Ray Erskine Parker, Jr. (born May 1, 1954), is an American guitarist, songw… Read Full Bio ↴Ray Erskine Parker, Jr. (born May 1, 1954), is an American guitarist, songwriter, producer and recording artist. Parker is known for writing and performing the theme song to the motion picture Ghostbusters, for his solo hits, and performing with his band Raydio as well as the late Barry White.

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, Leon Haywood, Temptations, The Spinners, Boz Scaggs, Rhythm Heritage, and Gladys Knight and the Pips.

Raydio
The group scored their first big hit, with Arista Records, "Jack and Jill" off of 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, off of 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.

The Solo Years and Ghostbusters
Raydio broke up in 1981, while Ray Parker Jr. 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.

Parker was one the first black artists to venture into the then-fledgling world of music videos. He actually 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 a outer space background with backup singers. MTV initially refused to air either video because, at the time, no videos for black artists were shown and, in the case of the "haunted castle" video, Parker was depicted as having interracial relationships, which MTV didn't want to promote.

"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.

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 1995.

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.

Continued Songwriting
Ray Parker Jr. 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.

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)

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)
* I'm Free (2006)

Bad Boy
Ray Parker Jr. Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I've been a Bad Boy
Now I want to come back home
I've been a Bad Boy
Now I want to come back home

I admit that I was messin' around
Playin' Macho Man and bein' cool
But all along you knew right from the start

She was just playin' me for a fool
Now that the love affair is over
Here I come runnin' to you
So go ahead girl and punish me
'cause I deserve to be hurt too

[Chorus]
I've been a bad boy
Now I want to come back home
(please let me in)

I've been a Bad Boy
If you let me come back home
I'll never do it again

Bad Boy
I'll do the dishes baby
Bad Boy
Now I got to be punished

Go ahead spank me, whoop me, let me come back home
I need to be punished
Spank me, whoop me, let me come back home
Break out the leather, baby
Spank me, whoop me, let me come back home

I was just so young
But I am a man now baby
I'm a whole lot more mature
Now I know how to treat a lady
Oh-- We've been together for so long girl
Give me one more chance
Never again will I do wrong

[Chorus]

Spank me, whoop me, let me come back home
I'll take out the trash

Overall Meaning

The song Bad Boy by Ray Parker Jr. talks about the singer admitting to his mistakes and asking for forgiveness from his partner. The chorus repeatedly states that he has been a bad boy and he wants to come back home. The first verse talks about how he messed around and acted cool by playing the macho man. The singer realised his mistake and wants to return to his lover. He admits that his lover had warned him about the other woman but he failed to listen to her. Now he knows the love affair is over and he is running back to his lover. In the bridge, he asks his lover to punish him and let him come back home. He is willing to take whatever punishment is required to save the relationship.

The second verse focuses on his redemption. He promises to be a better man and treat his lover right. He claims that he has matured and knows how to treat a lady. They have been together for a long time and he asks for one more chance, promising to never do wrong again. The song ends with the chorus again, and the singer willing to be punished and do household chores as a sign that he is willing to do anything to save his relationship.

Line by Line Meaning

I've been a Bad Boy
I've been misbehaving

Now I want to come back home
Now I want to return to my past life

I admit that I was messin' around
I acknowledge that I was not serious

Playin' Macho Man and bein' cool
I was pretending to be a cool and tough guy

But all along you knew right from the start
But you knew the truth from the beginning

She was just playin' me for a fool
She was just using me

Now that the love affair is over
Now that the romantic relationship is done

Here I come runnin' to you
I am coming to you

So go ahead girl and punish me
So please, punish me

'cause I deserve to be hurt too
Because I should also experience the pain

I'll never do it again
I promise, I won't do it again