“Kung Fu Fighting” is a disco song by Jamaican vocalist Carl Douglas, written by Douglas and produced by British-Indian musician Biddu. It was released in 1974 as the first single from his debut album, Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great Love Songs (1974), on the cusp of a chopsocky film craze and rose to the top of the British, Australian, Canadian, and American charts, in addition to reaching the top of the Soul Singles chart. It received a Gold certification from the RIAA in 1974 and popularized disco music.[dubious – discuss] 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 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 one 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 covered by CeeLo Green with Jack Black and The Vamps for the first and third films of the Kung Fu Panda franchise respectively.
