After securing a record deal, the group scored their first big hit in early 1978 with "Jack and Jill", which was taken from their self-titled debut album. The song peaked at #8 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart,[1] and reached #11 in the UK Singles Chart,[2] earning a gold record in the process. "Is This a Love Thing" peaked at #27 in the UK in August 1978.[2] Their next successful follow-up hit, "You Can't Change That" was released in 1979, and lifted from their Rock On album. The single reached #9 on the Billboard chart that year.[1] In September 1979, they participated in an anti-nuclear concert at Madison Square Garden. Their performance of "You Can't Change That" at this show appears on the No Nukes album.
The 1980s and "Ray Parker Jr. and Raydio"[edit]
By late 1980, by which point Knight had left to pursue a solo career, the group had become known as Ray Parker Jr. and Raydio, and they released two more albums: Two Places at the Same Time (1980), and A Woman Needs Love (1981).[3] These spawned another two top 40 single hits ("Two Places at the Same Time" - #30 in 1980; and "That Old Song" - #21 in 1981).[1] Their last, and biggest hit, "A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)," was also released in 1981,[3] and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1]
After acknowledging the band had come to a crossroads and with Parker wanting to go solo, they quietly broke up in 1981.
Parker then started his solo career, scoring six top 40 hits in the 1980s, including "The Other Woman" (Pop #4), and "Ghostbusters". The latter song was the title track of the box office hit film Ghostbusters.[3] The single stayed at #1 for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984.
Knight went on to have a moderately successful solo career of his own, later forming Ollie & Jerry, with Ollie E. Brown (who had been a session drummer on all of Raydio's albums) in the mid-1980s. Their two biggest hits also came from soundtracks: "Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us" was the theme to the motion picture Breakin', and reached #9 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart;[4] their second single "Electric Boogaloo" (from the movie Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo), did not enter the Hot 100, but climbed to #43 on the dance chart.[4]
In 2014, original members Arnell Carmichael and Vincent Bonham revived Raydio, recruiting two new members, James Carmichael formerly of the Arista group Q.T. Hush, and up-and-coming young singer Giovanni Rogers. They toured with Average White Band, War, Switch, DeBarge, among several other major tours.
Vincent Bonham died in March 2024, at the age of 67.
In 1977, Parker created the R&B group Raydio with Vincent Bonham, Jerry Knight, and Arnell Carmichael.[1] Raydio scored their first big hit with "Jack and Jill", from their 1978 self-titled album with Arista Records.[1] The song reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, earning a Gold single and Gold album in the process. Their follow-up hit, "You Can't Change That", was released in 1979 from the Rock On album. The song was another Top 10 hit, peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard chart during the summer and selling a million copies.
In 1980, the group became known as Ray Parker Jr. and Raydio.[1] The group released two more albums: Two Places at the Same Time in 1980 and A Woman Needs Love in 1981, both Gold albums. In 1981, Parker produced the hard funk single "Sweat (Till You Get Wet)" by Brick. During the 1980s, Ray Parker Jr. and Raydio had two Top 40 hits: "Two Places at the Same Time" (No. 30 in 1980) and "That Old Song" (No. 21 in 1981). Their last and biggest hit, "A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)", released in 1981,[1] went to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and to No. 1 on the R&B Chart for two weeks that year.
Parker also wrote and produced hits for New Edition ("Mr. Telephone Man"), Randy Hall, Cheryl Lynn ("Shake It Up Tonight"), Deniece Williams ("I Found Love"), and Diana Ross. He performed guitar on several songs on La Toya Jackson's 1980 debut album. He also sang the theme tune on 1984’s television series Pryor's Place featuring Richard Pryor. In 1989, Run-D.M.C. performed a rap for the movie Ghostbusters II that contained elements of Parker's 1984 hit.[7] 1989 also saw Parker work with actor Jack Wagner (General Hospital) on an album for MCA Records that was eventually shelved and never released. A single from the Wagner sessions, "Wish You Were Mine", featuring an intro rap by Parker, was released on a 1990 MCA promotional sampler CD.
