31 Days of spooky, day 11 - Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr.

What a tune! Just a few notes of the shimmering intro to the song gives it away immediately. If anyone was unsure, by the time the drums and the guitars kick in a few seconds later there's no mistaking Ghostbusters. It was a smash hit theme to a top box office movie. For such a huge spooky but fun hit though, it was a close thing to get it in place.

We’re back to the early 1980’s and someone in Hollywood has a tough task. Their new film Ghostbusters is looking great in the edits, but it's missing a theme tune. Lindsay Buckingham was approached but declined and others had their suggested themes rejected. The pressure on the producers was building - Who are they gonna call?

Ray Parker Jr. obviously. Though he was probably wishing they'd done so sooner as he was only given a few days to come up with something suitable. Getting Ghostbusters into a song was proving very tricky. A local TV advert late one night sparked a thought for Parker Jr. and he linked it to a part of the film. That inspired the spoof advert and jingle style format of the song. 

A huge hit for the spooky Ghostbusters theme

That video and the song turned out to be a huge hit around the world when it was released in 1984. The song hit number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Parker Jr.  his only number one on that chart. He would have been very grateful for that call from the producers. The theme song was estimated to have added $20m to the films box office gross takings, so everyone was pretty happy with this spooky song.

You can find more spooky songs, news and views about music on AudioPhix, why not follow us on X/Twitter and Facebook so you don't miss any.

More music news and analysis from AudioPhix