Huey Lewis Sued the Writer of This Massive 80s Hit for Plagiarism

In early 1984, Huey Lewis and the News released “I Want A New Drug”. A Top 10 single, the song was written by Lewis and Chris Hayes for the band’s Sports album. Later that same year, Ray Parker Jr. released a song called “Ghostbusters”, written for the film of the same name.

The “Ghostbusters” lyrics were vastly different from “I Want A New Drug”. “Ghostbusters” says, “An invisible man / Sleepin’ in your bed / Ow, who you gonna call? / Ghostbusters / I ain’t afraid of no ghost / I ain’t ‘fraid of no ghost / Who you gonna call? / Ghostbusters.”

But the melody was deemed similar enough, at least by Lewis, to cause him to sue Parker. According to the film’s director, Ivan Reitman, the lawsuit did have some merit.

 “We kept looking for a song for the montage in the middle of the movie,” Reitman recalls. “I was a big Huey Lewis fan, and I put in ‘I Want A New Drug’ as a temp score for screenings. And it seemed to be a perfect tempo, and we cut the montage to that tempo. When it was time to mix the movie, someone introduced me to Ray Parker Jr., and he comes back with a song called ‘Ghostbusters’ that has basically the same kind of riff in it. But it was a totally original song, original lyrics, original everything.”

What Happened When Huey Lewis Sued Ray Parker Jr.

Lewis and Parker never did go to court, at least at first. The two settled, with the stipulation that the terms of the settlement would never be discussed. But in 2001, Lewis reportedly said on an episode of VH1’s Behind the Music that Parker paid to settle the lawsuit. Lewis speaking about it violated the terms of the agreement, prompting Parker to sue Lewis for not following the terms of their agreement.

Regardless, “Ghostbusters” became the biggest hit of Parker’s career. It remains his only No. 1 single in the United States. Still, Parker did have other hits, including “The Other Woman”. His debut single, out in 1982, became a Top 5 single for him.

Ghostbusters also had other hit singles besides the title track. The Thompson Twins had a No.1 song with “In The Name Of Love” from Ghostbusters. “Ghostbusters” became a three-week chart-topping single for Parker, his only song to reach No. 1.

1984 was a better year for Lewis. He had three other hit songs in 1984. That same year, he also released “The Heart Of Rock & Roll”, “If This Is It” and “Walking On A Thin Line”.

Photo by Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images