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)
Old Pro
Ray Parker Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But like a fool I chose to ignore
You cause my ego made me greedy for more
Now I know, that all I did was waste my time
Cause the woman I was searching to find, was right here, all the time
Now I know, cause I′m a real (Old pro on love, and how to be lonely)
I made my mistakes (Old pro) mmm mmm (On love, and how to be lonely)
(Oooo ooo ooooo)
Now I recall, the many times I cheated on you
And all the pain I must have put you through
But you remained by my side, with pride
You know it felt like, I needed something more
I got hurt trying to even the score
But now I realize, you're so much more, and I want you back
Cause I don′t want to be (An old pro, on love)
I've learned from all my [And how to be lonely] mistakes
I don't want no heart aches (Old pro) [Pro baby] (On love)
Mmm hmm (How to be lonely, oooooo) You know if
There someone about to make the same mistake
Listen to me, don′t make your heart ache cause I know (Oooooo)
(Know baby) from experience, it′s the best teacher, I'm fair to admit
But I know, take it from me, cause I′m a old pro
(Old pro on love [I know what causes heart aches I learned from all my
Mistakes] and how to be lonely)
I'm a old pro (Pro baby on love and how to be lonely)
Ooo wont you you let me (Ooooo) have another chance to be yours
Cause honey I know, I′m a expert I'm a old pro on love mmm (How to be
Lonely) I know from experience I′m a old pro
(Pro baby) on love and how to be lonely (Ooooooo)
Take it from experience, cause I know on love (How to be lonely)
Know on love (How to be lonely oooooo)
Let me tell you, let tell you from experience don't mess up
Cause listen I'm a old pro (Pro baby) I know I know what I′m I
Know I know what I′m talking about (Old pro on love) take my word
The song "Old Pro" by Ray Parker Jr. tells the story of a man who realizes he made a mistake in leaving the woman he truly loved. At first, he was blinded by ego and the desire for something more, causing him to cheat on her and waste his time searching for another woman. However, he eventually comes to the realization that she was the one he wanted all along, and he begs for another chance.
The lyrics touch on the themes of love, regret, and redemption. The singer acknowledges his mistakes and takes responsibility for them, offering advice to others so they don't make the same errors. The chorus emphasizes that he is an experienced "old pro" when it comes to love and being lonely, as he has learned from his past failures.
Overall, "Old Pro" is a heartfelt plea for forgiveness and a second chance at love.
Line by Line Meaning
(Oooooo) Loving you, was everything I needed and more
Loving you was the best thing for me and fulfilled all my needs.
But like a fool I chose to ignore
Despite knowing that you were good for me, I foolishly disregarded it.
You cause my ego made me greedy for more
My ego made me selfish and crave more than what you were offering.
Now I know, that all I did was waste my time
I understand that I wasted my time chasing something that I already had.
Cause the woman I was searching to find, was right here, all the time
The woman I wanted to find was always by my side, and I failed to see that.
Now I know, cause I′m a real (Old pro on love, and how to be lonely)
I'm experienced in matters of love, including loneliness and heartache.
I made my mistakes (Old pro) mmm mmm (On love, and how to be lonely)
I made mistakes in the past regarding love and loneliness, but they taught me valuable lessons.
Now I recall, the many times I cheated on you
I remember all the times I betrayed your trust and cheated on you.
And all the pain I must have put you through
I realize that my actions caused you a lot of pain and hurt.
But you remained by my side, with pride
Despite my behavior, you stayed with me and showed strength.
You know it felt like, I needed something more
I thought I needed something more than what you were giving me.
I got hurt trying to even the score
In an attempt to make things even, I ended up getting hurt.
But now I realize, you're so much more, and I want you back
I understand now that you're worth so much more than I gave you credit for, and I want to be with you again.
Cause I don′t want to be (An old pro, on love)
I don't want to be experienced in love and all its consequences.
I've learned from all my [And how to be lonely] mistakes
I've learned from all the mistakes I made in love and how to handle loneliness.
I don't want no heart aches (Old pro) [Pro baby] (On love)
I don't want to experience any more heartache and pain in love.
Mmm hmm (How to be lonely, oooooo) You know if
I know how to handle loneliness and its effects.
There someone about to make the same mistake
If someone is about to make the same mistake I made, I want to warn them.
Listen to me, don′t make your heart ache cause I know (Oooooo)
Listen to my advice and don't make the same mistakes I did.
(Know baby) from experience, it′s the best teacher, I'm fair to admit
I admit that experience is the best teacher when it comes to love.
But I know, take it from me, cause I′m a old pro
I'm an expert in love and all its ups and downs, so take my advice.
(Old pro on love [I know what causes heart aches I learned from all my
I'm experienced in love and know what causes heartache. I learned from my mistakes.
Mistakes] and how to be lonely)
I also know how to handle loneliness and its effects.
I'm a old pro (Pro baby on love and how to be lonely)
I'm an expert in love and loneliness.
Ooo wont you you let me (Ooooo) have another chance to be yours
Can you please give me another chance to be with you?
Cause honey I know, I′m a expert I'm a old pro on love mmm (How to be
I'm an expert in love and can handle anything that comes our way.
Lonely) I know from experience I′m a old pro
My experience in love has made me an expert in handling loneliness and heartache.
(Pro baby) on love and how to be lonely (Ooooooo)
I'm skilled in love and know how to handle loneliness.
Take it from experience, cause I know on love (How to be lonely)
Take my advice because I know from experience on love and how to handle loneliness.
Know on love (How to be lonely oooooo)
I'm knowledgeable about love and how to handle loneliness.
Let me tell you, let tell you from experience don't mess up
Let me tell you from my own experience, don't make the same mistakes that I did.
Cause listen I'm a old pro (Pro baby) I know I know what I′m I
Listen to me because I'm an expert in love, and I know what I'm talking about.
Know I know what I′m talking about (Old pro on love) take my word
I have knowledge and expertise in love, so you can trust what I'm saying.
Writer(s): Ray Parker Jr.
Contributed by Camden B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.