Kingston Town (song)
- "Kingston Town" is usually believed to be the name of the song Jamaica Farewell by Lord Burgess and made famous by Harry Belafonte
| "Kingston Town" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by UB40 | ||||
| from the album Labour of Love II | ||||
| B-side | "Lickwood" | |||
| Released | 19 March 1990 | |||
| Format |
7" vinyl single 12" vinyl single 3-inch CD single 5-inch CD single Cassette single | |||
| Genre | Reggae | |||
| Length | 3:52 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Writer(s) | Kentrick Patrick | |||
| Producer(s) | UB40 | |||
| Certification | Gold SNEP, 1990 | |||
| UB40 singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Kingston Town" is a 1970 song by Lord Creator. It was recorded in 1989 by reggae group UB40 and was the second single from their album Labour of Love II, reaching #4 on the UK singles chart.
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.[1]
In France, the cover by UB40 peaked at #1 for three weeks from October 20 to November 3, 1990. It remained on the chart for 25 weeks, and was certified Gold disc by SNEP in 1991. Infodisc Website estimates it is the 426th best selling single of all time in France with 581,000 copies sold.[2]
The song was also covered by Jamaican group The Mighty Red.
Track listing
5" CD
Virgin / DEPX 35
- "Kingston Town" (7" Version) – 3:52
- "Lickwood" – 5:04
- "Kingston Town" (Extended Mix) – 5:16
7" vinyl, 3" CD and Cassette
Virgin / DEP 35 (7"), DEPX 35 (CDS), DEP C35 (CS)
- "Kingston Town" – 3:52
- "Lickwood" – 5:04
12" vinyl
Virgin / DEP 35-12
- "Kingston Town" (Extended Mix) – 5:16
- "Lickwood" – 5:04
- "Kingston Town" (7" Version) – 3:52
Charts and sales
Peak positions
|
End of year charts
Certifications
|
Chart successions
| Preceded by "The Power" by Snap! |
Dutch Top 40 number one single May 12, 1990 – May 19, 1990 |
Succeeded by "Paint It, Black" by The Rolling Stones |
| Preceded by "À toutes les filles..." by Félix Gray and Didier Barbelivien |
French (SNEP) number one single October 20, 1990 – November 3, 1990 |
Succeeded by "Une femme avec une femme" by Mecano |
References
- "UB40 Official Website discography entry". Retrieved November 15, 2008.
- ↑ "UB40 Press statement". Retrieved November 15, 2008.
- 1 2 "Best selling singles of all time in France". Retrieved November 15, 2008.
- ↑ "Austriancharts.at – UB40 – Kingston Town" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
- ↑ "Lescharts.com – UB40 – Kingston Town" (in French). Les classement single.
- ↑ "Musicline.de – UB40 Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
- ↑ "irishcharts.ie search results for "Kingston Town"". Retrieved November 15, 2008.
- ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – UB40 search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40.
- ↑ "Charts.org.nz – UB40 – Kingston Town". Top 40 Singles.
- ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – UB40 – Kingston Town". Singles Top 100.
- ↑ "Swisscharts.com – UB40 – Kingston Town". Swiss Singles Chart.
- ↑ "Australian-charts.com – UB40 – Kingston Town". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
- ↑ "Single top 100 over 1990" (pdf) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
- ↑ "French certifications for singles, database". Retrieved November 15, 2008.