Posted on 09/10/2020 1:16:34 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Ray Parker Jr. is best known for writing, producing and performing the 1984 Grammy-winning No. 1 hit “Ghostbusters,” but by the time he turned “Who you gonna call?” and “I ain’t ‘fraid of no ghost” into national catchphrases, he had already logged more than a decade in the business. He was still a teenager when Stevie Wonder invited him to join his band, and before breaking out as a solo star in the ‘80s, he logged credits as a songwriter (Rufus featuring Chaka Khan’s 1974 hit “You Got the Love”) and as a performer on a string of hits for the band Raydio.
For all of his early success, though, there were dues to pay, including one that still hurts to this day. It started with a song he’d written and recorded called “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” that he presented to a label suit in 1976. “He said, ‘Hey, if you cut that with Leo Sayer, I’ll give you part of the song,’” Parker, 66, recalls. “Well, I never got my part of the song.”
Sayer ended up recording it, and it went to No. 1 in 1977, with Sayer and Vini Poncia credited as its songwriters. Compounding the insult, “Dancing” went on to win a Grammy for best R&B song. “It kind of hurts when you see somebody on TV collecting a Grammy for [your] song, and here’s my mother in Detroit, and I haven’t bought her a house yet,” he says, calling it “one of the lowest points of my life.” “Every time I hear the song on the radio, the first thing that comes to mind is, ‘I don’t have a Grammy for that and my name isn’t on it, and nobody recognizes me for writing that song.’”
Does Parker think racism may have been a factor — a white industry insider deciding to pull one over on a young Black kid from the streets of Detroit? “I imagine it could be racial as to they decided, ‘Ah, forget him. We’re just gonna do it. We’re not going to pay him royalties. He’s young, he’s new, and I’m the bigger guy in the business and who’s gonna listen to him versus me, so I’ll just do what I want to do.’ So I was just kind of kicked to the curb.”
Parker doesn’t blame Sayer for the behind-the-scenes machinations, insisting it was a higher up’s decision not to put his name on the record. “It’s not Leo’s fault,” he insists. “He tried to cut six of seven more of my songs just because he felt so bad.”
Parker retaliated by reclaiming a song called “Jack and Jill,” which got Raydio signed to Arista Records by Clive Davis before becoming Parker’s first hit as a performer in 1978. The global success of “Ghostbusters” was the ultimate last laugh, and although he ended up getting sued by Huey Lewis over that song’s resemblance to Huey Lewis and the News’ earlier hit “I Want a New Drug” (the case was settled out of court), Parker remains fiercely protective and appreciative of his signature song.
“I have four sons, and they’re all different ages, and I was each one of their heroes growing up because I sang that song,” he says. “I wanted to make music to make people happy, to make them have a good time. And that song exemplifies that more than anything I’ve ever done. It’s hard to beat that song.”
No it’s not. An identical song is Led Zeppelin stealing Dazed and Confused from Jake Holmes, who opened for them on a few occasions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTsvs-pAGDc
Did they steal songs from all their opening bands?
That is my favorite by him.
He stole the song! It’s identical to Want a New Drug by Huey Lewis!
He sure did.
Another thief - “All I Wanna Do” from Cheryl Crow
Ripping off Gerry Rafferty’s riff in Stealers Wheel “Stuck in the Middle With You”.
Why is he whiter than other people?
Nearly all the singers regardless of sex or skin shade got cheated by the music industry. Generally when they were young and starting out.
The ones that didn't either had family in the music industry or family who were lawyers. Or had family who were mafia. :)
The song was written by Jimmy Webb, who is white. I never liked the song, until I read about what inspired it. Webb was dating a girl (Linda Ronstadt's sister Susan) and would meet her every day for lunch at the park.
Webb wrote another song, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, which Isaac Hayes did a cover of, even mentioning Webb by name in the song. Hayes, though a successful songwriter himself, often did covers of songs, many written by white songwriters.
I'm not sure it matters so much, but Steve Cropper was a guitarist who cowrote many soul classics, especially on the Stax/Volt labels.
Stax/Volt was founded by a white brother and sister, but it released music mostly by black artists, but gave them more of a free reign. It was eventually bought by Al Bell, who was black.
The musicians didn't segregate themselves, even if radio stations and record stores did.
Even today’s Taylor Swift was apparently taken advantage of by her label. She apparently doesn’t own the rights to her masters, which more artists today do.
Prince too a songwriting credit on Stevie Nick's Stand Back. (But Sting never demanded a credit for that song, but he did get a co-credit for Money for Nothing by Die Straits)
Prince had his record company call Journey, because he thought Purple RainFaithfully. Cain and Schon, the songwriters declined to ask for a credit. Apparently Prince was a big fan of Neal Schon.
Journey said they thought One Direction ripped off a song of theirs, but they didn't seek remedy.
Different artists have different attitudes.
I think Pat Boone hosts a show on Sirius/XM, but I'm not sure when it is. Peter Noonan also has a show.
They stole from blues artists in their first couple of albums, and there were lawsuits which involved re-doing songwriting credits, and I guess, royalties. Dylan was a stealer, too.
Sounds different to me.
But we are talking about two different things.
One is a songwriter writes their own, different song, and they use too much from an existing song.
The other is the person doesn't write a new song, they just take credit for a song that someone else wrote.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.