"I Want a New Drug," by Huey Lewis and the News (1984) The Case: Producers of the film Ghostbusters originally approached Huey Lewis to pen the film's theme, but he was already committed … Nope. But if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... Huey Lewis strapped up and sued Ray Parker, Jr. and Columbia Pictures for plagiarism. Also, you should get a good laugh at Key & Peele making fun of this entire fiasco: [Uh ho... looks like this fiasco continues. It hit #2 on the UK charts, #1 in Canada, and #1 in the United States. It's so easy to record studio quality vocals these days with the right mic... Arista & Sony got paid and still are, especially with this new Ghostbusters sequel and still owning the rights to the theme song. First, they tapped Lindsey Buckingham. That's what Ray Parker, Jr. claims anyways. Back in 1984, Huey Lewis sued Ray Parker Jr. on the grounds that Parker’s tune “Ghostbusters” infringed upon his song “I Want A New Drug.” The parties eventually reached a settlement, which included a confidentiality clause. The Ruling: They settled out of court, and the terms of the settlement were confidential until Huey Lewis did VH1’s Behind the Music series in 2001, when he said, “The offensive part was not so much that Ray Parker, Jr. had ripped this song off, it was kind of symbolic of an industry that wants something—they wanted our wave, and they wanted to buy it. Lewis declined for various reasons, including the fact that his plate was full with his work on the Back to the Future soundtrack. You mean "I Want a New Drug" might not have been original either?!? I suppose it was for sale, because, basically, they bought it.". The dude deserves to know that people are finding out the truth and care. Robin Scott and his band M didn't get diddly squat. Jared has surpassed his 20th year in the music industry. So why are we talking about I Want a New Drug? I suppose it was for sale, because, basically, they bought it.". In the end, I suppose they were right. What really caught his ear was this business' jingle. That clause may have been breached when Lewis appeared on “Behind the Music” special and commented on the case. Literally, Lewis was paid to not talk about it. Lewis was pumping out hit after hit and the public was loving his style at the time. It doesn’t appear that the results of that lawsuit were made public, and it looks like people are keeping their mouths shut this time. Later on (honestly not sure when, I think it was 2004 for the 20th anniversary) Premiere magazine would run a story celebrating the anniversary of the Ghostbusters movie. Yep. But again, that's purely speculation. Learn more about, 6 Forced Music Genres that Should Disappear Like the Dodo. You see, Arista was the music publishing company that paid Parker for the song. remade the song! It entered the Billboard charts on June 16, 1984 at #68. Earlier in 1984, about 5 months before, Huey Lewis released the album Sports. No Spam. Everyone knew the song and it was still getting attention later in the year. They played Huey Lewis’ “I Want a New Drug” for Parker as an example of the sound they wanted, and Parker apparently just lifted the bass line and guitar riff almost directly. Even more will be made with this new sequel coming out. And it went a little something like this: So now you have to wonder who really wrote that bass line... You don't see Robin Scott, the creator of this song running around suing Lewis and Parker. They also admitted that after Huey Lewis couldn't commit to writing the theme song, they literally sent Ray Parker, Jr. a scene as inspiration to aid him in writing his version of the theme song... that included I Want a New Drug!