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)
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)
Can't Get You Out of My Head
Ray Parker Jr. Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' by these artists:
- kylie minogue La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-…
::: Kylie ::: La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la La, la, la,…
Addal I just I just canβ²t get you out of my head Girl,…
Aerobic - Stars verse 1 Must be some other way Must be something to say The…
Alex Pizzuti Intro La-la-la, la-la-la-la-la La-la-la, la-la-la-la-la La-l…
Almighty Showgirls I just can't get you out of my head Boy your…
At17 La la la La la la la la La la la La la…
Banshee - Topic I just can't get you out of my head Boy, your…
Barrett Crake La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-…
Bootstraps I just can't get you out of my head Boy your…
Boppin' B I can't get - I can't get you out of…
Burak CILT I just can't get you out of my head Boy, your…
Carmen Consoli I just can't get you out of my head Boy your…
Catman Cohen Bay Bay Babe Bay Bay Ba-Baby I just can't get you…
Coldplay La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la La, la, la,…
Coldplay ft. Kylie Minogue La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-…
D.J. Chill House I canΒ΄t get you out of my mind When I look…
D.N.A. INSTRUMENTAL Yeah say hello to my fears They're in my head though They…
Dave Stewart The telephone was ringing I jumped right out of my bed I…
Dennis Davis La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-…
Dennis/Davis Deep down the rabbit hole Is a place where i sleep Deep…
Desire I just can't get you out of my head Boy, your…
Ed Alleyne-Johnson I miss you so much I can't get you outta my…
Electric Light Orchestra Midnight on the water I saw the ocean's daughter Walking o…
Empty Trash " I still remember when you were mine I've been without yo…
Glimmer Of Blooms La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la La, la, la,…
Helena La la la... I just can't get you out of my…
Helena Noguerra La la la... I just can't get you out of…
Ilkan Gunuc Canβ²t get you out of my head Boy, it's more than…
Incognito It's one of those days, and I need some distraction I've…
J-Wes Can't get you Can't get you out of my head Can't get…
J.T.R. I canΒ΄t get you out of my mind When I look…
Jack L I just can't get you out of my head Boy your…
Jack Lukeman aka Jack L I just can't get you out of my head Boy your…
Johnny Goth You've been inside my mind And I can't seem to shut…
JYLPO 1, 2, 3, 4 Can't get you out of my head When…
Karaoke All-Stars verse 1 Must be some other way Must be something to say The…
Kid Drew and the Kids La la la La la la la la La la la La la…
Kidzone I just can't get you out of my head Boy your…
Kim McNichols I just cant get you out of my head Boy your…
KITCHEN 1 - Kylie Minogue La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-…
Kylie Minogue & Coldplay La la la la la la la la La la la…
Kylie Minogue - Topic La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-…
Kylie Minogue vs. New Order La, la, la La, la, la La, la, la La, la, la I just…
Kylie Minogue(μΉ΄μΌλ¦¬ λ―Έλ Έκ·Έ) La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la La, la, la,…
KYLIE MINOGUE/THE ABBEY ROAD SESSIONS 2012 La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-…
Lisa Bassenge Trio I just can't get you out of my head Boy, your…
LIVING ROOM - Kylie Minogue La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-…
Los Fantasticos I just canβ²t get you out of my head, boy Your…
M.T.V Galaxy I like the way the sunlight gets on your hair,…
Makowiecki Band I just can't get you out of my head Girl, your…
Martin Ermen I just can't get you out of my head, boy Your…
martin thulin I just can't get you out of my head Boy, your…
Mattis I feel you there Mocking me constantly You always said we we…
Melih Aydogan La la la La la la la la La la la La la I…
Mines Falls La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-…
Mono Inc. I just can't get you out of my head Girl, your…
New World Orchestra I just can't get you out of my head Boy your…
No Sheet Music I just can't get you out of my head β¨Boy, your…
Nuala I just can't get you out of my head Boy your…
Patrick Eugene La la la Lalalalala La la la I just can't get you out…
Patrick & Eugene La, la, la La, la, la, la, la La, la, la I just…
Peking Duk feat. JOY. La la la la la la la la la la La…
Phil Phauler I just can't get you out of my head Boy, your…
Princess Beat La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la La, la, la,…
