Every UK #1 Single Of 1974 Discussion Thread

Love Me For A Reason - I really like Johnny Bristol's original; at least he sounds like he meant it. The Osmonds were always singing tubes of toothpaste.

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Kung Fu Fighting is a Disco song by Jamaican vocalist Carl Douglas, with production by British-based musician Biddu. It was released as a single in 1974 on the cusp of a chopsocky film craze and rose to the top of the British, Australian and American charts, in addition to reaching the top of the Soul Singles chart. It received a Gold certification from the RIAA in 1974 and popularised disco music. It eventually went on to sell eleven million records worldwide, making it one of the best selling singles of all time. The song uses the quintessential Oriental riff, a short musical phrase that is used to signify Chinese culture.

Kung Fu Fighting was rated number 100 in VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders, and number 1 in the UK Channel 4's Top 10 One Hit Wonders list in 2000, the same channel's 50 Greatest One Hit Wonders poll in 2006 and Bring Back ... the one-hit Wonders, for which Carl Douglas performed the song in a live concert.

The song was originally meant to be a B-side to I Want to Give You My Everything (written by Brooklyn songwriter Larry Weiss and sung by Carl Douglas). The producer Biddu originally hired Douglas to sing I Want to Give You My Everything, but needed something to record for the B-side, and asked Douglas if he had any lyrics they could use. Douglas showed several, out of which Biddu chose the one that would later be called Kung Fu Fighting and worked out a melody for it without taking it too seriously.

After having spent over two hours recording the A-side and then taking a break, Kung Fu Fighting was recorded quickly in the last ten minutes of studio time,in only two takes, due to a three-hour time constraint for the entire session. According to Biddu, "Kung Fu Fighting was the B-side so I went over the top on the 'huhs' and the 'hahs' and the chopping sounds. It was a B-side: who was going to listen?" After hearing both songs, Robin Blanchflower of Pye Recordsinsisted that Kung Fu Fighting be the A-side instead.

Following its release, the song did not receive any radio airplay for the first five weeks and sold poorly, but the song began gaining popularity in dance clubs,eventually entering the UK Singles Chart at No. 42 on 17 August 1974 and reaching the top on 21 September, where it would remain for three weeks. It was then released in the United States, where it quickly topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single went on to sell eleven million records worldwide.



The B-Side; originally intended as the main song.



Who needs picture sleeves when you have corporate ones like this?



Alternative UK label.



The Italians show how to do it.

 

One of the most profitable decisions in Pye records history: flipping this to the B-Side.

 

Kung Fu Fighting at number one, with a future top song close behind.

 

If I had more pocket money back in 1974, I would have bought this. My father was re-training to become a teacher, so no borrowing there!

A few weeks into my Grammar School education, I borrowed the single from my new best mate: it was, and remains, an insanely catchy song.

 

I liked Kung Fu Fighting, but never bought it. By then, I was becoming all too aware of the UK’s love of novelty singles, but KFF was a worldwide hit so you couldn’t blame it on our bad taste this time.

The single was helped by martial arts/karate being huge at this time. Bruce Lee (who’d recently died), the Kung Fu TV series starring David Carradine and most important of all, the Hi Karate! aftershave were all massively successful then.

KFF is a fun song. Not meant to be studied and scrutinised 44 years later. It’s a laugh, and it’s catchy. Sometimes that’s all you need.

 

Only bought 3 singles from this chart. 2 Osmonds and Peter Shelley.

Have acquired 20 of the albums over the years.

A tip of the hat to Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits, which I think has been in every chart since we started these polls.

 

Some very good albums in this chart. At a quick count, I now have 22 of them.

When this chart was printed, the only album in this list our household owned, was what used to be my dad's copy of Simon & Garfunkel, Greatest Hits.

It is still in my record rack, having been played and enjoyed on goodness knows how many occasions. I'm still getting used to my CD version (the "proper" Mono / Stereo, Cecilia version, from the excellent Simon & Garfunkel: The Complete Albums Collection) not having the one slightly noisey click!

 

Kung Fu Fighting
One of those one hit wonders that you enjoy when they come on.
4/5

R. Dean Taylor - Gotta See Jane (or Jayne as it was for me!!!)
Love this song, memories of family parties and now even more so of dating a Jayne for 9 months just 3 years back.
After spending months of being as low as anyone can get after my wife walked out on me. Only problem was she lived in Cardiff!!!!!!!!
A 9 month rollercoaster that got me back in the land if the living....

 

It is only in the last few years, since I've by been ripping my CDs, that I've thought about genre. Music to me has two categories, music I like, and music I don't. Obviously I can re-catergorise at any time!

