Kung Fu Fighting

Album

Kung Fu Fighting And Other Great Love Songs

Label

20th Century Fox Records

Genre

Disco

Composer(s)

Carl Douglas;Biddu Appaiah

Entered Chart

Oct 12, 1974

Peak Date

Dec 7, 1974

Released

Unknown

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

20th Fox 2140

B-Side

Gamblin' Man

Douglas was a session singer for Pye records when he wrote this. He got the idea for the song when he saw 2 kids in London doing some Kung Fu moves. In 1974 the Asian producer Biddu asked Douglas to record a song he wrote with Larry Weiss called "I Want To Give You My Everything," and Douglas convinced him to use "Kung Fu Fighting" as the B-side. They recorded "Kung Fu" in 10 minutes, figuring it was just a B-side, but the record label loved it and made it the A-side. After a slow start, it began selling and Biddu became the first Asian to produce a UK #1 hit. It went on to sell 10 million copies worldwide. >> Biddu (From the Metro newspaper August 6, 2004): "Kung Fu Fighting was not meant to be a hit. Carl Douglas recorded something for an A-side of a single and every session was three hours long. We spent two hours on the first song and then took a break and I said: 'Quick guys, we need to record the B-side in two takes.' Kung Fu Fighting was the B-side so I went over the top on the 'huhs' and the 'hahs' and the chopping sounds. It was a B-side: who was going to listen? I played the A-side to the guy at Pye Records, Robin Blanchflower, and he said: 'Can I listen to the rest of the reel?' When he heard it, he said: 'This should be the A-side.'" Kung Fu movies were very popular at the time, and this capitalized on the craze. Bruce Lee was a big star. Douglas is from Jamaica. He was the first Jamaican-born singer to have a #1 hit in the US. Of course this was used in the 2008 kid's movie Kung Fu Panda, performed by Cee-Lo Green and Jack Black. The original Carl Douglas version was used in the movies City of God (2002), Wayne's World 2 (1994), Beverly Hills Ninja (1997), Daddy Day Care (2003), and Bowfinger (1999). In 1998 this returned to the UK charts peaking at #8 in a rendition by British dance act Bus Stop. Their version sampled Carl Douglas' original vocals. Bus Stop were production group Mark Hall and Graham Turner who later recorded as Flip & Fill. Daz Sampson, who later represented the UK in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, was also a member of the group.

Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Those kicks were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening
But they fought with expert timing

They were funky China men from funky Chinatown
They were chopping them up and they were chopping them down
It's an ancient Chinese art and everybody knew their part
From a feint into a slip, and kicking from the hip

Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Those kicks were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening
But they fought with expert timing

There was funky Billy Chin and little Sammy Chung
He said here comes the big boss, let's get it on
We took a bow and made a stand, started swinging with the hand
The sudden motion made me skip now we're into a brand knew trip

Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Those kicks were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening
But they did it with expert timing

Keep on, keep on, keep on, keep on

Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Those kicks were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening
Make sure you have expert timing

Kung-fu fighting, had to be fast as lightning

Keep on, keep on, keep on