Carl Douglas (born 10 May 1942) is a former Jamaican-born, UK-based, singer, best known for his song "Kung Fu Fighting", which hit number one in both the UK Singles Chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. The R.I.A.A. awarded gold disc status on 27 November, and it won a Grammy Award for Best Selling Single in 1974. It eventually went on to sell eleven million records worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.
This homage to martial arts films has overshadowed the rest of the singer's career, resulting in his appearance on cover versions of the song. Douglas did release two other singles ("Blue Eyed Soul" and "Dance The Kung Fu", which was sampled by DJ Premier in his 2007 remix of Nike's 25th Air Force One anniversary single "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)", featuring Kanye West, Nas, KRS-One and Rakim ) but he has gone down in recording history as an example of a one hit wonder.
He was at one time managed by Eric Woolfson, later the primary songwriter behind The Alan Parsons Project.
In 1998, a re-recording of "Kung Fu Fighting", billed as Bus Stop featuring Carl Douglas, reached number 8 in the UK Singles Chart.
He now resides in Hamburg, Germany where he runs SMV (Schacht Musik Verlage), a publishing company that coordinates films, documentaries, and advertisements.
Kung Fu Fighting
"Kung Fu Fighting" is a disco song written and performed by Carl Douglas, and composed and produced by Biddu. It was released as a single in 1974, at the cusp of a chopsocky film craze, and eventually rose to the top of the British and American charts, in addition to reaching number one on the Soul Singles chart. It received a Gold certification from the RIAA in 1974, won the 1974 Grammy Award for Best Selling Single,[5] and popularized disco music. It eventually went on to sell eleven million records worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. The song uses the quintessential 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 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.
