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1970 single by Lord Creator From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Kingston Town" is a 1970[1] song by Lord Creator about Kingston, Jamaica, 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.
"Kingston Town" | |
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Single by Lord Creator | |
B-side | "Holly Holly" (by The Fabulous Flames) |
Released | 1970 |
Genre | Reggae |
Label | Clandisc |
Songwriter(s) | Kentrick Patrick |
Producer(s) | Clancy Eccles |
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.[2]
"Kingston Town" | ||||
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Single by UB40 | ||||
from the album Labour of Love II | ||||
B-side | "Lickwood" | |||
Released | 19 March 1990 | |||
Genre | Reggae | |||
Length | 3:52 | |||
Label | DEP International, Virgin | |||
Songwriter(s) | Kentrick Patrick | |||
Producer(s) | UB40 | |||
UB40 singles chronology | ||||
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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.
In Australia, the song did not reach the top 100 on the ARIA Singles Chart during its original release. In 1991, after a re-release of "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" reached number three, "Kingston Town" was re-issued and peaked at number 17 on the ARIA Singles Chart. In the United States, the song was serviced to rhythmic contemporary radio on 17 October 1995,[3] in tandem with The Best of UB40 – Volume Two, but it failed to chart.
David Giles of Music Week described "Kingston Town" as a "pleasant but perfunctory cover" less commercial than UB40's previous two singles, and deemed it was likely not to be a hit.[4]
7-inch single[5]
12-inch single[6]
CD single[7]
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US CD and cassette single[8][9]
Australian CD single (1991)[10]
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Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[31] | Gold | 35,000^ |
France (SNEP)[32] | Gold | 400,000* |
Germany (BVMI)[33] | Gold | 250,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[34] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
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