Quick Facts
Biography
Carlton George Douglas (born 10 May 1942), also known by his stage name Carl Douglas, is a Jamaican recording artist who rose to prominence with his single "Kung Fu Fighting".
Early life
Carlton George Douglas was born on 10 May 1942 in Kingston, Jamaica.
Career
Douglas's career was based in the United Kingdom. His single "Kung Fu Fighting" ranked number one on both the U.K. 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 by the RIAA on 27 November 1974.
The single, which is a homage to martial arts films, has overshadowed the rest of Douglas' career; resulting in his appearance on cover versions of the single. In the United States, Douglas was considered a "one-hit wonder" since he was only known for "Kung Fu Fighting". However, in the United Kingdom, he has two other singles that made it into the "Top 40", which were "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".
In 1998, a re-recording of "Kung Fu Fighting", performed by British dance act Bus Stop and which featured Douglas's vocals, peaked at number 8 in the "UK Singles Chart".
The single "Dance The Kung Fu", was sampled on "Cuda nie widy" from 2001 album Nibylandia, 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.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Title | UK | US 200 | US R&B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Kung Fu Fighter | - | 37 | 1 |
| 1977 | Love, Peace and Happiness | - | - | - |
| 1978 | Keep Pleasing Me | - | - | - |
Singles
| Year | Title | UK | US | USD | IRE | CB | AU | NZ | GE | AT | NE | FR | ITA | NO | SUI | BE | SA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Crazy Feeling (with The Big Stampede) | 21 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1968 | Serving A Sentence Of Life | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1969 | Eeny Meeny | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1972 | Somebody Stop This Madness | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1974 | Blue Eyed Soul | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | - | - | - | 17 | - |
| 1974 | Kung Fu Fighting | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 1974 | Dance The Kung Fu | 35 | 48 | - | - | 46 | - | - | 6 | 19 | 9 | - | - | - | - | 8 | 16 |
| 1977 | Shanghai | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1977 | Run Back | 25 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | - | - | - | - | 5 |
| 1998 | Kung Fu Fighting (re-issue with Bus Stop) | 8 | - | - | 12 | - | 15 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Chart information provided by TSORT, All Music& MusicVF.