British reggae band, formed Birmingham 1978 · cover released 19 March 1990
UB40’s “Kingston Town” was recorded in 1989 and released on 19 March 1990 as the second single from Labour of Love II, on DEP International through Virgin. It reached No. 4 in the UK and No. 1 in France and the Netherlands, and remains the band’s signature ballad. The band never hid the song’s origin — the whole Labour of Love project was openly a covers series — but the arrangement is so identified with them that the authorship gets forgotten. It was certified Platinum in the UK in March 2023 ↗, after more than 600,000 units.