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

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

single " Kung Fu Fighting". Based in the United Kingdom, Douglas released three studio albums, including '' Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great Love Songs'' (1975).

Early life

Douglas was born in Kingston. He later lived in the U.S. state of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

before relocating to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

(citing

Sam Cooke Samuel Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...

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/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, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. The single was later certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

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 film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expression a ...

s, 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 A one-hit wonder 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 performers with ...

, 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, who later became the primary songwriter behind

The Alan Parsons Project The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock music, rock duo formed in London in 1975. Its core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons, and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They shared w ...

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

Bus Stop A bus stop is a place where Public transport bus service, 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 shelter (building), shelters ...

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, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, 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, poem, or photograph ca ...

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 and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

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 (S ...

, KRS-One, and

Rakim William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim (), is an American rapper. He is one half of Golden age hip-hop, golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, with whom he released four albums: ''Paid in Full ...

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

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Notes

References

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