Music
Ray Parker Jr.
born 1954 · guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer
Detroit-born guitarist behind the “Ghostbusters” theme, who started as a teenager in the house band of the city's famous 20 Grand nightclub.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 72- Birth name
- Ray Erskine Parker Jr.
- Detroit years
- 1954–early 1970s
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Ray Parker Jr. was born in Detroit in 1954 and attended Cass Technical High School in tenth grade before graduating from Northwestern High School in 1971. While still in high school he played guitar in Hamilton Bohannon's house band at the 20 Grand, the multi-level West Warren Avenue nightclub where Motown acts regularly performed. The Spinners were so impressed that they took the teenager on tour, and his reputation as a session player grew quickly. He moved on to Los Angeles, where he worked with Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra and many studio clients before forming the band Raydio in the late 1970s. Under his own name he reached the top five with “The Other Woman” in 1982, and in 1984 he wrote and sang the theme for Ghostbusters, a No. 1 hit that brought him an Academy Award nomination.
Highlights
- Teenage guitarist in Bohannon's house band at the 20 Grand
- Graduated from Detroit's Northwestern High School in 1971
- Toured with the Spinners while still a teen
- “Ghostbusters” (1984) topped the Billboard Hot 100
- Top-five hit “The Other Woman” (1982)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · late 1960s–early 1970s
The 20 Grand
Demolished
Detroit's most celebrated Black nightclub complex, with a bowling alley, lounges and the Driftwood Lounge stage; he played in Bohannon's house band. The building was demolished and the site is a grass lot.
Studied here · 1968–1971
Northwestern High School
Detroit public high school from which he graduated in 1971.
Studied here · late 1960s
Cass Technical High School
He spent his tenth-grade year at this selective downtown school.