The appeal of pop music, like so many other things, often depends on an individual's taste, and the new Number One this week in 1984 is an example of that. On August 11, 1984, ”Ghostbusters” (video up top), the theme song to the movie of the same name, went to Number One. It was written and performed by American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer Ray Parker Jr.. It was Parker’s only Number One in the USA. The song was the lead single from the film’s soundtrack album.
This song, and the video for it, are both examples of how the appeal of anything in pop culture is personal. I saw the movie Ghostbusters, and enjoyed it as something that was fun and entertaining. However, I wasn’t a huge fan of the song, and that was probably partly because it was played so heavily when it was a hit. But there was also something about the song that seemed, well, off, though at the time I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.
Parker was sued for plagiarism by Huey Lewis who alleged the melody, especially the baseline, were taken from his 1983 hit, "I Want a New Drug". I don’t remember hearing anything about the lawsuit at the time, but when I hear about such lawsuits I’m often indifferent at best, and sometimes extremely sceptical. However, in this situation, the similarity is too close for even me to remain sceptical. Lewis won an undisclosed amount in 1985, but was later sued by Parker when Lewis talked about the settlement in breach of the confidentiality clause in the settlement. So, yeah: Very messy. But the fact I’d heard the Huey Lewis and the News song so much the previous year—and wasn’t all that keen on it, either—maybe that made me less receptive to the “Ghostbusters” song?
Still, the song is definitely a big part of its era, a genuine cultural phenomenon (for a time), and that “who ya gonna call?” line was repeated a lot in many contexts. Similarly, the music video, directed by Ivan Reitman, who also directed the film, was filled with cameos by celebrities of the time: 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. According to Wikipedia, “none of the actors were paid for participating but did so as a favor to Reitman”.
I watched the video above when I began this post, and I realised I hadn’t seen it in possibly/probably decades. Watching it again in 2024, I was struck by how very 1984 it is, and the celebrity cameos are certainly part of that feeling. I kept wondering why the celebs were there at all (apart from the fact they were familiar at the time). However, I also knew who each celeb was, so maybe the cameos sort of centred the video in its time? Or, maybe now that so much time has passed, and so have some of the celebs, maybe I should say they anchored it in 1984. The other thing in the video that jumped out at me was all the neon lights—they positively screamed 1984.
Once again, this was a song I wasn’t fond of, the music video probably even less so, but I did enjoy the movie. And so it goes.
“Ghostbusters” reached Number 2 in Australia, Number One in Canada (Platinum), 2 in New Zealand, 2 in the UK (Platinum), and Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100” and on the Billboard “Hot Black Singles” charts; the song was also Gold in the USA.
The album Ghostbusters: Original Soundtrack Album reached Number 6 in Canada (Platinum), 18 in New Zealand, 24 in the UK (Gold), and 6 on the USA’s “Billboard 200” chart (Platinum). The album didn’t chart in Australia.
This series will return September 1 with another new Number One, and it’s a song that, like “Ghostbusters”, had a three-week run at the top of the charts and was the only Number One for the artist. Obviously, I'm a fan of trivia, too.
Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1984” series:
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 1 – January 21, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 2 – February 4, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 3 – February 25, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 4 – March 31, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 5 – April 21, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 6 – May 12, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 7 – May 26, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 8 – June 9, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 9 – June 23, 2024
Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 10 – July 7, 2024
2 comments:
I liked it more than you bc I love the backstory. Ray had done a music video for some song, then afterwards did one for Ghostbusters, which was turned arounf VERY fast. Some friend of Ray's said, "Liked the new video," and Ray's thinking it's the earlier one. "No, it was for Ghiostbusters!" It is VERY '80s!
Yeah, and the fact it's so 80s makes it appealing in a nostalgic way, at the very least. I should probably add that While I didn't like the video, I certainly didn't hate it. There have been plenty of videos over the years that I pretty much loathed, even if I loved the song.
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