Carl Douglas

Carl Douglas
Birth name	Carlton George Douglas
Born	10 May 1942 Kingston, Jamaica
Genres	Disco
Years active	1960s–present
Website	carl-douglas.com

Carlton George Douglas (born 10 May 1942), also known by his stage name Carl Douglas, is a Jamaican recording artist. Douglas rose to prominence after releasing his single "Kung Fu Fighting".

Early life

Carlton George Douglas was born on 10 May 1942 in Kingston, Jamaica.

Career

Douglas' career was based in the United Kingdom, where his single "Kung Fu Fighting" ranked number one in both the U.K. Singles Chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. The single sold 11 million copies worldwide,^[1][2] making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. The single was later certified gold by the RIAA on 27 November 1974.^[3]

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,^[4] 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".^[5]

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.^[6]

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,^[7] All Music ^[8] & MusicVF.^[9]

See also

• Biddu
• 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

References

1. James Ellis. "Biddu". Metro. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
2. Malika Browne (20 August 2004). "It's a big step from disco to Sanskrit chants, but Biddu has made it". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
3. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 344. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
4. "Eric Woolfson: Singer and songwriter with the Alan Parsons Project | Obituaries | News". The Independent. Retrieved 2016-06-26.
5. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 167. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
6. "SMV | Schacht Musikverlage". Smv.de. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
7. "Song artist 778 - Carl Douglas". Tsort.info. Retrieved 2016-06-26.
8. Steve Huey (1942-05-10). "Carl Douglas | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-06-26.
9. "Carl Douglas Songs ••• Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. Retrieved 2016-06-26.