Carlton George Douglas (born 10 May 1942) is a Jamaican-British singer best known for his 1974

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

single " Kung Fu Fighting". Based in the United Kingdom, Douglas released three studio albums, most notably '' Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great Love Songs'' (1975), before fading into cultural obscurity as a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

Early life

Douglas was born in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

. He later lived in the U.S. state of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

before relocating to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

as a teenager. He spent his childhood in England playing football, and vocal training. In his youth, he developed a passion for

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

(citing

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...

and Otis Redding as his biggest influences) and a trained tenor voice, which he would display in church singing various religious songs.

Career

Douglas's career was based in the United Kingdom. His disco single " Kung Fu Fighting", produced by British-Indian songwriter, composer, and producer Biddu, ranked number one on both the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1974. The single sold 11 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. The single was later certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on 27 November 1974. 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

, since he is commonly known only for "Kung Fu Fighting" (its follow-up "Dance the Kung Fu" did not chart on the top 40). In the United Kingdom, two of his other 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, who later became the primary songwriter behind

the Alan Parsons Project The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock band active between 1975 and 1990, whose core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They were accompanie ...

. In 1998, a re-recording of "Kung Fu Fighting", performed by British dance act

Bus Stop A bus stop is a place where buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating, and possibly electronic passenger ...

and which featured Douglas' vocals, peaked at number 8 on the UK Singles Chart. 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 A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

of Nike's 25th Air Force One anniversary single "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)", featuring

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

, and Rakim. Douglas is represented by music publisher Schacht Musikverlage (SMV) in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Carl 1942 births Living people Singers from Kingston, Jamaica Grammy Award winners Jamaican male singers Jamaican expatriates in the United Kingdom Jamaican expatriates in Germany Pye Records artists 20th-century Jamaican singers 20th-century Black British male singers 20th Century Fox Records artists Disco musicians