Kung Fu

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"Kung Fu" is a song by Ash, released as the first single from their album 1977 on 20 March 1995 - as a CD single, limited edition 7”, and standard 7” vinyl.

The song was written in five minutes on Boxing Day 1994 at Belfast International Airport, and recorded in one take on the following day. The song lyrics reference martial arts movie star Jackie Chan and the song was even featured during the bloopers at the end of the American release of Chan's film "Rumble in the Bronx". Additionally, the song's intro is a sample from kung-fu flick "Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind", starring Sammo Hung, which was being shown as part of a Channel 4 Kung-Fu film season shown over Christmas of that year. It is Sammo's voice that can be heard in the sample.

Like "Jack Names the Planets", this song was also on the Angus soundtrack. Interestingly, the song was recorded on The Verve's equipment, who were nearby recording their "A Northern Soul" album at the same time.

The song appears on "Intergalactic Sonic 7″s", Ash's first greatest hits collection, and Ash's "Tokyo Blitz" DVD. Additionally, it was featured (along with "Jack Names the Planets" on the soundtrack for the 1995 film Angus. Live versions of the song appear on the "Barbie 7”" EP and the Ash album "Live at the Wireless".

When performed live, it traditionally closed the set as a two minute stomper, but since has been moved up the list. On the "Nu-Clear Sounds" tour, it ran to around 5 minutes, with a DJ filling the song with martial arts and computer game noises.

The single was Ash's highest charting so far, reaching number 57 in the UK singles chart^[1], and the sleeve infamously pictured footballer Eric Cantona's kick on a spectator that occurred in January 1995. In an away match against Crystal Palace F.C., Cantona launched a 'kung-fu' style kick against a spectator after being sent off by the referee. He was sentenced to 120 hours of community service after an appeal court overturned a 2 week prison sentence for assault. He was also suspended by the Football Association until October. The song was 'Single of the Week' in NME, while the incident would top Q magazine's list of Top 50 Most Rock 'n Roll Moments of 1995.

The first B-side, "Day of the Triffids" tells an apocalyptic story of an invasion by aliens, and appears on the "Cosmic Debris" B-sides collection. It also appears on the US version of Trailer.

The second B-side (CD only) "Luther Ingo's Star Cruiser" (named after the Star Wars character) is infamous for its uncommonly explicit lyrics for the band.

The music video consists of the band playing the song "Kung Fu" in concert, and occasionally footage of different people performing martial arts moves are cut in to the video. The video was directed by Steven Wells and Nick Small

Track listing

CD

1. "Kung Fu" (Wheeler)
2. "Day of the Triffids" (Wheeler)
3. "Luther Ingo's Star Cruiser" (Hamilton/Wheeler)

7"

1. "Kung Fu" (Wheeler)
2. "Day of the Triffids" (Wheeler)

References