Kung Fu Meets the Dragon
| Kung Fu Meets the Dragon | ||||
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| Studio album by The Mighty Upsetter | ||||
| Released | 1975 | |||
| Genre | Reggae, dub | |||
| Length | 36:22 | |||
| Label | DIP | |||
| Producer | Lee Perry | |||
| The Mighty Upsetter chronology | ||||
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Kung Fu Meets the Dragon is an album by The Mighty Upsetter, released in 1975.
A martial arts-themed project, this very rhythmic LP is largely made up of instrumental versions of some of Perry's productions (Roy Shirley's "Hold Them", Linval Thompson's "Kung Fu") and other musical pieces, enriched with Perry's trademark use of percussions and production tricks (phasing, dubbing and so on) and talkover inspired by the wave of martial arts movies that were popular at the time of recording. Recorded at Perry's own Black Ark Recording Studios, it notably features ace Jamaican polyinstrumentalist Augustus Pablo on melodica (and presumably keyboards, too), his gentle playing adding some otherworldly melodic content to the sparse sound. Production values similar to the following, recently recognised as groundbreaking Revolution Dub (Perry's subsequent record, reissued in the '80s on Island Records worldwide).
The album was reissued in 2013 on LP through Secret Records.
| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | (4/5) [1] |
Track listing
All tracks composed by Lee "Scratch" Perry, except where indicated.
Side one
- "Enter the Dragon" - 2:14
- "Theme From Hong Kong" - 2:20
- "Heart of the Dragon" - 3:07
- "Hold Them Kung Fu" - 3:34
- "Flames of the Dragon" - 2:45
- "Scorching Iron" - 2:37
Side two
- "Skango" - 3:03
- "Fungaa" - 3:02
- "Black Belt" - 2:54
- "Iron Fist" - 2:25
- "Kung Fu Man" - 2:44
- "Black Belt Jones" (Keith Hudson) - 3:12
- "Exit the Dragon" - 2:25