S.H.E HOOK: I just can't get you out of my bed There's…
Scala La la la la la la la la La la la…
Scala & Kolacny Brothers - On The Rocks La la la la la la la la La la la…
Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra I just can't get you out of my head Boy your…
The Electronic Tomato I just can't get you out of my head, boy Your…
The Flaming Lips I just can't get you out of my head Boy your…
The Gym All-Stars verse 1 Must be some other way Must be something to say The…
The Sweeplings La la la La la la la la La la la La la…
The Third Degree I just can't get you out of my head Boy, your…
Ugg'A I just can't get you out of my head Boy, it's…
Various Artists Written by Cathy Dennis/Rob Davis La la la La la la la…
β£Kylie Minogue La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Ray Parker Jr.:
A Woman Needs Love Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo Mmm-mmm-mmm A woman needs a love (just …
Bad Boy I've been a Bad Boy Now I want to come back…
Christmas Time Is Here Hang up the mistletoe And turn the lights down low Let's fee…
Don't Think That Man Should sleep Alone I don't think that man should sleep alone I don't think…
Ghost Busters Ghostbusters If there's something strange in you neighborho…
Ghostbuster Ghostbusters! If there's something strange in you neighborh…
Ghostbusters (Ghostbusters) If there's something strange In your neighbor…
Ghostbusters (From Ghostbusters! If there's something strange In your neigh…
Ghostbusters (Instrumental Version) GHOSTBUSTERS If there's something strange in your neighborh…
Girls Are More Fun Girls are more fun, ooh, ooh Girls are more fun The party…
I Don't Think That Man Should Sleep Alone I don't think that man should sleep alone I don't think…
I Got You I'm all confused And I don't know what to do Cause I…
I Still Can I'm all confused and I don't know what to do Cause…
I Still Can't Get Over Loving You I'm all confused And I don't know what to do Cause I…
In The Heat Of The Night He promises you things'll be different If you just give him…
Intro It's neither touch nor taste But silvery lines, the cute fr…
It's Time to Party Now Everybody* up it's time to party now Turn up the music…
Jack and Jill Jack (Jack)- wanting someone to feel (feel) Sat upon the hil…
Jamie Jamie used to be my girl She used to be my…
Let Her Go We've been goin' out for awhile now baby We've had…
Loving You I'm all confused And I don't know what to do Cause I…
Old Pro (Oooooo) Loving you, was everything I needed and more But li…
Over You I'm all confused And I don't know what to do Cause I…
So Into You "So Into You" All my life Iβ²ve elected To keep my feelings …
That Old Song A good song and a love affair Go hand in hand…
The Other Woman Oh, yeah I'm in love (I'm in love) With the other woman My…
The Past I was wrong when I hurt you Did you have to…
The People Next Door I wanna bang on the walls Rock on the floor I wanna…
Two Places At The Same Time Doo, doo, doo Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo First time…
Woman Out Of Control Mmm I've got a woman out of control A woman…
You Can Mm, hm Honey, I'll always love you I promise I'll always lo…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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@diment0857
This soul-funk-rock masterpiece sounds as fresh today as it did when it was released 40 years ago, proof that Ray Parker Jr. is a class act, always has been.
@gooberwench
I totally agree!! The funky bass, sax and rock guitar are an amazing combo!!!
@gooberwench
And the voice of course.. naturally. Here I am in 2023 still digging it.
@tednorton5150
absolutely. a pinnacle of record production by ANYONE and it marked his THIRD big hit of self writing and production. At three nobody is a fluke and i'm not even mentioning all the stuff he did as a session player , producer and writer for others. Also he gets nothing but props from me for figuring how to front vocal with limited pipes: he had to land on a persona and run with it.
@jojothepolyglot1866
This song came out while celebrating my 7th birthday in March 1982 so Whoever is still rocking to this masterpiece in 2022 give me some love...
@Jgeneraledger23
I was going on a plane to Orlando that day with my Family, same age, but two years older. John Buleshi passed that night, RIP Big Guy!
@tuulafai4046
I was 10 and dug it then
@danagold7115
Me ππΎββοΈ
@bobetteeiza8625
I'm always rocking to Mr. Parker Jr. But this song is a master piece. Have to rock to it whenever its playing.
@tonyperkins74
@@danagold7115 Who r u in love witΒΏ........