Editor Ira is here to kick off spooky season with a look back at the musical stylings of “The Real Ghostbusters.”

Howdy. I'm here to talk about the songs from my favorite incarnation of "Ghostbusters." No, I don't mean Ray Parker Jr.'s indelible, Oscar-nominated theme song from the 1984 movie. I'm not talking about the Bobby Brown single from "Ghostbusters 2" either. And I'm definitely not referring to any of the dozen or so remakes, reboots, and spin-offs foisted upon us in the past decade or so. (I haven't seen any of those but I presume they have music in them.)

What I'm here to discuss is the 1986 syndicated cartoon "The Real Ghostbusters," for my money the finest product in the surprisingly complex history of the franchise. All due respect to Ivan Reitman's original film, which deserves its '80s classic status if not the rabid devotion it gets from hardcore fans. It blew my mind in a good way when my parents took me to see it when I was 6 (in the mistaken belief that it was a straight-up children's movie), but I've never cherished it to the degree that a lot of my agemates do.

"The Real Ghostbusters," on the other hand, changed the game for me. Amidst the cloying offal of '80s kids cartoons in general and cartoon adaptations of existing IP in particular, here was a show that actually made an effort. If you're not familiar, the basic concept of "The Real Ghostbusters" picked up where the movie left off, following the titular quartet of specter-seekers as they investigate hauntings of all shapes and sizes.

(It's obligatory in any discussion of "The Real Ghostbusters" to explain why it's called that. There was a terrible 1970s sitcom titled "Ghost Busters" that was largely forgotten until Ivan Reitman co-opted the name for the 1984 movie. After that became a gigantic hit, the rights holders for the sitcom tried to cash in on the name by rushing an animated adaptation to market. The cartoon was likewise terrible (although it had a catchy theme song of its own and featured a talking gorilla), but it precluded the official movie adaptation from using the name "Ghostbusters." The "Real" was added to the title in one of the more impressively passive-aggressive moves in 1980s pop culture.)

The show provided more character development than the movie could (no shade on Harold Ramis, but my Egon Spengler will always be the one with the blonde rat-tail and the voice of Maurice LaMarche), including expanded roles for the team's office admin Janine and their mascot Slimer the ghost. I personally could've done with a little less Slimer, but in the pantheon of obnoxious cartoon comic-relief sidekicks, he was one of the most tolerable.

The show also allowed its writers to indulge their passions for classic horror and pop culture. This show introduced me to the concepts of Samhain, Ragnarok, and exorcism. The stories drew from such wide-ranging sources as Charles Dickens, Salvador Dali, and "Citizen Kane." In an era of lazy after-school cartoons where only "DuckTales" was putting in a comparable effort, a show that respected my youthful intelligence this much was a godsend.

I've revisited a good portion of "The Real Ghostbusters" with my kid in recent years. I'm pleased to say that not only does it hold up, it's still revealing hidden depths that I didn't catch as a child. That brings me to those aforementioned songs. As you might expect, the theme song for "The Real Ghostbusters" is "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr. Huey Lewis be damned, that song was a massive hit that helped extend the popularity of the film in a way that few movie themes ever have. Recycling it for the cartoon was a no-brainer.

But that wasn't the only memorable piece of music involved in this show. On rewatch, I noticed that many of the Ghostbusters' action sequences and montages were scored with upbeat pop songs. I first assumed that these came from one of those libraries of cheaply licensed music for all occasions. Listening more closely, though, I realized that some of the songs' lyrics made regular references to the themes and characters of each "Real Ghostbusters" episode. Clearly, these were original songs written specifically for the series.

The idea of working musicians being contracted to write and record original pop songs about the Ghostbusters delighted me. I was even more pleased to learn that all of those songs were the work of a pop group called Tahiti, led by young musicians Tyren Perry and Tonya Townsend. Both women worked extensively in the music and film industries both before and after, but as near as I've been able to determine Tahiti itself existed mainly as the house band for "The Real Ghostbusters." That's about the coolest designation I can imagine.

These weren't just throwaways or generic bubblegum pop like the songs in "Scooby-Doo" chase sequences, either. These were danceable, fully produced tracks that wouldn't have sounded out of place on a mid-'80s radio playlist. In fact, RCA actually assembled 10 Tahiti songs from the series and released them as a cassette sold in both music stores and toy stores. It had been two years since the Ray Parker Jr. song hit the charts, and I presume the label was eager to squeeze as much blood as they could out of that particular stone.

As for the songs themselves, they're pretty darn good, particularly if you're a fan of '80s R&B. They're heavy on the danceable beats and synth hits. Not all of the songs tie directly into the themes of their episodes, but even when they do, the songwriting is savvy enough to let them stand alone.

“Boogieman” — named for a hoofed "Real Ghostbusters" ghoul who specializes in terrifying children in their bedrooms — could have easily been a spooky season hit in the vein of “Thriller.” Another villain theme song, “Mr. Sandman,” ignores the specifics of the eponymous character as seen on the show in favor of a dreamy love ballad. “Movie Star” captures a bit of Prince-esque energy (and features vocals by a children's chorus that included Tyren Perry's sister Jaimee Foxworth, best known as the third Winslow child who got unceremoniously written out of the "Family Matters" cast in the fifth season). “Remember Home” is a straight-up '80s power ballad. "The Real Ghostbusters" soundtrack contains multitudes.

Maybe the most surprising thing about the "Real Ghostbusters" soundtrack is how straightforward it is, and how much more fun it becomes when it embraces the baked-in goofiness of its own existence. “Midnight Action,” for instance, updates the “Monster Mash” formula with the tale of a dance party attended by Frankenstein, witches, “Slimy” (sic) and other assorted creeps. There's even a rap break about busting ghosts. The closing cut, “Hometown Hero,” brings in special guest Ray Parker Jr. (how'd they ever land him?) for a guitar solo while Tahiti chants his name.

The album wasn't a commercial hit in its time, but it has become a highly sought-after prize for collectors of both cassettes and "Ghostbusters" memorabilia. "The Real Ghostbusters" has seen multiple releases for home video and DVD, with rights issues meaning that the Tahiti songs are included in some editions and replaced with filler music in others. The same goes for the show's appearances on various streaming platforms. That inconsistency is par for the course for semi-lost media items and only increases the fascination for oddballs such as myself.

Perhaps Tahiti didn't end up making a major impact on the R&B scene, but their songs are seeded deep in the memories of a generation of unsuspecting '80s kids. That's the kind of staying power most bands can only dream of.

Author's note: Some of this article has been paraphrased from a post I wrote for my pal Joe's blog a decade ago. If you're one of the handful of people who saw it in its original run, apologies for the repeated info.