Who Ya Gonna Call? Huey Lewis!

"I Want A New Drug", the song that started it all

In 1984, Huey Lewis and the News was one of the more popular bands around.  They had topped the album chart with "Sports", and sent several songs to the Top 10 over the previous years.  "Heart Of Rock & Roll", "Heart and Soul", "Do You Believe In Love", "If This Is It", and "I Want A New Drug" were all Top 10 hits for Huey and the News.

When putting together the soundtrack for the upcoming movie "Ghostbusters", Lewis was approached about contributing some music.  He turned down the opportunity, as he was already busy working on music for the upcoming film "Back To The Future".  Ultimately, Ray Parker Jr. was chosen to contribute the theme song for the film, and the tune would spend 3 weeks at #1 in late summer.  But Huey Lewis's involvement was far from over.

45 sleeve for Ray Parker Jr.'s annoyingly catchy theme song

Lewis claimed that the melody (and specifically, the guitar riff) from Parker's "Ghostbusters" was strikingly similar to the one Lewis had written for his hit "I Want A New Drug".  A court agreed, and Lewis received a financial settlement.  Lewis also agreed to keep any details of the settlement confidential.  In 2001, Lewis would mention the suit on an episode of VH1's "Behind The Music", violating the confidentiality agreement.  Parker would file a suit of his own as a result.