TORONTO — If you’re making the Ghostbusters reboot and you want a theme song, who you gonna call?
Ray Parker Jr., of course, who wrote, produced and performed the iconic song in 1984.
“Nobody’s called me,” Parker said Tuesday. “I don’t know anything about it.
“It would be really, really nice if they used the song but who knows what these guys want to do.”
Paul Feig, who is directing a new Ghostbusters with female leads, said recently he’s not sure if Parker’s song will be used.
“It’s such an iconic thing that part of you goes, ‘I don’t want to change it,’ but then another part of you wants to update it,” Feig told E! Online. “It’s one of the biggest questions we’re faced with.
“We have ways to bring it in that we’re playing with, so we’ll see.”
Parker shared with The Roz and Mocha Show on Toronto’s KiSS 92.5 his message for Feig.
“First of all, dude, I’m from Detroit. We’re both from Detroit,” he said. “I want to be in the film. I want to be an actor in the film, that’s what I would like.”
Parker is optimistic his song will be included in the new Ghostbusters starring Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong and Leslie Jones. It’s set for release in July 2016.
“They should do it and I think they should do it in its original form because that’s not the type of song you want to put a hip-hop beat on or something like that,” said Parker. (A hip-hop remix featuring a rap by Run-DMC was used in 1989’s Ghostbusters II.)
“They should do it in its original form. But, I don’t control Sony Pictures so I guess they’ll do whatever they want to do.”
Parker told KiSS 92.5 he came up with “Ghostbusters” in only a few days.
“They didn’t call me until two weeks before the film came out,” he recalled.
The song held the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and was a hit around the world, including No. 1 on the RPM Top Singles chart in Canada. It was also nominated for an Academy Award.
The song also got Parker sued. Huey Lewis filed a copyright infringement suit that alleged the “Ghostbusters” melody was too similar to his song “I Want a New Drug.” Lewis received an out-of-court settlement.
The original Ghostbusters was directed by Toronto-raised Ivan Reitman and starred Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Ottawa-born Dan Aykroyd.
Parker, now 60, insisted he never tires of performing the title track.
“No, I love the song ‘Ghostbusters’ and it makes everybody in the world happy, it makes me happy,” he said.
“I’ll play it until I can’t play it anymore.”
BELOW: Listen to Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters.”
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