Ghostbusters

"Ghostbusters" is a song written by American musician Ray Parker Jr. as the theme to the film of the same name, and included on the film's soundtrack. Debuting at number 68 on June 16, 1984, the song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 11, staying there for three weeks (Parker Jr.'s only number one on that chart), and at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart on September 16, staying there for three weeks. The song reentered the UK Top 75 on November 2, 2008 at No. 49 and again on November 5, 2021, at No. 38. The song was nominated at the 57th Academy Awards for Best Original Song but lost to Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You". A lawsuit accusing Parker of basing the song's melody on Huey Lewis and the News's song "I Want a New Drug" resulted in Lewis receiving a settlement. Background Parker was approached by the film's producers to create a theme song, although he only had a few days to do so and the film's title seemed impossible to include in any lyrics. However, when watching television late at night, Parker saw a cheap commercial for a local service that reminded him that the film had a similar commercial featured for the fictional business. This inspired him to write the song as a pseudo-advertising jingle that the business could have commissioned as a promotion. Lindsey Buckingham, on his interview disc Words & Music [A Retrospective], stated that he was approached to write the Ghostbusters theme based on his successful contribution to National Lampoon's Vacation, "Holiday Road". He declined the opportunity as he did not want to be known as a soundtrack artist. Glenn Hughes and Pat Thrall also submitted a demo that was ultimately rejected. The Hughes and Thrall version was later rewritten and used as the track "Dance or Die" for the 1987 film Dragnet.