on his cigarette when he tries to exclaim "Ghostbusters!"; Franken also pops up in the house before the separately framed cameos begin.

The video concludes with Parker and the stars of the film, in full Ghostbuster costume, dancing down the streets of New York City. The crew closed down Times Square to film the scene, although a sizable crowd can still be seen in the background.[2] The Ghostbusters also perform the same dance in the closing credits to the Real Ghostbusters cartoon series as well as in a trailer for the 2009 Ghostbusters video game.

When the theme song of Ghostbusters was released, Huey Lewis sued Columbia Pictures and Ray Parker Jr. for copyright infringement, stating that Parker's song was too similar to Lewis's "I Want a New Drug." Before Parker was hired to do it, Lewis had been approached to compose the main theme song for the film.[5][6] The three parties settled out of court. Details of the settlement (specifically, that Columbia paid Lewis a settlement) remained confidential until 2001, when Lewis commented on the payment in an episode of VH1's Behind the Music. Parker subsequently sued Lewis for breaching confidentiality.[7] Parker in a Reddit AMA said he "got a lot of money out of that." [8]

In a 2004 article, the filmmakers admitted to using the song "I Want a New Drug" as temporary background music in many scenes. They also noted that they had offered to hire Huey Lewis and the News to write the main theme but the band had declined. The filmmakers then gave film footage – with the Huey Lewis song in the background – to Ray Parker Jr., to aid Parker in writing the theme song.[9]

• Ray Parker Jr. – Vocals, Guitar
• Louis Johnson – Bass
• Greg Phillinganes – Keyboards, Synthesizer
• Carlos Vega – Drums

For the film's 1989 sequel, Ghostbusters II, a remixed version of the "Ghostbusters" song was recorded featuring a rap by Run–D.M.C.. It was released on 7" vinyl and cassette as a standard single, as well as on 12" vinyl and CD as a double A-side maxi single with the track "Pause" from Run-D.M.C.'s fifth studio album, Back from Hell.

The Finnish rock band The Rasmus recorded a cover of the song which is included on their debut album Peep and EP album 3rd, both from 1996, as well as their compilation album Hellofacollection by 2001.

The Rasmus official website described the cover as:

The idea of having to Ray Parker's "Ghostbusters" in a different interpretation [on the EP 3rd] came about when the boys joked and shouted "Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters" to each other. This song is the only cover song Rasmus ever made. All other songs are in their own production.

"Ghostbusters"
Single by Mickael Turtle
Released	2005
Length	2:26
Label	Universal
Songwriter(s)	Ray Parker Jr.
Mickael Turtle singles chronology
"Ghostbusters" (2005) "Super Freak" (2006)

In 2005, the original song was covered by the animated character Mickael Turtle, reaching No. 5 in France on December 3, 2005, and No. 23 in Switzerland on January 15, 2006.[46]

"Ghostbusters (I'm Not Afraid)", a version of the song by American rock band Fall Out Boy, featuring hip hop recording artist Missy Elliott, was released on June 23, 2016, off the film's remake motion picture original soundtrack, which was released on July 15, 2016. The cover received negative reviews from critics, who criticized its musicial structure.[54][55][56]

Another cover version of the song appears on the soundtrack album to the Ghostbusters reboot film. Unlike the very different song first released by Fall Out Boy and Missy Elliott, Walk the Moon's version is much closer to the original song.

In 2018, Automobile Dacia, which is usual to release television spots with cars and people singing as they see them, released a spot for one of its models, the Duster, accompanied by the song, in an instrumental version, but with people in funny disguises singing "Go, Duster!" when in the standard song the chorus says "Ghostbusters!".[58]

• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1984

• Ray Parker Jr. discusses the making of "Ghostbusters" (archive)