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)
Two Places At The Same Time
Ray Parker Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo
First time I saw you, baby
I knew right away I wanted you for my lady
I had to rush right over to you [Rush to you]
And ask you if you felt the same way too
And I want you to know my intentions are right
For making you my lady
The one and only lady in my life (In my life)
I want to be two places at the same time
Inside you and inside your mind
Both of these ways I want to love you
‘Cause one without the other just won't do
I want to be two places at the same time (Not one, but two)
Inside you and inside your mind
Both of these ways I want to love you
‘Cause one without the other just won't do
I'm so thankful that I found the woman
Who I can trust with all my lovin'
‘Cause as a love affair goes on and on (On and on)
It takes more than good looks to keep the feeling strong
Personality is a must
‘Cause I forget only you I will trust
With my heart, baby
Girl, I offer you my only heart (My only heart)
I want to be two places at the same time
Inside you and inside your mind
Both of these ways I want to love you
‘Cause one without the other just won't do
No, girl, it just won't do, ow
Two places at the same time
(Can't be no other way ‘cause I made up my mind)
You mean more than just fun to me
And that's the reason why I've got to be two places
Two places, same time (Two places)
Inside you, inside your mind
Both of these ways I want to love you
‘Cause one without the other just won't do
Two, two places at the same time (Not one, but two)
Inside you and inside your mind, ow
Both of these ways I want to love you
The song "Two Places at the Same Time" by Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio is a sweet love song about a man's love for a woman. The lyrics talk about how he knew he wanted the woman to be his lady from the first moment he saw her, and now that they have known each other for a while, he wants to be with her both physically and emotionally. He wants to be inside her and inside her mind because one without the other just won't do. Throughout the song, he speaks about how important personality is and how essential it is to trust the one you love with all your heart.
The song represents the classic desire to be with someone you love no matter how impossible it may seem. To be in two places at the same time, physical and emotional, represent the challenges of being in love, wanting to be next to that person all the time, but also, the need to feel that they are there, even if they are miles away. It is a song that everyone who has experienced this feeling can relate to and enjoy.
In conclusion, the song is a beautiful, classic love song that speaks about the desire to be with the person you love both physically and emotionally. It represents the challenges of being in love while wanting to be with the one you love. It speaks about the importance of trust, and how vital it is to find someone you can trust with all your heart.
Line by Line Meaning
First time I saw you, baby
From the very beginning of our acquaintance, I was drawn to you
I knew right away I wanted you for my lady
I immediately knew that I wanted you to be my girlfriend and future wife
I had to rush right over to you [Rush to you]
I just had to move quickly towards you to express my intentions with you
And ask you if you felt the same way too
I was eager to ask if you also felt a connection with me
Now we’ve known each other many a night
We have become good friends after spending many nights together
And I want you to know my intentions are right
I want you to know that I have good intentions with you and that I am serious
For making you my lady
I want to make you the woman in my life
The one and only lady in my life (In my life)
I want to commit myself to you and you alone, for the rest of my life
I want to be two places at the same time
I want to be fully present in both your physical being and your thoughts
Inside you and inside your mind
I want to love you both in a physical and emotional way
Both of these ways I want to love you
I want to fully love you in every way possible
‘Cause one without the other just won't do
One kind of love isn't enough for our relationship to thrive
I'm so thankful that I found the woman
I am grateful to have found you
Who I can trust with all my lovin'
I feel that I can trust you with all of my love and affection
‘Cause as a love affair goes on and on (On and on)
As our relationship continues, it takes more than just physical attraction to keep it strong
It takes more than good looks to keep the feeling strong
Our love depends on much more than just physical beauty
Personality is a must
In addition to physical attraction, it is essential to be compatible in personality
‘Cause I forget only you I will trust
I trust only you, and I don't want to forget that
With my heart, baby
I want to give you my heart and love completely
Girl, I offer you my only heart (My only heart)
I want to give you all of my love and be committed to you only
No, girl, it just won't do, ow
I know that love requires both physical and emotional connection to thrive
Can't be no other way ‘cause I made up my mind
I have decided that loving you completely is the only way to be
You mean more than just fun to me
Your love is more than just fleeting pleasure; you are important to me
And that's the reason why I've got to be two places
Because I care about you so much, I want to be both in your heart and in your mind
Two places, same time (Two places)
I want to be in two different places within you simultaneously
Not one, but two
I want to dedicate myself to loving you in the physical and emotional sense
Inside you and inside your mind, ow
I want to love you wholly and be present in both your thoughts and your body
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: RAY ERSKINE PARKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Sekhem Asaru
No matter what some critics say the music you listen to the most directly influences decisions you make relative to the subject matter of the songs you hear and listen to the most. This song was embedded into my brain , I know it emotionally and it’s a very intelligent account of how love can nurture you to follow the heart. I realized through listening to music like this that it was intelligent to love and not be fearful and pretentious about it. So be very aware of what sounds and meanings of music you allow to be repeated that permeates around/within your head.
Goddess999
I love this song!! 💖
Bradford Thompson
😊
Bradford Thompson
😊
Bradford Thompson
😊😊😊 1:36 😊😊
Peter Orleman
Definitely his best! The emotional relationship is just as important as the physical
frankie hunter
My favorite Ray's song. It should have charted much higher.
sauquoit13456
On this day in 1980 {May 24th} Ray Parker, Jr. and Raydio performed "Two Places At The Same Time" " on the nationally syndicated television program, 'Soul Train'...
At the time the song was at #7 on Billboard's Hot Soul Singles chart, two weeks earlier it had peaked at #6 {for 2 weeks} and it spent seventeen weeks on the chart...
It reached #30 {for 2 weeks} on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart and stayed on the chart for fourteen weeks...
Between 1978 and 1981 the Detroit vocal group had eleven records on the Hot Soul Singles chart, four made the Top 10 with one reaching #1, "A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)", for two weeks on May 10th, 1980...
Besides the above two records, their two other Top 10 records were "Jack and Jill" {#8 in 1978} and "You Can't Change That" {#3 in 1979}...
Ray Erskine Parker Jr. celebrated his 65th birthday earlier this month on May 1st, 2019...
R.I.P. Don Cornelius {1936-2012}...
Alanna Evans
Love this song.
syg moore
Great song! Great time to be alive!