Carl Douglas

For the American lawyer, see Carl E. Douglas. For the gridiron football player, see Karl Douglas.

Carlton George Douglas (born 10 May 1942) is a Jamaican-British singer best known for his 1974 disco single "Kung Fu Fighting". Based in the United Kingdom, Douglas released three studio albums, including Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great Love Songs (1975).

Carl Douglas
Douglas in 1974
Background information
Birth name	Carlton George Douglas
Born	(1942-05-10) 10 May 1942 (age 83) Kingston, Jamaica
Genres	R&B,[1] soul music, disco, pop rock
Occupations	Singer songwriter
Years active	1964–present
Labels	Pye 20th Century
Website	carl-douglas.com

Early life

Douglas was born in Kingston. He later lived in the U.S. state of California before relocating to London as a teenager.^[2] He spent his childhood in England playing football, and vocal training. In his youth, he developed a passion for soul music (citing Sam Cooke and Otis Redding as his biggest influences) and a trained tenor voice, which he would display in church singing various religious songs.^[3]

Career

Douglas's career was based in the United Kingdom. His disco/pop rock single "Kung Fu Fighting", produced by British-Indian songwriter, composer, and producer Biddu, ranked number one on both the UK Singles Chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. The single sold 11 million copies worldwide,^[4] making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. The single was later certified gold by the RIAA on 27 November 1974.^[5]

The single, which is a homage to martial arts films, overshadowed the rest of Douglas' career, and has led to his appearance on other artists' versions of the song. In the United States, Douglas is considered a one-hit wonder, since he is commonly known only for "Kung Fu Fighting" (its follow-up "Dance the Kung Fu" stalled at number 48). In the United Kingdom, two of his other soul singles made it into the top 40: "Dance the Kung Fu", which peaked at number 35 in the charts, and "Run Back", which peaked at number 25.

Douglas was once managed by Eric Woolfson,^[6] who later became the primary songwriter behind The Alan Parsons Project.

In 1998, a re-recording of "Kung Fu Fighting", performed by British dance act Bus Stop and which featured Douglas' vocals, peaked at number 8 on the UK Singles Chart.^[7]

The single "Dance the Kung Fu" was sampled on "Cuda nie widy" from the 2001 album Nibylandia by Polish group Ego, and later by DJ Premier on 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.

Douglas is represented by music publisher Schacht Musikverlage (SMV) in Hamburg, Germany.^[8]

Discography

Albums

Year	Title	Chart positions
		US [9]	US R&B [9]	AUS [10]
1974	Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great Love Songs	37	1	40
1977	Love Peace and Happiness	—	—	—
1978	Keep Pleasing Me	—	—	—
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions															Certifications
		AUS [10]	AUT [11]	BEL [11]	CAN [11]	FRA [11]	GER [11]	IRE [11]	ITA [11]	NLD [11]	NOR [11]	NZL [11]	SWI [11]	UK [12][13]	US [9][12]	US R&B [9][12]
1964	"Crazy Feeling" (with The Big Stampede)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	55[A]	—	—
1968	"Serving a Sentence of Life"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1969	"Eeny Meeny"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1972	"Somebody Stop This Madness"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1974	"Kung Fu Fighting"	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	3	1	2	1	1	1	BPI: Gold[14]
	"Dance the Kung Fu"	—	19	8	—	—	5	—	—	7	—	—	—	35	48	8
	"Blue Eyed Soul"	—	—	25	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1977	"Shanghai'd"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Run Back"	—	—	—	—	—	45	—	—	—	—	—	—	25	—	—
1998	"Kung Fu Fighting" (re-issue with Bus Stop)	15	—	22	—	25	—	12	—	—	—	1	—	8	—	—	BPI: Silver[15]
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

See also

• List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
• List of artists who reached number one in the United States
• List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart
• List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States

Notes

1. Chart position is from the official UK "Breakers List".