Carl Douglas: "Kung Fu fighting" (1974 )

* First Video: Original Video CLip




* Second Video: "Karaoke"




"Kung Fu Fighting" is a song written and performed by Carl Douglas and Vivian Hawke, 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 Everything (written by Brooklyn songwriter Larry Weiss, Sung by Carl Douglas), and was recorded in the last ten minutes of his studio time.

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 Fighting was rated #100 in VH1's 100 Greatest one-hit wonders, and number 1 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.


- Lyrics:

Oh-hoh-hoh-hoah
Oh-hoh-hoh-hoah
Oh-hoh-hoh-hoah
Oh-hoh-hoh-hoah

[Chorus:]
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 China men from funky Chinatown
They were trapping them up
They were trapping them down
It's an ancient Chinese art
And everybody knew their part
From a fainting, to a slip
And a kickin' from the hip
Everybody was Kung Fu fighting
Those kids were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit fright'ning
But they fought with expert timing

There was funky Billie Jim and little Sammy Chong
He said, here comes the big boss, let's get it on
We took the bow and made a stand
Started swaying with the hand
A sudden motion made me skip
Now we're into a brand new trip

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting
Those kids were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit fright'ning
But they did it with expert timing

Oh-hoh-hoh-hoh,ha
Oh-hoh-hoh-hoh,ha
Oh-hoh-hoh-hoh-ha
Keep on, keep on, keep on
Sure enough
Everybody was Kung Fu fighting
Those kids were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit fright'ning
Make sure you have expert timing
Kung Fu fighting, had to be fast as lightning...