In 2006, Parker released a new CD titled I'm Free. In 2014, he was invited by producer Gerry Gallagher to record with Latin rock musicians El Chicano, as well as Alphonse Mouzon, Brian Auger, Alex Ligertwood, Siedah Garrett, Walfredo Reyes Jr., Spencer Davis, Lenny Castro, Vikki Carr, Pete Escovedo, Peter Michael Escovedo, Jessy J, Marcos J. Reyes, Salvador Santana, and David Paich. In July 2016, Parker performed on the ABC network's television show Greatest Hits.[8]
Parker is also the founder and owner of the Los Angeles–based recording facility Ameraycan Recording Studios.[9][10] Parker received a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2014.[11]
In 2022, Parker competed in season eight of The Masked Singer as "Sir Bug a Boo". After being eliminated on "Fright Night" alongside the forfeiting of Linda Blair as "Scarecrow", he performed the Ghostbusters theme as an encore.
In 1984, Huey Lewis sued Columbia Pictures and Parker, stating that the melody to the Ghostbusters theme song infringed on the copyright of the Huey Lewis and the News song "I Want a New Drug", which had been released on their album Sports the previous year. The three parties reached a settlement in 1995 which forbade them from revealing any information that was not included in a press release they jointly issued at the time. In March 2001, Parker filed a suit against Lewis for breaching the part of the settlement which prohibited either side from speaking about it publicly.
Ray Erskine Parker Jr. was born in Detroit, Michigan,[1] to Venolia Parker and Ray Parker Sr. He has two siblings: his brother Opelton and his sister Barbara.[citation needed] Parker attended Angel Elementary School where his music teacher, Afred T Kirby, inspired him to be a musician at age six playing the clarinet. Parker attended Cass Technical High School in the 10th grade.
Parker is a 1971 graduate of Detroit's Northwestern High School. He was raised in the Dexter-Grand Boulevard neighborhood on its West Side.[citation needed] Parker attended college at Lawrence Institute of Technology.
Parker gained recognition during the late 1960s as a member of Bohannon's house band at the 20 Grand nightclub.[1] This Detroit hotspot often featured Tamla/Motown acts, one of which, the (Detroit) Spinners, was so impressed by the young guitarist's skills that they added him to their touring group.[1] Through the Bohannon relationship, he recorded and co-wrote his first songs at age 16 with Marvin Gaye. Parker was also employed as a studio musician as a teenager for the emergent Holland-Dozier-Holland's Invictus/Hot Wax stable, and his "choppy" style was especially prominent on "Want Ads", a number one single for Honey Cone.[1] Parker was later enlisted by Lamont Dozier to appear on his first two albums for ABC Records.
In 1972, Parker was a guest guitarist on Stevie Wonder's funk song "Maybe Your Baby", from Wonder's album Talking Book, an association which prompted a permanent move to Los Angeles.[1] He also was the lead guitarist for Wonder when Wonder served as the opening act on the Rolling Stones' 1972 tour.[4] In 1973, he became a sideman in Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra. Parker appeared briefly in the 1974 film Uptown Saturday Night as a guitar player in the church picnic scene.
Parker also wrote songs and did session work for the Carpenters, Bill Cosby, Rufus and Chaka Khan, the Supremes, Aretha Franklin, Deniece Williams, Bill Withers, Michael Henderson, Jean-Luc Ponty, Leon Haywood, the Temptations, Boz Scaggs, David Foster, Rhythm Heritage, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Herbie Hancock, Tina Turner, and Diana Ross.[citation needed]
Parker's first bona fide hit as a writer was "You Got the Love", co-written with Chaka Khan and recorded by Rufus. The single hit No. 1 on the R&B charts and No. 11 on the pop charts in December 1974. In 1976, he featured as rhythm guitarist on Lucio Battisti's album Io tu noi tutti, translated as "Me you and all of us".[citation needed] Parker has stated that he was the original songwriter of Leo Sayer's 1976 hit "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing", but that when he submitted the tune as a demo, his accreditation as such was missed.
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