Interview with Ray Parker Jr .: "The music got me high"

By 1984, Ray Parker Jr. was a successful and recognized musician, singer, songwriter, and producer. Then a phone call changed his life. After director Ivan Reitman had already turned down over sixty potential title songs for his new film "Ghostbusters", a producer friend asked Parker to compose something suitable. Important requirement: The word "Ghostbusters" should appear in the chorus. The rest is music history. To date, the music video and song have been viewed more than 300 million times on YouTube alone. Well, with the launch of the latest sequel "Ghostbusters: Legacy", a few million should be added. Parker and his band were once again a guest at the Zurich Film Festival this year, where he made several appearances. And should anyone have forgotten which world hit they wrote and performed,he will be reminded at the latest when Parker's phone rings. He actually saved “Ghostbusters” as the ringtone, which is a source of amusement with every call.

Have you ever met someone who didn't know the song?

No.

I've written a lot of songs and there are a lot of people who don't know them.

But everyone knows "Ghostbusters".

However, I met people who didn't know I made the song.

And then they are really amazed that I not only wrote the song, but also sang it.

There are even people who claim that the song is now better known than the movie.

Of course, I would never say that.

You have made music history as a composer and musician with legends like Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross.

Nevertheless, the global hit "Ghostbusters" overshadows your entire oeuvre.

Do you still feel like playing the song while performing live?

For me it is nothing more than a great blessing.

At some point I decided to be happy about it.

How can I be annoyed when I see even seven year olds with big smiles on their faces when they are listening to my song.

That really goes to my heart.

Children want to take photos with me and they leave big stars behind.

I can't seriously complain about that.

My son went to the same school as my neighbors' children, for example Richie Sambora, the guitarist from Bon Jovi, and other famous rock stars.

When they told the kids that Mr. Parker wrote and sang Ghostbusters, I was always the hero and the others were written off.

Speaking of rock stars.

They also toured with Stevie Wonder and the Rolling Stones.

Can you tell us some wild stories?

I could tell you wild stories for a whole day. And then I could tell you even wilder stories for another day that I am not even allowed to tell. When the tour started, I was completely perplexed at first. Because I was of course absolutely convinced that Stevie Wonder would play the main program. In Detroit, where I came from, he was a huge star with all of his hits. I thought the Rolling Stones were his opening act. But then it was the other way around and I no longer understood the world. The Rolling Stones only had one hit - "Satisfaction". . .

As it turned out, the Stones were a walking blues dictionary.

And guitarist Keith Richards in particular is a big fan of black music who has repeatedly supported black musicians.

And in the end, it didn't even feel like they were the main attraction.

They took us on stage for the encores and we played together.