BIDDU
WRITER / PRODUCER
Biddu, the man with one name, hails from Bangalore in India. He began his career as a singer in India with his first band, Trojans. The band had moderate local success covering the hits of the day by bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Trini Lopez, so when the band split it was a natural move for Biddu to head west, to England.
His first break came when he scored the soundtrack to the UK Spy thriller Embassy. He also started working with Carl Douglas on his 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 and ultimately selling over 9 million copies worldwide. Shortly after, Biddu also produced Carl Douglas' debut album Kung Fu Fighter, which produced another major hit, Dance The Kung Fu .
In 1975, Biddu recorded and released the instrumental LP Blue Eyed Soul and watched his own star rise even further as the album's first single, Summer of '42 , climbed to #14 on the UK chart, eventually spending a full two months there.
Also in 1975, a friend introduced Biddu to Tina Charles, a singer who had had some success singing lead vocals for the group 5000 Volts. The first single they worked together, You Set My Heart on Fire, clinched a recording deal with CBS. In 1976, the second single I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance) was a major hit worldwide. I Love to Love and the subsequent hit Dance Little Lady Dance sold millions of copies around the world, gave Tina Charles a worldwide audience and fame, launched her solo career and firmly established Biddu.
In 1976, Biddu produced his own Rain Forest LP, followed by Eastern Man in 1977, both credited to Biddu & His Orchestra. Rainforest won four Ivor Novello awards.
In 1977, he worked on the Life LP of veteran Jamaican-born soul singer Jimmy James, which produced two smash disco hits I'll Go Where your Music Takes Me and Disco Fever.
In early 1978, Biddu's own Journey to the Moon was a hit, peaking at #41 in the UK. also that year, he scored music for the English film The Stud.
Toward the end of the 1970's and throughout the 1980's, Biddu composed music for the burgeoning Indian music scene: Disco Deewane; Made In India; and Aap Jaisa Koi for the bollywood movie Quorbani. Quorbani was a big hit in the sub-continent, and Biddu signed up its two stars, Hassan and Zoheb, to a recording agreement and wrote their debut album which became a hit in 14 countries.
Biddu has had his song “Dance The Kung Fu” recorded by the WWF wrestler John Cena, and Cornerstone sampled the same track with Kanye West, Nas, Rakim and KRS One to perform on the track.
Discography
Produced -
Smile for Me (1969)
The Tigers (No. 1 in Japan)
Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglas (1974)
You Don't Stand a Chance - Jimmy James (1975)
I Love to Love - Tina Charles (1976)
Now is the Time - Jimmy James (1976)
Rendezvous - Tina Charles (1977)
Biddu Orchestra
Rainforest (1976)
Funky Tropical (1977)
Journey to the Moon (1977)
Soul Coaxing / Nirvana (1977)
Journey to the Moon / Journey in the Rain (1977)
Albums
Blue Eyed Soul (1975)
Rain Forest (1976)
Eastern Man (1977)
Futuristic Journey (1978)
Diamond Sutra (2004)
Film Scores
Embassy (1974)
The Stud (1978)
The Bitch (1979)
+ apart from the above, Biddu also produced and composed a number of Hindi / Indipop hits in India
Thanks to Wikipedia for some of the text in this article. Please feel free to copy and use this information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biddu