Kung Fu

"Kung Fu" is a song by the band Ash, released as the first single from their album, 1977. It was released in March 1995 as a CD single, limited edition 7”, and standard 7” vinyl. The song was written by Tim Wheeler and produced by Owen Morris. Writing and recording The song was written by Tim Wheeler in five minutes on Boxing Day 1994 at Belfast International Airport and recorded in one take on the following day. The song was recorded on The Verve's equipment, who were nearby recording their A Northern Soul album at the same time. The song lyrics reference martial arts movie star Jackie Chan and the song was used in the advertising and 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 Hung's voice that can be heard in the sample. When performed live, "Kung Fu" traditionally closed the band's sets in a two-minute rendition but was later moved to an earlier slot in the setlist. 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. Live versions of the song appear on the Barbie 7” EP and the Ash album Live at the Wireless.