Town fan Jon Moxon has written a version of Lord Creator’s Kingston Town dedicated to the Blues, featuring artists who have played with UB40, David Gilmour, Robbie Williams, Bryan Ferry among others.
Jon, who first attended Portman Road in 1982, standing on a milk crate in Churchman’s, told TWTD how the idea came about.
"In May this year I was on a sleeper train to Scotland and unable to sleep,” he recalled.
"I’d recently heard a recording of Kingston Town by Lord Creator and the tune was stuck in my head. Being a Town fan for over 40 years, I made the very natural progression of replacing ‘Kingston’ with ‘Ipswich’.
"The lyrics of the first verse seemed a good fit: ‘There are wonders for everyone, there is magic in Ipswich Town’.
"I set about adapting further lyrics and, by the time the train arrived in Glasgow, I had a version of the song that I thought was worth sharing.
"I rehearsed the song a few times with my sons as we walked along Hebridean roads, then sent the new lyrics to my friends at the Kentish Town Ipswich Town Supporters and Families Association (KTITSFA) for feedback. The comments were positive and led me to give a very imperfect rendition of the song at a London pub during the summer.
"In order to extend the reach of the song I spoke with friend and singer Louise Marshall to see if she would make a recording.
"Louise has worked with, among others, Beverley Knight, David Gilmour, Michael Ball, Marti Pellow, Chris Difford, Robbie Williams, Bryan Ferry, Ronnie Wood, Van Morrison, Eric Stewart, Madeline Bell, Sheila Ferguson, Sam Brown, Russell Watson, Steve Winwood, Paul Young, Don Blackman, Solomon Burke, Karl Jenkins and John Rutter, and has also toured with Jools Holland and Roxy Music, and performed regularly with the BBC Big Band.
"Not only did Louise agree, she was able to use her music industry connections to bring in Don Chandler of UB40 to play bass and renowned producer Geoff Gascoyne to mix the track.”
Architect Jon, who moved to the North Stand as a teenager and now joins son Laurie and other KTITSFA members in Block M of the Magnus Group West Stand, hopes the song might take off on the Portman Road terraces.
"I feel the timeless melody and adapted lyrics combine to provide a song that is hopeful, emotive and uplifting, yet tinged with nostalgia,” he said.
"The song is also unique to our club and has anthemic, crowd-pleasing potential, as evidenced by video footage of UB40 concerts of the 1990s where crowds of 30,000 sang along to a cover version of Lord Creator’s composition.”
Kingston Town by Lord Creator
The night seems to fade
But the moonlight lingers on"
There are wonders for everyone (woh)
The stars shine so bright"But they're fading after dawn"
There is magic in Ipswich Town
Oh Ipswich Town"
The place I long to be
"If I had the whole world
"I would give it away"
Just to see the boys in blue
When we are kings"
Surely we will rule the East"
And the West and everywhere (yeah)
When we are kings
And the Town rule this land"
We'll be waiting in Ipswich Town
Oh Ipswich Town"
The place I long to be
"If I had the whole world"I would give it away"
Just to see the boys in blue
When we are kings
"Surely we will rule the East
"And the West and everywhere (yeah)
Now we are kings"And the Town rule this land"
We'll be waiting in Ipswich Town
We'll be waiting in Ipswich Town
We'll be waiting in Ipswich Town
Published by Sparta Florida Music Group, lyrics adapted by Jon Moxon