Should Lindsey Have Done The Ghostbusters Theme?
 

For those that don't know the story, after doing Holiday Road and Dancin' Across The USA for the film National Lampoon's Vacation, Harold Ramis asked Lindsey to make the theme for the Ghostbusters in 1984. Lindsey turned down the opportunity because he didn't want to be typecast for doing soundtracks.

What do you think Lindsey should have done? Do you think doing the theme for Ghostbusters would have typecast him as he felt it would have?

First, it's a good thing he turned it down because Ray Parker, Jr. proved to be the right man for the job.

That said, no I don't think it would have typecast him. Maybe Randy Newman when he was doing Disney song after Disney song, but who gets typecast as a movie songwriter? It's not generally a thing, and I wonder whether Lindsey actually turned it down for a different reason and was just being polite.

Well, Ray Parker Jr’s plagiarized theme is now iconic, so…

Seeing how nobody but us, we, and a few others knew he even did Holiday Road and the other tunes, I doubt very much he would get typecast.

Who ya gonna call??? I voted YES

I voted yes ... yes ... YES. The movie would have been even better with a Fifties-style doo-wop ditty behind the credits.

You are right that no one knows. I tell people. I will derail a conversation to point it out. I was on a cake site and the cake designer had a little cake topper with the car and Christmas tree from the movie and she played a clip of the song in the background. I posted that that was Lindsey singing and said he write the song. I didn’t care a doggone thing about her cake.

Great reference, David. I think doo top ditty was done in Stripes. Also, Harold Ramos.