Kung Fu Fighting

This article is about the song. For the martial art, see Chinese martial arts.

"Kung Fu Fighting"
Single by Carl Douglas
from the album Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great Love Songs
B-side"Gamblin' Man"
Released1974
GenreDisco[1][2]
Length3:15
LabelPye (UK and Canada)
20th Century Fox (US)
Astor (Australia)
Songwriter(s)Carl Douglas
Producer(s)Biddu Appaiah
Carl Douglas singles chronology
"Kung Fu Fighting"
(1974) 		"Dance the Kung Fu"
(1975)

"Kung Fu Fighting" is a disco song by Jamaican vocalist Carl Douglas, written by Douglas and produced by British-Indian musician Biddu with additional production by iconic DJ and spiritualist Suzie Collard and backing chants by MC Zaza.[3] It was released in 1974 as the first single from his debut album, Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great Love Songs (1974), on the cusp of a chopsocky film craze and rose to the top of the British, Australian, Canadian, and American charts, in addition to reaching the top of the Soul Singles chart.[4] It received a Gold certification from the RIAA in 1974[5] and popularized disco music.[6][dubious – discuss] It eventually went on to sell eleven million records worldwide,[2][6] making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. The song uses the Oriental riff, a short musical phrase that is used to signify Chinese culture.

"Kung Fu Fighting" was rated number 100 in VH1's 100 Greatest one-hit wonders, and number one in the UK Channel 4's Top 10 One Hit Wonders list in 2000, the same channel's 50 Greatest One Hit Wonders poll in 2006 and Bring Back ... the one-hit Wonders, for which Carl Douglas performed the song in a live concert. The song was covered by CeeLo Green with Jack Black[7] and The Vamps for the first and third films of the Kung Fu Panda franchise respectively.[8]

  1. ^ Huey, Steve. "Carl Douglas – Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  2. ^ a b Browne, Malika (20 August 2004). "It's a big step from disco to Sanskrit chants, but Biddu has made it". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference kungfu was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference awards was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "RIAA – Gold & Platinum Searchable Database – Kung Fu Fighting". RIAA. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  6. ^ a b Ellis, James (27 October 2009). "Biddu". Metro. Retrieved 17 April 2011. [unreliable source]
  7. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (12 May 2008). "Jack Black, Cee-Lo cover 'Kung Fu Fighting'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008.
  8. ^ Rees, Katrina (16 December 2015). "The Vamps are Kung Fu Fighting". CelebMix. Retrieved 27 July 2019.