The Trinidadian singer and songwriter Lord Creator, who has died aged 87, was best known for his song Kingston Town, which was covered as a single in 1990 by the British band UB40, providing him with a windfall of publishing royalties at a relatively late and impoverished stage in his life.
A love letter to the capital of Jamaica – and the woman who is waiting for him there – the original was written by Creator in 1970 in Kingston itself, to where he had moved several years before. UB40’s version shot to No 4 in the UK singles charts and made it to No 1 in France and the Netherlands, reviving interest in the previous work of Creator, who had set out as a calypsonian in his native land but had turned to ska and reggae after he arrived in Jamaica.
