CoronaVinyl Day 228 (P): Greatest Hits by Ray Parker, Jr.

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "P," and I'm going with an album by an '80s icon -- Ray Parker, Jr.'s 1982 Greatest Hits album.

Of course, Parker is best known for his 1984 hit "Ghostbusters," but he is no one-hit wonder, as evidenced by the fact that this greatest hits album was released two years prior to that.  In the '70s, Parker had been a session musician at former Motown songwriting legends Holland-Dozier-Holland's Hot Wax label, and he also played and toured with Stevie Wonder and Barry White.  He also wrote songs and did session work for a variety of famous artists, like Aretha Franklin, Rufus, The Carpenters, The Temptations, The Spinners, and Tina Turner, among others.

In the late '70s, he formed his own band, the funk-tinged Raydio.  Get it, RAYdio?  Raydio had several hits before breaking up in 1981, after which Parker went solo.  He released this greatest hits album in 1982, and it features ten songs, six of which were Raydio songs and the remainder being his solo hits to that point.  The album reached #51 on the Billboard album chart and #17 on the Billboard R&B album chart. 

All in all, Parker had 8 solo Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including two Top 10 songs, both of which reached the Top 5, and one of which ("Ghostbusters") went to #1.  With Raydio, he had another 5 Top 40 hits, three of which reached the Top 10.

The Spotify version of the album is a 1993 version that includes "Ghostbusters" and several other post-1982 hits. 

Favorite song from Side 1:  "The Other Woman"

This was Parker's first solo single, and his first Top 40 (and Top 5) solo hit, reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982, as well as #2 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart, #1 in Australia, #4 in New Zealand, and #7 in Canada.  It's a funky pop rock song.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "For Those Who Like to Groove"
This is a Raydio song, and it's a nice early '80s funk pop song.