‘Ghostbusters’ already has the deck stacked against it. A lot of people are just ticked that the original 1984 hit is being remade in the first place. This will just piss those people off even more. Not just is the movie being remade (with a new-ish story simply inspired by the original) but the #1 Billboard hit theme song has also gotten a 2016 makeover and if you’re still stuck in the 80s, you’re gonna hate it.
Like the movie, this version is both a remake and a new spin, entitled ‘Ghostbusters (I’m Not Afraid)’.
The original song, by Ray Parker Jr. was a jazzy, upbeat 80s pop song that not only went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but lived on for many more years, serving as the theme song to the cartoon spinoff ‘The Real Ghostbusters’.
The new version is performed by pop punk hit-makers Fall Out Boy with a rap contribution from Missy Elliott.
Fall Out Boy is one of the only rock bands that receives airplay on Top 40 radio. Their song ‘Immortals’ was used on the soundtrack for the Disney animated film ‘Big Hero 6’.
Missy Elliott stormed the charts in the late 90s and scored a string of innovative hip hop hits. She previously produced the monster soundtrack hit ‘Lady Marmalade’ by Mya, P!nk, Lil Kim and Christina Aguilera from the movie ‘Moulin Rouge’.
After taking several years off, she made a splash at the 2015 Super Bowl Halftime Show and has been working on a comeback since.
Will this be the song that puts her back on top?
You can listen to the new theme song below:
I feel the same way about this theme song as I do the film. If you hold the original sacred, you’re obviously not going to like the remake. We’ll have to wait and see how general audiences react.
If you preorder the ‘Ghostbusters’ soundtrack, you will instantly get the download for ‘Ghostbusters (I’m Not Afraid)’.
Here is the soundtrack’s full track listing. You may notice that there are FOUR songs entitled ‘Ghostbusters’ including the Fall Out Boy/Missy Elliott track and Ray Parker Jr.’s original version. Not sure if they’re all remakes of the same song or just new songs using the same title. If so, I’m assuming the Pentatonix version is a capella.:
- Ghostbusters – WALK THE MOON
- Saw It Coming – G-Eazy feat. Jeremih
- Good Girls – Elle King
- Girls Talk Boys – 5 Seconds of Summer
- wHo – ZAYN
- Ghostbusters – Pentatonix
- Ghoster – Wolf Alice
- Ghostbusters (I’m Not Afraid) – Fall Out Boy feat. Missy Elliott
- Get Ghost – Mark Ronson, Passion Pit & A$AP Ferg
- Party Up (Up In Here) – DMX
- Rhythm of the Night – DeBarge
- American Woman – Muddy Magnolias
- Want Some More – Beasts Of Mayhem
- Ghostbusters – Ray Parker Jr.
How do you feel about the new ‘Ghostbusters’ theme song? Does a remake of a 30+ year-old movie deserve an updated theme song? Or does the original still hold up? (If you think that second one, you just need to buy some orthopedic shoes and camp out on your front porch to yell at kids.)
‘Ghostbusters’ won’t be afraid of ghosts on July 15th, 2016. It is directed by Paul Feig and stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Charles Dance, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Chris Hemsworth.
