Charles Austin Miller

Ray Parker Jr, himself (appearing on the Adam Corolla show in 2015), claimed that he had never met Huey Lewis, did not personally know him, and that he did not know Huey Louis was the first musician approached to compose the Ghostbusters theme song. But Parker's statement must be a deliberate falsehood. After Huey Lewis turned down the theme song offer, it was Ghostbuster director Ivan Reitman who provided "samples" of movie footage containing the Huey Lewis song "I Want a New Drug" (as background music) to Ray Parker. Parker then produced a direct knock-off the Huey Lewis music. No "fee" was paid to Huey Louis for the direct use of his music until after Lewis sued for intellectual property theft. Ray Parker Jr additionally claimed that he didn't and still doesn't know any of the details of the original lawsuit; but that, too, is a falsehood. The settlement paid to Huey Louis was undisclosed but quite sizable, so much so that attorneys for Ivan Reitman and Ray Parker requested a gag order on the settlement (to avoid the perception of an admission of guilt). Ray Parker was allowed to keep the copyright on the Ghostbusters theme, but the fact remains that Parker (AND Ivan Reitman) paid dearly for knowingly ripping off the Huey Lewis song.

Charles Austin Miller