Ray Parker Jr., who functions as a guitarist, songwriter, and producer, scored major successes both as the leader of Raydio with the million-selling single “Jack and Jill” and the follow-up “You Can’t Change That,” then as Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio on “Two Places at the Same Time” and “A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do),” and finally under his own name with the chart-topping R&B and pop gold single “Ghostbusters.” He also supplied songs that became hits for Rufus and Chaka Khan, including their number-one track “You Got the Love” from fall 1974, and for Barry White with “You See the Trouble with Me” in spring 1976.
Born May 1, 1954, in Detroit, Michigan, Parker began his career as a teenage session guitarist for Holland-Dozier-Holland’s Hot Wax and Invictus imprints, whose artist roster featured Freda Payne, Honey Cone, Chairmen of the Board, 100 Proof Aged in Soul, Laura Lee, and 8th Wonder. He further accompanied the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Spinners, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and additional Motown performers during their shows at the Twenty Grand Club. In 1972 Wonder telephoned Parker to request his participation on an upcoming tour alongside the Rolling Stones; Parker dismissed the call as a prank and hung up, only to receive a second call in which Wonder verified his identity by performing “Superstition” over the line.
Parker subsequently contributed guitar to Wonder’s albums Talking Book (1972) and Innervisions (1973). After relocating from Detroit to Los Angeles he secured further session engagements with Leon Haywood, Barry White, and arranger Gene Page, and he collaborated with Motown producer Clarence Paul on Ronnie McNeir’s 1976 Motown debut Love’s Comin’ Down. He also appeared in the picnic sequence of the Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier comedy Uptown Saturday Night.
Choosing to step forward as a recording artist, Parker secured a contract with Arista Records in 1977. Lacking confidence in his own vocals, he assembled a group that included vocalist Arnell Carmichael, bassist and singer Jerry Knight—who later scored his own solo hit “Overnight Sensation,” performed as half of Ollie & Jerry, and co-produced successes by the Jets—along with guitarist Charles Fearing, Larry Tolbert, and Darren Carmichael. On the recordings themselves Parker handled most if not all of the instrumental parts, although the other members received retainers to remain available should Raydio achieve a hit and require touring support.
Parker’s debut album Raydio earned gold certification and reached number eight on the R&B chart in spring 1978. The set contained the number-five gold R&B single “Jack and Jill,” which featured lead vocals by Jerry Knight, plus “Is This a Love Thing” and the charting track “Honey I’m Rich.” Subsequent releases sustained the momentum: Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio’s Rock On, which peaked at number four on the R&B album chart and yielded the single “You Can’t Change That” that climbed to number three R&B and number nine pop in spring 1979; the number-six gold R&B album Two Places at the Same Time in spring 1980, whose title track also reached number six R&B; and the number-one gold album A Woman Needs Love in 1981, whose title song “A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)” became Parker’s first fully solo vocal performance, holding the top R&B position for two weeks and peaking at number four on the pop chart that spring. The Ray Parker Jr. album The Other Woman then occupied the number-one R&B and number-eleven pop positions in spring 1982, with its title track spending four weeks at number two R&B.
One of Parker’s signature successes, “Ghostbusters,” originated as a submission for the background score of the Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson comedy. Director Ivan Reitman opted to issue the song as a single, and its music video became one of the most humorous and celebrity-packed clips of its era, featuring breakdancing in the style of Bill Murray. “Ghostbusters” held the number-one R&B slot for two weeks and the number-one pop position for three weeks during summer 1984. Around the same period Huey Lewis filed suit against Columbia Pictures and Ray Parker Jr. for copyright infringement, alleging that “Ghostbusters” copied his recent hit “I Want a New Drug”; the matter concluded with an out-of-court settlement.
Parker additionally composed and produced material for New Edition on “Mr. Telephone Man,” a track he had first recorded with Jr. Tucker for his own 1983 self-titled Geffen album; for Randy Hall on “I’ve Been Watching You (Jamie’s Girl)” and the buoyant “Gentleman”; for Cheryl Lynn on “Shake It Up Tonight” from In the Night; for Deniece Williams on the 1979 ARC/Columbia album When Love Comes Calling; for Brick on the 1981 Bang album Summer Heat; and for Diana Ross on “Upfront” from her 1983 RCA album Ross.
Parker subsequently departed Arista for Geffen and later MCA before returning to Arista on the strength of his longstanding association with label president Clive Davis.
