Harold Ramis, probably best known for his role as Dr. Egon Spengler in the Ghostbusters film series (some of my favourite films ever) passed away earlier today. In honour of his memory, I bring you the most quintessentially 80s theme song ever, from the aforementioned film series.

I don’t know a single person who doesn’t know the Ghostbusters theme song. It’s one of the most iconic film themes ever created, and so very obviously a product of its time. Yet, 30 years later (!), its synthesised sound effects, funk guitar, the call and response vocals and lyrics are as indelible as ever. It captures the perfect middle ground between spooky and absurd fun that the films nailed.

It’s amazing what you can do with two chords. In the hands of most, a two chord song would be the most horrendous thing ever, but it seems that all Aretha has to do is open her mouth and start singing and magic will commence. There’s only one thing you can do when this song starts up and that’s get down and get jiggy.

Electro-funk! Not something we’ve really covered on here, but hey, there’s a first time for everything. I’m infinitely disappointed that this song doesn’t really have anything to do with ferrets (from what I can see/hear anyway), so I GUESS I’ll just have to make do with a totally kickin’ groove that brings in a bit of shoegazing, a bit of rock, and a bit of funky good times! It is quite the compromise, I assure you.

I heard that The Heavy just released a new EP, so I decided to listen to this tune to see if they could repeat their awesomeness. I’m now feverishly waiting until 5PM so I can rush to the record store to buy that EP. It’d be a total bust if the rest of the album were kind of janky, but I’ll take the risk!

The Heavy continues their eclectic blend of 60s rock and roll with funk and soul influences, and what a totally kickin’ combination it is. It’s wild and weird and wonderful and all manner of grand adjectives that start with w. Best of all, the tune is free for you to download!

Edit: Out of stock!

In honour of my lovely (real world) colleague Sarah who got married today, I’ve decided to post that perennial wedding favourite, Nutbush City Limits. Granted, she was somewhat displeased that the song made it onto the rotation during her reception, but what’s a little bit of tormenting between colleagues?

There’s no doubt that this song is catchy and iconic (that guitar, goodness me), but it’s a little insane that an entire dance has been attributed to it too. What’s more, everyone seems to know it! I don’t ever remember specifically learning it, but I sure as hell know all the moves and I’m betting you do too (if you’re Australian). Any way, congratulations, Sarah!

While the Dougster is renowned for bringing you the latest in the world of ska and gyspy and all manner of weird bands you’ve never heard of before, and Hugh is renowned for bringing you a good general mix of stuff you’ve probably never heard of before, I’ve always brought up the rear with stuff you’ve heard before, you know of, or you’ve heard to death. And this post is 100% without exception.

Remember how I was talking about that late night radio station that got me hooked on Wax Tailor? Well, it also got me hooked on Nikka Costa, a charming lady who plays some groovetastic R&B. I’ll have to say, today’s stream of R&B (mainstream wise) was something I generally avoided like the plague, so it was nice to hear some decent R&B for once.

Fans of Arrested Development (rippin’ show that one) should already be familiar with at least one Nikka Costa song: Everybody Got Their Something was featured pretty heavily on it. Anyhoo, Nikka plays a good mix of funky R&B and soul in a really sophisticated way. Well, sophisticated is the wrong word. Basically, it’s not trashy, like so much mainstream music is these days. There’s some really sweet tracks too, such as Push and Pull which would definitely have to be my favourite on the Everybody Got Their Something album. She also has an incredible vocal range: it goes from damn low to ear piercingly high (in a good way, honest).

This is a really sucky post and I can’t find any media for her, short of her MySpace page. So if you know how to navigate that contraption of a website, then please be my guest!