Song · Ash
“Kung Fu” by Ash
From the album 1977 (1996)
“Kung Fu” by Ash appears on 3 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1995 and 2023. It was first released in 1996 on the album 1977. Its best result is #6 on the John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1995. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #128 alternative song of 1995.
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"Kung Fu" was the first single Ash cut loose from 1977, arriving in March 1995 on CD and a pair of seven-inches, and it was dashed off in a hurry. Tim Wheeler wrote it in five minutes at Belfast International Airport on Boxing Day 1994, and the band banged it out in a single take the next day, borrowing gear from the Verve, who were nearby making A Northern Soul. Owen Morris produced.
It's a sugar rush of power pop, Wheeler on guitar and vocals, Mark Hamilton on bass, Rick McMurray on drums, and it opens with a snatch of Sammo Hung's voice lifted from Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind, which Channel 4 had screened over that Christmas. The words tip a hat to Jackie Chan, and the song ended up in the ads and the blooper reel of the American release of Rumble in the Bronx.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 6 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1995 | 50 |
| 1996 | 31 | WBER Rochester, NY | WBER Listener Countdown 1996 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 874 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
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