"Ghostbusters," by Ray Parker Jr.: 5 Hooks in 4 Minutes

Editor’s note: today we welcome our first guest contributor, John Lai, a friend and web-head who likes to talk music. Songwritinghooks.com is looking for more people to join the conversation. Interested in being a guest blogger?

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I still remember the song I use to sing to myself as a child. I must have been 4 years old at the time, lying in bed in the eerie darkness.  I remember watching the closet doors intently, in case the boogey man decided to visit. 

I sang to myself quietly, “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts…I ain’t afraid of no ghosts…I ain’t afraid of no ghosts!!!”   I whispered and do-do-do-ed that ’80s classic to myself for half an hour before I fell asleep.  It worked every single time because the boogey man never came.

Ray Parker’s “Ghostbusters” is one of my favorite songs from childhood.  Not only does it come packed with 5 hooks under 4 minutes, but each hook can be repeated on its own as a stand-alone melody or catch phrase.  It’s easy to jump in at any point of the song, mix and match the hooks and still have “Ghostbusters”! As a sleepy child, drifting back and forth between wakefulness and slumber, forgetful of which verse I was last on, I could easily piece together my own “Ghostbusters” song from its 5 famous hooks.

Here’s the first:

Hear the hook: Intro bass riff from "Ghostbusters" MP3             Copyright info

This is the trademark opening theme of every cartoon episode.

Here’s the second:

Hear the hook: Synth/horn riff from "Ghostbusters" MP3

This theme is played independently in the Nintendo “Ghostbusters” game.  Who could possibly forget it?

Here’s the third hook:

Hear the hook: Spooky riff from "Ghostbusters" MP3

This hook is audible in every cartoon episode, especially when they’re zapping ghosts.

Here’s the fourth hook:

Hear the hook: "I ain't afraid of no ghost" catch phrase from "Ghostbusters" MP3

The famous catch phrase!

Here’s the fifth hook:

Hear the hook: Call-and-response hook from "Ghostbusters" MP3

Classic.  Just classic.

As a TV show, it was convenient for Ghostbusters to have so many hooks, each reflecting a different mood in different parts of an episode. It’s much more memorable when you can identify a hook with a particular scene in the show. Perhaps soundtrack writers keep this in mind when composing a show’s musical theme.

So there you have it!  The five hooks any child can use to rid themselves of phantom jitters!

-o-o-o-o-

About John Lai:

John is a busy blogger, thinker and technocrat based in Toronto, Canada. He's the co-founder of and a contributor at thedashingfellows.com, a group blog touching on tech, arts and society. John is also the lead architect of Evermight, a powerful PHP framework for web developers. And if that weren't enough, he posts additional musings, usually technological, at john-lai.com, and Twitters at @LaiJohn

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Comments

[Rob]

Wasn't there a lawsuit alleging that Ray Parker Jr. ripped off "I Want a New Drug" by Huey Lewis?

[Aidan M-J]

Two theme songs that allows get stuck in my head are the:

Mission Impossible theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWfLThXoC8Y&feature=related

James Bond theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii1tc493bZM

[John]

@rob - that's what it says in wikipedia. And I just listened to "I Want a New Drug" and can definitely hear the resemblance.