I remembered this song in the early 70's. We were in the family car a 1972 Dodge Demon, it had a 340 Cubic Inch Displacement and was a bad to the bone car. I am a Ford guy but I do like the dodges..especially the older ones.
We were shipping the car to Germany where my Dad had orders to report. We had left Macon Georgia to go to Charleston South Carolina to put the car on a boat to Bremerhaven. This song came on 7 times on the radio before we got there and it was a catchy little song
"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.
The song was originally meant to be a B-side to "I Want to Give You My Everything" (written by Brooklyn songwriter Larry Weiss, and sung by Carl Douglas). The producer Biddu originally hired Douglas to sing "I Want to Give You My Everything" but needed something to record for the B-side, and asked Douglas if he had any lyrics they could use. Douglas showed several, out of which Biddu chose the one that would later be called "Kung Fu Fighting" and worked out a melody for it without taking it too seriously.
After having spent over two hours recording the A-side and then taking a break, "Kung Fu Fighting" was recorded quickly in the last ten minutes of studio time, in only two takes, due to a three-hour time constraint for the entire session. According to Biddu, "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?" After hearing both songs, Robin Blanchflower of Pye Records insisted that "Kung Fu Fighting" should be the A-side instead.
Following its release, the song didn't receive any radio airplay for the first five weeks and it initially sold poorly, but the song began gaining popularity in dance clubs, eventually entering the UK Singles Chart at #42 on 17 August 1974 and reaching the top on 21 September, after which it would remain at the top for three weeks. It was then released in the United States, where it was equally successful, topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single would eventually go on to sell eleven million records worldwide.
Finally, one I remember! :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat song. One hit wonder. A classic that every now and again seems to get resurrected in movies or for an ad or a parody. Or something. Sounded best when played over those highly compressed 50,000 watt AM radio stations when Top 40 was till the top-tier format.
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