Ray Parker Jr.
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| Ray Parker, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Ray Erskine Parker, Jr. |
| Born | May 1, 1954 |
| Genre(s) | R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Guitarist, songwriter, record producer |
| Years active | 1973–present |
Ray Erskine Parker, Jr. (born on May 1, 1954) is a Detroit native and 1972 graduate of Northwestern High School; Parker gained international fame as a guitarist, songwriter, producer and recording artist. Parker is known primarily for writing the theme song to the motion picture Ghostbusters.
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[edit] Early work
In the mid-1970s he was a sideman in Barry White's "Love Unlimited Orchestra", before creating Raydio, an R&B group, in 1977, with Vincent Bohnam, Jerry Knight, and Arnell Carmichael. Parker appeared briefly in the 1974 film "Uptown Saturday Night" as a guitar player. Parker also wrote songs and did session work for The Carpenters, Rufus and Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Deniece Williams, Leon Haywood, Temptations, The Spinners, Boz Scaggs, Rhythm Heritage, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Honey Cone, Herbie Hancock and Diana Ross.
[edit] Raydio
The group scored their first big hit, with Arista Records, "Jack and Jill" from their self-titled album in 1978. The song was # 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, earning a Gold record in the process.
Their successful follow-up hit, "You Can't Change That" was released in 1979, from the Rock On album. The song was a Top 10 hit, making it up to # 9 on the Billboard charts during the same year it was released.
In 1980, the group became known as Ray Parker Jr. and Raydio, and the group released two more albums: Two Places at the Same Time in 1980 and A Woman Needs Love in 1981.
During the eighties Ray Parker Jr. and Raydio had two Top 40 hits ("Two Places at the Same Time" - # 40 in 1980 and "That Old Song" - # 21 in 1981) and their last and biggest hit "A Woman Needs Love," released in 1981, went to # 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, and # 1 on the R&B Charts for two weeks in 1981.
[edit] Solo years and "Ghostbusters"
Raydio broke up in 1981, while Parker continued with his solo career, scoring six Top 40 hits, including the hit single "The Other Woman" (Pop # 4) in 1982 and "Ghostbusters" in 1984. Other hits from this period included "I Still Can't Get Over Loving You" (Pop # 12) and "Jamie" (Pop # 14).
Parker was one of the first black artists to venture into the then-fledgling world of music videos. In 1978 Hollywood producer, Thom Eubank produced several MusicVideos of songs from his first album entitled, Raydio on Arista Records. The hit single, "Jack & Jill" was the first released to air on Wolfman Jack's Saturday night television show, The Midnight Special. The MusicVideos were also transferred to film and projected in movie theaters all over Europe. He also made two different videos for his hit "The Other Woman". The first was Halloween-themed and centered around a haunted castle with dancing corpses and vampires. The second was more performance-oriented, with Parker performing the song against an outer space background with backup singers.
"Ghostbusters" was a title track of the Gold-selling soundtrack of the hit movie Ghostbusters (but the song has now sold upwards of 28 million units internationally according to Parker in 2007)[citation needed], starring Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. The single was at #1 for three weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, and at #1 for two weeks on its Black Singles chart. The song was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1984 but lost to Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from The Woman in Red.
He also made an acting appearance on the 1980s sitcom Gimme a Break starring Nell Carter.
[edit] Controversy surrounding Ghostbusters
Parker was accused of plagiarizing the melody from Huey Lewis & the News song "I Want a New Drug" for his 1984 #1 hit theme to Ghostbusters, released only six months after Lewis' hit reached #6 in the Billboard Hot 100. This ended with Lewis suing Parker, and the pair settled out of court in 1985.
They returned to court once again in 2001, as Parker sued Lewis for breaching a confidentiality agreement forming part of their original out of court settlement which prohibited either side from speaking about it publicly. Lewis had revealed in a VH1 Behind The Music special that Parker had paid a financial settlement as part of the original agreement.
