Greatest Hit!
Sometimes a song comes along at exactly the right time, and it just can’t be stopped from becoming a hit. Occasionally, these are actually good songs, but usually they’re thrown together to latch on to the latest fad on TV or in the news.
When you have a good song and perfect timing, you get Carl Douglas.
I’ll be the first to admit that this song is really silly. That’s part of its charm. It’s so seventies!
Written by Jamaican singer Carl Douglas in 1974, “Kung Fu Fighting” became an international hit, topping both the U.K. and American charts. It has been covered by wide selection of artists and has been used in movies and television shows for decades.
Why? Well, because it’s so much fun. It’s got a really great hook to it and how can you beat the “hoo!” and “hah!” in the chorus?
Musically, this is a perfect example of disco music in 1974, and when you add the subject matter, the Kung Fu television series having become a hit a year or two before as well as Bruce Lee and ”chopsocky” movies, and you have created musical gold.
Carl Douglas never really had another hit but has been remained active in the entertainment industry.
“Kung Fu Fighting” was listed as #100 on VH-1′s 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders, but in this case the one hit wonder lable may not really apply. Carl’s song has been a hit over and over again, just not by him.
Here’s my favorite cover version.
Any song that can become a hit in Finnish has got to have something going for it.
Categories: Good Sports!
1 Comment »
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March 18th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
This was just plain fun.
I have to be honest, I never thought I would see the word “Chopsocky”
and listen to someone sing “Kung Fu Fighting” in Finnish, in the same sitting,
but both work. Seriously, in Finnish?
It really doesn’t lose any of the fun does it?
Thanks for this Pete!