Did you know the kitschy disco classic ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ was produced by a desi guy? But first: flamenco… and karate… with Amitabh (via Remains of the Desi).

It’s filmi fighting… on parallel bars… with disco.

Update: Desi music producer Biddu actually produced ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ with singer Carl Douglas. He’s one of the background dancers in this video:

The guy dancing in the background on the left, is Biddu who led the orchestra that played this orchestra. Biddu would produce a Kung Fu song with more lush orchestral arrangements after the success of this song called “Dance the Kung Fu.” [Link]

… Biddu Appaiah… started working with UK-based Jamaican-born musician Carl Douglas on a 45 (rpm record) single, ‘I Want to Give You My Everything.’ While this song was intended for the A side, they cut a song for the B side, ‘Kung Fu Fighting,’ in just 10 minutes. Later, at the insistence of A & R at Pye Records, ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ was put on the A-side. Soon after release in 1974, ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ became a world-wide hit, topping charts around the world, ultimately selling over 9 million copies worldwide. Shortly after, Biddu also produced Carl Douglas’ debut LP (album) Kung Fu Fighter, which produced another major hit, ‘Dance The Kung Fu…’ [Link]

With only 10 minutes of studio time left, “Kung Fu Fighting” was recorded quickly. “We did a lot of ‘hoos!’ and ‘haas!’ like someone giving somebody a karate chop…” He presented the Weiss song to Pye Records’ A&R chief, who liked it, but wanted to hear the flip side as well. “It’s just a fun thing,” Biddu warned… They thought it was good enough to release as an “A” side… “The first five weeks, we didn’t get one play on radio… It didn’t sell one copy. And then suddenly, it just took off from the (dance) clubs and it went to number one. It went to number one all around the world. We sold nine million copies…” [Link]

All my songs have a slight samba rhythm - all of them, even the ones I do in India. They just have a slight, very light Latinish feel, just nice to dance to. [Link]

And here’s the sequel to that collaboration, ‘Dance the Kung Fu’ from Adalat (thanks, ak):

Biddu also produced Nazia Hassan’s hit ‘Aap Jaisa Koi‘ from Qurbani. I see now why the song features a guy with a boxing glove:

[Feroz Khan] happened to come across 15 year old Nazia Hassan at a party in London… Biddu later signed her up… It didn’t take a long time for Biddu to compose ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’ for Qurbani. Critics said Biddu’s tune and composition of ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’ sounded very similar to the Tina Charles’ hit ‘Dance Little Lady Dance.’ [Link]

Together, [Biddu and Hassan] brought out the immensely successful album, Disco Deewane (1981), which, with its racy songs and harmonious blend of eastern rhythms and western beats, was number one for more than a year. [Link]

“Were there, then, no serious challenges to Lata Mangeshkar in her long singing career? … a mere teenager [became] a near despair for her. That teenybopper was Nazia Hassan… Lata’s film Aasha… just could not catch up with Nazia’s ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’ for 14 weeks running… The year 1980 in Hindi film music thus belonged to a Pak singer - a slip of a girl who came to India via England to capture subcontinental hearts…” Nazia spent her teenage between Karachi and London where she would go on to read law at London University. She died in 2000 due to lung cancer at the age of 35. [Link]

… magazines had reported that she was fighting leukemia… Nazia’s songs were mostly recorded in London… At the peak of her popularity in 1979-80, Nazia was just 17. [Link]

… Nazia Hassan is alleged to have left [a sworn statement] with her lawyers, stating that she was being poisoned… [and] instructions in her will to have her son brought up by her parents, and not by her former husband. Rumours in the last few weeks about the state of their marriage included allegations… that [her ex-husband] had entered into a marriage with Pakistani actress, and star of Raj Kapoor’s Henna, Zeba Bakhtiar. [Link]

His later hits include Hassan’s ‘Boom Boom’ from Star (check out Hassan singing it live and Akash’s rock cover)…

… and Alisha Chinai’s annoying ‘Made in India‘.

Related post: ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’