Ghostbusters (song)


"Ghostbusters" is a song written by Ray Parker Jr. as the theme to the film of the same name starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson. Debuting at number 68 on June 16, 1984, the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 11, 1984, staying there for three weeks, and at number two on the UK Singles Chart on September 16, 1984, staying there for three weeks. The song re-entered the UK Top 75 on November 2, 2008, at No. 49.
It was nominated at the 57th Academy Awards for Best Original Song, but lost to Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You". A lawsuit, regarding Parker's plagiarism of Huey Lewis and the News's song "I Want a New Drug", resulted in Lewis receiving a settlement.

Background

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. 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. 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.

Music video

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, who is haunted by a ghost portrayed by Parker, roaming a nearly all-black house interior until the woman finally calls the service. It also contains footage from the film and features cameos from many celebrities of the day, including 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. 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.

Lawsuit

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. The three parties settled out of court. Details of the 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. Parker in a Reddit AMA said he "got a lot of money out of that."
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.

Personnel

7": Arista / ARI 8391 (US), ARIST 580 (UK)

;Side one
  1. "Ghostbusters" – 3:46
;Side two
  1. "Ghostbusters" – 4:07
;Side one
  1. "Ghostbusters " – 5:27
;Side two
  1. "Ghostbusters " – 5:33

    12" Promo: Arista / ADP-9223 (US)

;Side one
  1. "Ghostbusters" – 6:08
;Side two
  1. "Ghostbusters" – 5:35
  2. "Ghostbusters" – 4:03

    3" CD: Arista / A10D-142 (Japan)

  3. "Ghosbusters" – 4:09
  4. "Ghostbusters " – 4:12

    Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs46
Chart Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot RingMasters19
Chart Peak
position
UK 70
Hot Canadian Digital Singles25
Chart Peak
position
UK 49
Chart Peak
position
UK 57
Chart Peak
position
UK 75
Chart Peak
position
UK 63

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

!scope="row"|Total available sales:

Run–D.M.C. version

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.

Music video

The song's music video begins with Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts climbing out of a limousine in front of a large crowd. They are accompanied by Run–D.M.C. and Jam Master Jay dressed in the standard beige Ghostbusters' uniform, who then perform the song on stage to a packed audience for the remainder of the video, intercut with clips from the film. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson also make cameos as security personnel.

Track listings

;7" single / cassette
  1. "Ghostbusters" – 4:07
  2. "Ghostbusters " – 4:07
;12" single
  1. "Ghostbusters" – 6:00
  2. "Ghostbusters " – 4:10
  3. "Pause" – 6:00
  4. "Pause " – 3:32
  5. "Pause " – 3:46
;CD single
  1. "Ghostbusters" – 6:00
  2. "Pause" – 6:00
  3. "Pause " – 3:32
  4. "Pause " – 3:46

    The Rasmus version

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:

Mickael Turtle version

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.

Track listing

  1. "Ghostbusters" – 2:26
  2. "Ghostbusters" – 5:07
  3. "Ghostbusters" – 6:15
  4. "Ghostbusters" – 5:07
  5. "Ghostbusters" – 6:12
  6. Mickael The Turtle – Teaser Video

    Charts

End of year chart Position
France 50

Charts

Fall Out Boy and Missy Elliott version

"Ghostbusters ", 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.

Walk the Moon version

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.

Charts

Dacia version

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!".