Sure, it’s fun to play fantasy casting with the new Ghostbusters movie — Bill Murray is in! Is McLovin the new Egon? — but let’s not forget “the fifth ghostbuster”: the theme song. The original jam, Ray Parker Jr.’s groundbreaking exploration of “bustin” and how it makes one feel good, has lived on in our generational lexicon, birthing unto the world such indispensable catchphrases as “Who you gonna call?” and “I ain’t afraid of no ghost.” And to some extent, Bobby Brown’s “On Our Own” was the theme to Ghostbusters 2, a leitmotif, if you will, reminding us that the venerable ghostbusters are “too hot to handle, too cold to hold.” So the question on everyone’s mind — aside from “Will Hi-C revive Ecto Cooler?” — is “Who will write the Ghostbusters 3 theme song?”
HUEY LEWIS
Back in 1985, when Marty McFly had barely discovered the joys of the Flux Capacitor, seasoned theme-song writer Huey Lewis sued Ray Parker Jr. over the Ghostbusters theme’s similarities to “I Want a New Drug.” Although they eventually settled out of court and more or less agreed to never speak of the matter again, we feel like the world owes Lewis a chance to set the record straight. His work on Pineapple Express may have been ironically charged, but it was unironically awesome, so let the Huey Lewis renaissance begin! Relevant experience: I Want a New Drug. Odds: +500
THE JONAS BROTHERS
Though it’s true the theme-song artist won’t be selected by an MTV online poll, and two-thirds of the Jonas Brothers were born after Ghostbusters 2 came out, don’t dismiss this idea as a matter of course! Consider what was foretold in the scripture of the Jonaspocalypse: “Woe unto the ghosts, for they shall be busted, and the Sons of Jonas shall sing their requiem.” Relevant experience: “Burnin’ Up.” Odds: +10,000
KANYE WEST
If anything, Ivan Reitman’s decision to use Bobby Brown’s rap showed a commitment to pop-culture evolution — that the Ghostbusters franchise was a living document, like the U.S. Constitution or the Necronomicon. We wouldn’t be surprised to see another reinvention here, and who better than Kanye to mix genres and musically reference the series’ past? If the guy can rap over robot dance music, anything’s possible. Relevant experience: “Stronger.” Odds: +1,100
HALL AND OATES/CHROMEO
Another eighties duo are part of an unlikely resurgence, as Daryl Hall and John Oates find themselves working with the electrofunk duo Chromeo on an upcoming record. Few, if any, other collaborations so perfectly capture the past, present, and future of ghost-busting in the musical sense. Relevant experience: “Maneater,” “Bonafide Lovin’.” Odds: +2,000
RICK ASTLEY
There’s undeniable appeal in Rickrolling a $70 million movie. Relevant experience: OMG HANNAH MONTANA N00DZ!!! CLICK HERE NOW!!!!. Odds: +Infinity
Earlier: Vulture’s Increasingly Giddy ‘Ghostbusters 3’ Coverage
