Guitarist/songwriter/producer
Ray Parker Jr. had hits as
Raydio (the million-selling "Jack and Jill," "You Can't Change That"),
Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio ("Two Places at the Same Time," "A Woman Needs Love [Just Like You Do]"), and
Ray Parker Jr. (the number one R&B and pop gold single "Ghostbusters"), and he co-wrote hit songs for
Rufus and
Chaka Khan (the number one "You Got the Love" from fall 1974) and
Barry White ("You See the Trouble with Me" from spring 1976).
Born May 1, 1954, in Detroit, Michigan,
Parker started out as a teenaged session guitarist playing on sessions recorded for
Holland-Dozier-Holland's Hot Wax and Invictus Records, whose roster listed
Freda Payne,
Honey Cone,
Chairmen of the Board, 100 Proof Aged in Soul,
Laura Lee, and 8th Wonder. He also played behind
the Temptations,
Stevie Wonder,
the Spinners,
Gladys Knight & the Pips, and other Motown acts when they appeared at the Twenty Grand Club. In 1972,
Wonder called
Parker to ask him to play behind him on a tour that he was doing with
the Rolling Stones.
Parker thought it was a crank call and hung up the phone.
Wonder called back and convinced
Parker that he was the real deal by singing "Superstition" to him.
Later,
Parker played on
Wonder's albums
Talking Book (1972) and
Innervisions (1973). Moving from Detroit to Los Angeles,
Parker got into session work, playing on sides by
Leon Haywood,
Barry White, and arranger
Gene Page and working with Motown producer
Clarence Paul on
Ronnie McNeir's 1976 Motown debut, Love's Comin' Down, and he appeared in the picnic scene in the
Bill Cosby/Sidney Poitier comedy classic Uptown Saturday Night.
Deciding to become a recording artist,
Parker got a deal with Arista Records in 1977. Not confident on his singing ability, he put together a band that included vocalist
Arnell Carmichael, bassist/singer
Jerry Knight (who later had his own solo hit with "Overnight Sensation" and as half of Ollie & Jerry, and co-produced hits by
the Jets), guitarist
Charles Fearing,
Larry Tolbert, and
Darren Carmichael. However, on record,
Parker played most, if not all of the instruments -- although Arnell et al. were paid a retainer so they'd be available if
Raydio had a hit record and needed to tour.
His first LP,
Raydio, went gold, peaking at number eight R&B in spring 1978. The LP included the number five gold R&B hit single "Jack and Jill" (lead vocal by
Jerry Knight), "Is This a Love Thing," and the charting single "Honey I'm Rich." The hits continued with
Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio's number four gold
Rock On (the single "You Can't Change That" was number three R&B, number nine pop in the spring of 1979); the number six gold R&B Two Places at the Same Time from spring 1980 ("Two Places at the Same Time" was number six R&B in spring 1980); and the number one gold record A Woman Needs Love from 1981 ("A Woman Needs Love [Just Like You Do]" -- the first song
Parker sang all the way through without trading vocals -- held the number one R&B spot for two weeks and went number four pop in spring 1981). Then, the
Ray Parker Jr. album The Other Woman held the number one R&B, number 11 pop spot in spring 1982 ("The Other Woman" was number two R&B for four weeks).
One of
Parker's biggest hits and best-loved songs, "Ghostbusters" was initially submitted for the background score of the
Dan Aykroyd/
Harold Ramis/
Bill Murray/Ernie Hudson comedy. Director Ivan Reitman thought that the song should be released as a single. The "Ghostbusters" music video is one of the funniest and most star-studded videos ever made (breakdancing
Bill Murray style). "Ghostbusters" parked at the number one R&B spot for two weeks and the number one pop for three weeks on Billboard's charts in summer 1984. Around this time,
Huey Lewis sued Columbia Pictures and
Ray Parker Jr. for copyright infringement, claiming that "Ghostbusters" was a ripoff of his recent hit, "I Want a New Drug."
Lewis received an out-of-court settlement.
Parker also wrote and produced hits for
New Edition ("Mr. Telephone Man" --
Parker originally recorded this with Jr. Tucker for his 1983 self-titled Geffen album),
Randy Hall ("I've Been Watching You [Jamie's Girl]," the refreshing "Gentleman"),
Cheryl Lynn ("Shake It Up Tonight" from
In the Night),
Deniece Williams (the 1979 ARC/
Columbia LP
When Love Comes Calling),
Brick (the 1981 Bang LP
Summer Heat), and
Diana Ross ("Upfront" from her 1983 RCA LP Ross).
Parker left Arista for Geffen and then
MCA before returning to Arista because of his relationship with Arista president
Clive Davis. ~ Ed Hogan