2018-03-31 13:30:46流浪阿狗
老歌亂談(816)Kung Fu Fighting
Biddu Appaiah是位印度人，年輕時喜歡西洋熱門音樂，也曾組過樂團，之後赴英國發展，一度兼任唱片製作人。某日，找來了錄音室的牙買加籍特約歌手Carl Douglas，要錄他所寫的一首《I Want to Give You My Everything》，錄了兩小時OK完成，但仍缺少B面的歌曲，就問Carl Douglas有無歌曲可提供？Douglas提出了幾首，結果Biddu Appaiah選了這首《Kung Fu Fighting》。由於錄音室的預約使用時間為3小時，所剩餘的時間不多，只正式的唱了兩次，可說是只花了10分鐘就完成了。
Biddu Appaiah
歌曲錄好後送到Pye唱片公司的主管Robin Blanchflower處，聽完了這兩首歌後，Robin Blanchflower堅持要將《Kung Fu Fighting》換成A面歌曲發行。1974，唱片問世後，剛開始根本就沒有電台願意播放，唱片的銷售也少得可憐，但卻在一些「跳舞俱樂部」流行了起來，也終於讓此曲進入了英國排行榜，而一路攀升至冠軍寶座。
70年代初期，李小龍連續拍了好幾部功夫電影，像是《唐山大兄》(1971)、《精武門》(1972)、《猛龍過江》(1972)、《龍爭虎鬥》(1973)，後雖李小龍在1973拍攝《死亡遊戲》期間死於台灣影星丁珮在香港的家中，而以上幾部電影已掀起了全球的「功夫熱」。
Carl Douglas寫此曲當然是受到了某部功夫電影的影響，也正好趕上了這股功夫熱潮，在包含美、加及歐洲等十幾個國家均獲得了排行榜的冠軍，唱片大賣超過1100萬張，在歷來唱片銷售排名與其他幾首並列在第23。之後Carl Douglas雖然也有另3首歌曲進入英國排行榜，但仍被認為是「一曲歌王」。
此曲被引用在2008的兒童電影《Kung Fu Panda / 功夫熊貓 》 中，唯另由Cee-Lo Green和Jack Black演唱。而Carl Douglas的版本則出現在電影《Wayne's World 2 / 反斗智多星2》(1994)、《Beverly Hills Ninja / 比佛利山威龍》(1997)、《Bowfinger / 大製騙家》(1999)、《City of God / 無法無天》(2002) 及《Daddy Day Care / 奶爸安親班》(2003) 中。
英國樂團The Vamps為電影《功夫熊貓 3》(2016)所唱之版本。
Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Those kicks were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening
But they fought with expert timing
They were funky China men from funky Chinatown
They were chopping them up and they were chopping them down
It's an ancient Chinese art and everybody knew their part
From a feint into a slip, and kicking from the hip
Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Those kicks were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening
But they fought with expert timing
There was funky Billy Chin and little Sammy Chung
He said here comes the big boss, let's get it on
We took a bow and made a stand, started swinging with the hand
The sudden motion made me skip now we're into a brand knew trip
Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Those kicks were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening
But they did it with expert timing
Keep on, keep on, keep on, keep on
Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Those kicks were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening
Make sure you have expert timing
Kung-fu fighting, had to be fast as lightning
Keep on, keep on, keep on