It has never crossed my mind that Kung Fu Fighting is Genre: Disco, and Style: Soul; Funk, as opposed to a fun Pop song!

Those wonderful 100 / 101 hits of the 70s, I actually tag as Genre: 70s, so I can easily make long running playlists from my favourite era.

 

A craze, a song of a craze. A little capsule of what 1974 was; the year of Bruce Lee, the year of kung-fu. In America and UK, the chopping went up and then down. Also, this song may be the only one to feature a former Wolves manager: There was little Billy Chin and Little Sammy Chung. A deserved number one hit, but also shows that novelty records had it more easily to get to number one than in previous years.

 

In the U.S., "Kung Fu Fighting" was issued on 20th Century Records. Early pressings gave the (P) credit to that label, later ones changed it to "PYE Records, Ltd." I naturally have the former:

This issue was as a reciprocal agreement with Pye, which distributed 20th Century product in the UK. (Around this time, Pye set up a 20th Century label for British releases; until then US 20th Century masters were put out on Pye International.)

 

Frankly singles wise this year is dominated by soul and a lot of UK pop I would rather forget. Osmonds back at the top long after I hoped they were done. Love Me For A Reason is even more annoying after they proved they could do decent rock with Crazy Horses - and don't even mention Donnie and Marie! There is the odd good record in that chart but it's the album chart that was really strong with rock and prog still well represented. Quite a contrast. This is where serious music lovers had stopped buying singles mostly so the markets had separated.

 

Among the UK Top 50 singles, I have #1 - 3, 8, 9, 12, 13, 19, 21, 23 - 26, 31, 33, 37, 38, 41, 44 and 46; the albums, #12, 14, 22, 27, 28, 34 (both US and UK pressings!), 38 and 41. As for the US lot, the 45's I have are #1 - 6, 8 - 10, 12 - 14, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 30, 32, 34, 38, 40, 41, 45, 46, 49 and 50; and the LP's, #5, 6, 9, 11, 15 and 38.

 

There was a similar dichotomy between albums and singles that was opening up in the U.S. Only the "players" were a bit different. And radio was likewise becoming fragmented.

 

Kung Fu Fighting is a fun song that had a lot of impact at the time - enough to still be a pop reference today. As a hit single though, I don't find it appealing enough to own.

 

Two Mike Oldfield albums topping the chart! I have 22 of the albums on the chart.

 

The Exorcist did wonders for Mike here.

 

I bought Tubular Bells from the record shop close to the school gate, and returned with it, in the then customary paper bag. All would have been well if it hadn't rained, giving me an unique textured sleeve!

Although I own the LP, standard CD and Quadrophonic SACD, I actually find it a fairly boring album, and along with the trendy trench coats, a sign of the times!

Edit. In comparison with our school shop recommended rain coat, those trench coats worn by some of the older boys, were trendy!

 

I believe this is very true, but it is fascinating that on @Bobby Morrow 's excellent 1978 thread, just how many great singles there were.

We will have to wait to see if this is true for 75, 76, and 1977 , though I certainly bought many singles in 76 and 77, which would have stood out in 1974.

 

I think that, by 1974 until mid 1977, the singles charts became almost irrrelevant. To my ears, of course. The big bands and great guns almost dissappeared from there. There was more space for disco/soul/black music to creep up the charts, and novelty records (which may appear in the charts from time to time) appeared at an increasing rate. Even parodies of supposedly novelty records! Yin and Yan's cover of Telly Savala's If entered the Top 30! Glam was in their last rites and oldies reissues were also in the charts. There was a lot of variety, yes, but the quality was almost none. Only few bits and bobs may be interesting from those 2 years.

Another point of interest was the effort of music producers to find the new Bay City Rollers: those bands weren't bad, but they weren't good; and too much of that wasn't going to be good in the end: Pilot, Kenny, Stephenson's Rocket, Slik,... the list is endless. By 1976, all were gone.

 

I can't recall if I got into Tubular Bells before or after the Exorcist, but it was one of my favorite albums growing up. I had transferred it onto a cassette and would listen to it every night at bedtime for about three years. It is still a favorite of mine, although I think Oldfield has created better works since then. I don't share the same enthusiasm with Hergest Ridge. I find it rather dull in comparison and my original vinyl copy sounded terrible. My Virgin CD of HR (imported from England, thank you very much) is a huge sonic improvement, but I still feel like Hergest Ridge was rushed to get something on the market as a follow-up.

 

KFF was the very first 45 I ever bought with me own dosh, earned from delivering newspapers. It was good exercise, pretending to be Bruce Lee!

Still get a huge smile when that intro starts up.

 

Side 1 is still some of my favorite music by anyone. That final riff that builds and builds is so thrilling. But I never listen to part 2.