In 1984 the movie of the summer was Ghostbusters, the zany, supernatural comedy about four parapsychologists who set up shop running a “ghost removal service” in New York. The film, starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, and Rick Moranis, became a money-making smash and is now a beloved comedy classic. The movie also features one of the best and most iconic theme songs in Hollywood history from R&B artist Ray Parker Jr.
The film producers had looked far and wide to find an artist willing to do the title track, with such acts as Huey Lewis & The News and Lindsey Buckingham turning down the gig. They found their man in Ray Parker Jr, who had a short amount of time to pen and produce the tune. Parker became inspired by the many late-night commercials with cheesy jingle themes and came up with “Who You Gonna Call?” as the centerpiece of the catchy, crowd-pleasing hit.
Like the movie, Ghostbusters became a huge anthem that dominated the radio and would become Parker’s only number-one song. The light and bouncy tune perfectly complimented the clever comedy, and the two became intertwined as they rose in popularity. Ghostbusters even earned a Best Song nomination at the 1985 Oscars but lost to Stevie Wonder’s I Just Called to Say I Love You.
The music video is almost beside the point regarding the famous song, but Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman ended up helming the clip. Reitman was one of many prominent film directors toying with the new format, and while the video is primarily promotional, there’s an 80’s cheese charm to the piece. The video has a young woman arriving at her sparse, neon “Tron” style apartment, where she’s haunted by Parker’s apparition as he sings the title song, all intercut with clips from the movie. And it features cameos from several big Hollywood stars of the era that are too numerous to name here. It’s fun, goofy, and so 1980s, with Parker giving a charismatic performance.
Sadly, this would be Parker’s only big hit as a solo artist, becoming one of the dreaded one-hit wonders. The music video is a fun diversion that compliments the movie and is a time capsule of the summer of 1984. And it’s the perfect tune to kickstart those fun, Halloween costume-themed parties.
Check out the video below and let me know your thoughts in the comments section.
A classic movie with a classic tune. If you’re only gonna have one hit in your career, it might as well be a “monster” of a success!
This was a song I totally loved as a kid (and I still enjoy it today). I always thought the celebrity cameos in the video were so 80s and such a random, grab-bag choice of stars.