Kingston Town (song)


"Kingston Town" is a 1970 song by Lord Creator released as a single on producer Clancy Eccles' Clandisc label. It was also recorded in 1989 by reggae group UB40 and was released as the second single from their album Labour of Love II, reaching number four on the UK Singles Chart and number one in France and the Netherlands.
In June 2007, the copyright holders of the song, Sparta Florida Music Group, started legal action against Paris Hilton and Warner Chappell Music for plagiarism due to alleged similarities between "Kingston Town" and Hilton's song "Stars Are Blind". It was wrongly stated that UB40 was the suing party, which the band later confirmed as being incorrect on their website.

UB40 version

English reggae band UB40 covered "Kingston Town" in 1989 and released it as a single in early 1990. It became the group's sixth top-five hit on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number four for three weeks in April 1990. Throughout the rest of 1990, the song charted in a number of countries, topping the Dutch Top 40 for two weeks in May and the French Singles Chart for three weeks in October and November. Infodisc estimates it is the 426th-best-selling single of all time in France with 581,000 copies sold.
In Australia, the song did not reach the top 100 on the ARIA Singles Chart during its original release. However, in 1991, after a re-release of "Here I Am " reached number three, "Kingston Town" was re-released and peaked at number 17 on the ARIA Singles Chart.

Track listing

5" CD

Virgin / DEPX 35
  1. "Kingston Town" – 3:52
  2. "Lickwood" – 5:04
  3. "Kingston Town" – 5:16

    7" vinyl, 3" CD and cassette

Virgin / DEP 35, DEPX 35, DEP C35
  1. "Kingston Town" – 3:52
  2. "Lickwood" – 5:04

    12" vinyl

Virgin / DEP 35-12
  1. "Kingston Town" – 5:16
  2. "Lickwood" – 5:04
  3. "Kingston Town" – 3:52

    Charts and sales

Weekly charts

Chart Peak
position

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales