Solo Years
Raydio broke up in 1981, while Parker continued with his solo career, scoring six Top 40 hits, including the hit single "The Other Woman" (Pop # 4) in 1982 and "Ghostbusters" in 1984. Other hits from this period included "I Still Can't Get Over Loving You" (Pop # 12) and "Jamie" (Pop # 14).
In 1984, Parker appeared in "Pryor's Place", a short-lived live-action comedy series hosted by Richard Pryor, presumably sharing his own childhood experiences with children and teens. Parker appeared in the opening title sequence of each show, singing the program's theme song.
Parker was one of the first black artists to venture into the then-fledgling world of music videos. In 1978, Hollywood producer, Thom Eubank produced several music videos of songs from his first album entitled, Raydio on Arista Records. The hit single, "Jack & Jill" was the first released to air on Wolfman Jack's Saturday night television show, The Midnight Special. The music videos were also transferred to film and projected in movie theaters all over Europe. He also made two different videos for his hit "The Other Woman". The first was Halloween-themed and centered around a haunted castle with dancing corpses and vampires. The second was more performance-oriented, with Parker performing the song against an outer space background with backup singers. Parker made the performance-oriented video because MTV refused to play his Halloween-themed video due to its depiction of an interracial relationship. Parker's "Ghostbusters" video, helmed by the film's director Ivan Reitman, was one of the first movie-themed videos to find success on the then-young MTV, and paved the way for big movies and hit music videos working in tandem.
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 also performed guitar on several songs on La Toya Jackson's 1980 debut album. In 1989, he also wrote "Ghostbusters", a rap performed by Run-D.M.C., for the movie Ghostbusters 2. 1989 also saw Parker Jr. work with actor Jack Wagner (General Hospital) on an album for MCA Records that was eventually shelved and never released. A single from the Jack Wagner sessions, "Wish You Were Mine", featuring an intro rap by Parker, Jr. was released on an MCA 1990 Pop/Rock Promotional Sampler CD. With Jim Morgan and Tom Szczesniak he composed the theme tune to the 1991-3 adaptation of Herge's Adventures of Tintin.
In 2006, Parker returned and released a new CD titled: I'm Free. Of his first single called Mismaloya Beach: "I think it was the longest running instrumental on Smooth Jazz radio", says Parker. I'm Free showcases a new found beginning for Parker and embraces a variety of musical styles including Urban, Pop, Rock, Jazz, Blues, and Reggae.
Read more about this topic: Ray Parker, Jr.
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