Eurogamer meets Ray Parker Jr.
Bustin' makes him feel good.
Everything was better in the eighties. Back then it was socially acceptable to like pop music, wear red leather and smoke. It was a jollier, gentler time, and the only thing you had to worry about was the perpetual threat of global nuclear holocaust.
If you're too young to remember, the video for Ray Parker Jr.'s Ghostbusters song provides an excellent window into history. A neon window, in fact. It should also give you an idea of sexual politics back then, when there was nothing more hilarious than men hiding under the beds of sleeping women and chasing them half-naked around their homes.
As you already know, and will be reminded regardless every 18 seconds between now and July, a new Ghostbusters videogame is on the way. It has a script written by Dan Aykroyd and also features Ray Parker Jr.'s iconic theme song.
Eurogamer caught up with Jr. at an event in London last week. We had to share our interview slot with "veteran" games journalist Steve Hill, who here plays Richard to our Judy. Read on to find out why Ray didn't fancy the girl in the video, just how much money he made from that song and why he won't be surprised if they don't call him for Ghostbusters 3.
No! Unpleasant, are you kidding? What's unpleasant about that? I had as much fun watching it as I did making it.
I don't know what the message was. We were trying to figure out how to film a video about ghosts. So I thought, put the Saturday Night Live guys in it and we'll make fun of it. I don't know who wrote the script.
At the time, I was ten years younger than the girl in the video. So I was like, "Why didn't they get a cute chick? Who's the old girl?" Now I look at her and it's like, "Ooh, she's kinda sexy."
No, I never touched her in the first place.
Not many. I just rolled out.
Well, it wasn't natural. It wasn't comfortable down there. Course, when you're younger it doesn't hurt. If you asked me to do it now I'd be in bed for two days with backache.
I saw the film. The director told me what he wanted in the song, but the hard part was he wanted the word "Ghostbusters" in it. That was difficult.
It doesn't sing well. You can't even put a rhyming word after it. So the creative part was to fineagle the word Ghostbusters into the song.
I didn't go that far, I didn't have time. I was thinking, 'I'm just going to get my music done and get my money...' Then after it was done I thought, 'Well, that was a nice film. That was fun.'
I don't know, I haven't been to Ernie Hudson's house.
First of all, he doesn't live too far from me, so don't you feel sorry for him. It's a nice area. But my house is pretty nice.
None of those kind of things, no.
Yes.
More than a hundred pounds a minute, forever.
Probably, yes.
I love it. I saw the game last year, but they've done so much more to it. When Vivendi sold it I thought to myself, 'Goddarn it, now I don't get my cheque.' There's nothing that ruins my day more than not getting my cheque.
I called my girl and she said, "Ray, they put all this money into the videogame. You're going to get your cheque. You just don't get it this year, that's all."