Donnie Sutherland - Fairyland (1969)

The Pop Workshop - Fairyland (1968)

(Ben Findon)
 UK
Original version

Single on Page One, arranged by Wombles composer-producer-arranger Mike Batt: see, for example, The Wombling Song (1973, #4 UK).

Ben Findon’s compositions include Billy Ocean’s hit Love Really Hurts Without You (1976, #2 UK #22 USA #3 Australia), co-written with Les Charles and produced by Findon. See his composer and producer credits at 45cat.com.

The Pop Workshop were from Harrow, in north-west London. 

The band was formed in 1966 by Alan Box and Dale Evans who had been together in Nite Sect. After three members of that band left, Box and Evans recruited two new members and formed The Locomotion. They performed under that name around London’s west for two years before being signed to Larry Page’s recently formed label Page One and changing their name to The Pop Workshop.

In the line-up were Alan Box (vocals and guitar), Dave Evans (lead guitar), Andy Love (bass) and Terry Gibbs (drums).

Singles discography:
Fairyland (wr. Ben Findon) / When My Little Girl Is Happy (wr. Terry Gibbs), 1968, Page One #POF 091
Punch And Judy Man (wr. Geoff Westley & Tony Britton) / Love Is A One Way Highway (wr. Andy Love), 1969, Page One #POF 129

What would you do if someone said to you “meet me Saturday night in fairyland?” Please don’t answer that question. Anyway, that’s the premise of this song that is neatly set on top of a Motown beat. But the lyrics and arrangement transform its otherwise derivative musical backing into something special. The song was written by harmony pop master Ben Findon and the arrangement is by Mike Batt.
– Mark Frumento, Trip to Toyland Part 3 at Marmalade Skies.

References, further reading:
1. This blog post by Sebastián Vientos at Canciones Atómicas gathers some useful information about The Pop Workshop.
2. Now-deleted content at the M*Sp*ce pages of Pop Workshop and Alan Box.
3. 45Cat’s page for The Pop Workshop’s ‘Punch And Judy Man’ includes a 1969 press release from Page One Records.
4. For the extent of Mike Batts’s involvement with The Wombles’ oeuvre, see this page at 45Cat.com.
5. Vernon Joynson’s reference classic Tapestry of Delights has a brief entry on The Pop Workshop and their “pleasant pop 45s”.
6. At Marmalade Skies Mark Frumento includes ‘Fairyland’ at #55 on his list of the retrospectively named pop genre “toytown”: Trip to Toytown Part 3.
7. For more on Larry Page and his Page One label start here, at Wikipedia. See also BSN”s Page One Album Discography which includes some background.