![]() ![]() The hits continued with a more mature but still hooky sound on "The Other Woman" and "I Can't Get Over You." Then in 1984, Parker scored his first across-the-board #1 with the theme song from the Bill Murray movie Ghostbusters. Telephone Man."īy 1982 Parker ended the Raydio charade and began recording under his own name. ![]() "Jack and Jill" made the Top 10 on both the Pop and Soul charts, and began a string of hits for Raydio that included the smashes "You Can't Change That," "A Woman Needs Love" and "Two Places At the Same Time." Parker also began writing and producing for a number of other artists, and he scored a number one hit in 1982 with New Edition's "Mr. Like Richard "Dimples" Fields, his songs generally centered on a "loverman" view of relationships, but often also displaying the consequences of that view. Its twist on the old nursery rhyme (Jack went down the hill because he "needed love he couldn't get from Jill") also gave an indication of Parker's lyrical focus. The group's first hit, "Jack and Jill," became the template for Raydio's output - sing-songy but incredibly infectious and hooky. However, rather than creating muscular, electric soul that may have been anticipated based on Parker's resume, Parker focused on creating simple, catchy, easy-to-digest songs, in part due to his admiration for what KC and the Sunshine Band were doing. As many in the music business expected, Raydio became an immediate hit. Still developing as a singer himself, Parker brought on three contract guest singers (most notably first tenor Jerry Knight - later of "Breakin" fame as part of Ollie and Jerry) to put a group face on his music as the semi-fictional band Raydio. Defying normal industry standards, Parker recorded his debut album in his L.A. He was even the uncredited writer of the #1 hit for Leo Sayer, "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing."įollowing a prompting by his mother, who wanted to see her son on the front of an album - rather than listed on the back - Parker sought out a solo deal, and in 1977 Parker was signed by Clive Davis and Arista Records. Over the next half decade he established an enviable career as a choice session musician, playing on albums by artists such as Wonder, Barry White, the Chairmen of the Board, the Four Tops and Marvin Gaye. His big break came when, at age 18, he was contacted by Stevie Wonder to play guitar on Wonder's 1972 tour with the Rolling Stones. Ray Parker, Jr is best known for an extremely successful career as a solo singing artist and as frontman for the group Raydio, but perhaps his most underappreciated legacy is as one of the greatest session guitarists in Soul Music history.Ī true prodigy, Parker was playing with The Spinners as an early teen and became a sought-after guitarist around Detroit while still attending the city's Northwestern High School, playing on a number of Holland-Dozier-Holland productions before graduation. ![]()
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