"Kung Fu Fighting" is a song written and performed by Carl
Douglas, and produced by Biddu. It was released as a single in
1974, at the cusp of a chopsocky film craze, and quickly rose
to the top of British and American charts. "Kung Fu Fighting"
was also number one on the soul singles chart for one week. The
song also is famous for its use of the quintessential Oriental
Riff, a short musical phrase that is used to signify Chinese
culture.
It originally was meant to be a B-side to
I Want to Give You My Everythingby Brooklyn songwriter
Larry Weiss, and was recorded in the last ten minutes of his
studio time. This song has been featured prominently in pop
culture including Mott's Clamato advertisements.
Douglas states that his inspiration to write the song was
affected by three factors: he had seen a kung fu movie, later
visited a jazz concert by Oscar Peterson, and was suffering
from side-effects of pain killers (Douglas had injured his foot
playing football). Another account gives his inspiration simply
as seeing two kids in London doing kung fu moves.
Kung Fu Fightingwas rated #100 in VH1's
100 Greatest one-hit wonders, and number 1 in the UK
Channel 4's
Top 10 One Hit Wonderslist in 2000, the same channel's
50 Greatest One Hit Wonderspoll in 2006 and
Bring Back ... the one-hit Wonders, for which Carl
Douglas performed the song in a live concert.
Patti Rothberg covered the song for the
Beverly Hills Ninjasoundtrack in 1997.
The song was very popular in Jamaica, and there were several
cover versions by reggae artists including Lloyd Parks, The
Maroons, The Cimarons, and Pluto Shervington.
Jerry Lo (DJ Jerry, Taiwan) also produced a remake of the
song [1].
There's also a Finnish version of this song, sung by
Frederik. The song's translated name is "Kung-Fu
Taistelee".
A cover version of the song was performed by Cee-Lo Green
and Jack Black for the 2008 animated movie
Kung Fu Panda.
Robyn Hitchcock also covered the song for the anti-poll tax
album
Alvin Lives (in Leeds)in 1990.
In 2004, the German record label Echo Beach released an
album entitled
Kung Fu Fighting Remixes (Dub Drenched Soundscapes)that
featured remixes of the track by 16 different artists including
Adrian Sherwood, Dreadzone and Pole.
British dance act Bus Stop reached #8 on the U.K. charts
with their 1998 remix single of "Kung Fu Fighting", which
sampled the original vocals by Carl Douglas and added rap
verses. Iconic DJ Fatboy Slim is sometimes mistakenly credited
for this remix.
The song was used as the title song in the German version of
the TV series
Kung Fu. It has been used in several movies and
television shows since 1990 where there is a light-hearted
spirit to the martial arts, including
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie,
Shaolin Soccer,
Little Manhattan,
Epic Movie,
City of God,
Beverly Hills Ninja,
Sin noticias de Dios,
Scrubs,
Bowfinger,
Kung Fu Panda,
Rush Hour 3.
It also has been used in trailers for the films
Kung Fu Panda, Disney's
Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, &
Kung Fu Hustle, and a cover by Cee-Lo Green and Jack
Black is used over the end credits of
Kung Fu Panda. This version has partially rewritten
lyrics more in keeping with the film's themes.
It is used as the theme song for the Xbox game Kung Fu
Chaos.
A re-recorded version of the song by Douglas are featured in
Lego Rock Band&
Band Hero.
The Bus Stop version has appeared in the video game
Dance Dance Revolution, and the original version
appeared in
Dancing Stage MAX.
Iron Fist mentions the first line of the song in
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.