[edit] Continued songwriting
Parker also wrote and produced hits for New Edition ("Mr. Telephone Man"), Randy Hall, Cheryl Lynn ("Shake It Up Tonight"), Deniece Williams ("I Found Love") and Diana Ross. He also performed guitar on several songs on La Toya Jackson's 1980 debut album. In 1989, he also wrote "Ghostbusters", a rap performed by Run-D.M.C., for the movie Ghostbusters 2.
[edit] Raydio discography
- Raydio (1978) #27 US
- Rock On (1979) #45 US
- Two Places at the Same Time (1980) #33 US
- A Woman Needs Love (1981) #13 US
- Greatest Hits (1982)
[edit] Ray Parker, Jr. discography
- The Other Woman (1982) #11 US
- Woman Out of Control (1983) #45 US
- Ghostbusters (Soundtrack) (1984) #6 US
- Chartbusters (1984) #60 US
- Sex and The Single Man (1985) #65 US
- After Dark (1987) #86 US
- I Love You Like You Are (1991)
- Mother Banger (1996)
- I'm Free (2006)
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. R&B | U.S. AC | UK Singles Chart | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | "Jack And Jill" | 8 | 5 | - | 11 | Raydio |
| 1978 | "Is This A Love Thing" | - | 20 | - | 27 | Raydio |
| 1979 | "You Can't Change That" | 9 | 3 | 25 | - | Rock On |
| 1979 | "More Than One Way To Love A Woman" | - | 25 | - | - | Rock On |
| 1980 | "Two Places At The Same Time" | 30 | 6 | 34 | - | Two Places At The Same Time |
| 1980 | "For Those Who Like To Groove" | - | 14 | - | - | Two Places At The Same Time |
| 1981 | "A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)" | 4 | 1 | 11 | - | A Woman Needs Love |
| 1981 | "That Old Song" | 21 | 26 | 7 | - | A Woman Needs Love |
| 1981 | "It's Your Night" | - | 73 | - | - | A Woman Needs Love |
| 1982 | "The Other Woman" | 4 | 2 | 33 | - | The Other Woman |
| 1982 | "Let Me Go" | 38 | 3 | - | - | The Other Woman |
| 1982 | "It's Our Own Affair" | - | 44 | - | - | The Other Woman |
| 1983 | "Bad Boy" | 35 | 6 | - | - | Greatest Hits |
| 1983 | "The People Next Door" | - | 60 | - | - | Greatest Hits |
| 1983 | "I Still Can't Get Over Loving You" | 12 | 12 | 10 | - | Woman Out Of Control |
| 1984 | "Woman Out Of Control" | - | 71 | - | - | Woman Out Of Control |
| 1984 | "Ghostbusters" | 1 | 1 | 9 | 2 | Ghostbusters soundtrack/Chartbusters |
| 1984 | "Jamie" | 14 | 12 | 6 | - | Chartbusters |
| 1985 | "Girls Are More Fun" | 34 | 21 | - | 46 | Sex And The Single Man |
| 1986 | "One Sunny Day/Dueling Bikes From Quicksilver" | 96 | - | - | - | Quicksilver soundtrack |
| 1987 | "I Don't Think That Man Should Sleep Alone" | 68 | 5 | 42 | 13 | After Dark |
| 1988 | "Over You" (with Natalie Cole) | - | - | 38 | 65 | After Dark |
| 1989 | "Than It" (With Natalie Cole) | - | - | - | 66 | After Dark" |
| 1990 | "The Past" (With Natalie Cole) | - | - | - | 67 | After Dark |
| 1990 | "All I'm Missing Is You" (Glenn Medeiros feat. Ray Parker Jr.) | - | - | - | 32 | Glenn Mederios |
[edit] External links
- Ray Parker, Jr.'s official website
- SoulTracks.com profile of Ray Parker, Jr.
- Ray Parker, Jr. discusses the making of 'Ghostbusters'
- Ray Parker Jr. at Allmusic
- Ray Parker Jr. at the Internet Movie Database
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jr., Ray Parker |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Detroit native and 1972 graduate of Northwestern High School; Parker gained international fame as a guitarist, songwriter, producer and recording artist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 1, 1954 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
