Oh ho ho hoooooooooo
Radioinfo is taking you back 50 years to the songs of 1974. It was a mighty fine year for music.
During the pandemic I did a one hit wonders project, in which 1974 was prolific. Kung Fu Fighting was unique in that countdown in other ways too. In Australia four one hit wonders have charted twice for the same artist, with Carl’s 1998 Kung Fu Fighting remix with Bus Stop reaching No 14.
Can you name any of the other three? The answers are down the bottom.
They enlisted the wrong audience for the above film clip. Carl is totally giving it his all, and they could not be any less interested.
Carl Douglas is a trained tenor with a background in gospel and a passion for soul and soccer. He had a song called I Want to Give You My Everything written for him by Larry Weiss. Larry had just composed and recorded Rhinestone Cowboy, which Glen Campbell would take to No 1 the following year. So, there were high hopes for this single.
Two hours into the three that were booked at the recording studio, Carl’s producer Biddu realised they didn’t have anything for the B side.
Biddu asked Carl if he had anything? Carl, a Bruce Lee fan, created a homage to the schlocky martial arts films he loved. They did just two takes. In the last ten minutes of the session, Douglas went totally over the top in his huhs and hahs thinking to himself:
“It’s a B side. Who’s gonna listen?”
It that wonderful way that radio and club DJs used to be able to do, someone started flipping the single over and people would flock to the dance floor. The song is one of the early inspirations for the start of the disco era.
Radio stations picked it up from there. Kung Fu Fighting was a number one hit all over the world, including Australia, with more than 11 million copies sold, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Carl leaned into and embraced the unexpected hit. Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great Love Songs is one of my all-time favourite album titles.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and music trivia nerd for Radioinfo.
Other one hit wonders, twice (for the same artist):
Kung Fu Fighting – No 1, 1974 Carl Douglas and No 14, 1998 Bus Stop featuring Carl Douglas
Black Betty – Ram Jam, No 3, 1977 and No 32, 1990
Venus – Shocking Blue, No 5, 1970 and No 49, 1990 for Venus ’90 (a remix)
And of course:
I Love The Nightlife (Disco ‘Round) / Alicia Bridges, No 3, 1979 and No 8, 1994 of the back of a remixed rerelease used in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.