"The Land of Make Believe" | ||||
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Single by Bucks Fizz | ||||
from the album Are You Ready? | ||||
B-side | "Now You're Gone" | |||
Released | 13 November 1981 | |||
Format | 7" single, 12" single | |||
Recorded | United Kingdom | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 3.50 | |||
Label | RCA Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | Andy Hill & Pete Sinfield | |||
Producer(s) | Andy Hill | |||
Bucks Fizz singles chronology | ||||
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"The Land of Make Believe" | ||||
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Single by allSTARS* | ||||
from the album AllSTARS* | ||||
B-side | "Rock This House" | |||
Released | 14 January 2002 | |||
Format | CD single | |||
Recorded | United Kingdom | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 3:20 | |||
Label | Island | |||
Songwriter(s) | Andy Hill & Pete Sinfield | |||
Producer(s) | Ray "Madman" Hedges | |||
allSTARS* singles chronology | ||||
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"The Land of Make Believe" is a 1981 single by British band Bucks Fizz. It reached No.1 in the UK in early 1982 - the second single by the band to do so. The song was produced by Andy Hill with music by Hill and lyrics by ex-King Crimson member Peter Sinfield. Despite the apparent sugar-coated style of the song, Sinfield later claimed it was a subtle attack on Margaret Thatcher and her government's policy at the time. "The Land of Make Believe" became a big hit across Europe in early 1982, topping the charts in Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland as well as the UK. The song was later covered by pop band allSTARS* for a 2002 single release.
"The Land of Make Believe" was the second of three UK #1 singles for the British Eurovision winners Bucks Fizz, staying at the top for two weeks in January 1982. It remained on the charts for 16 weeks.
The lyrics are based on a child's dream where ghostly voices lure the child outside to a world where everything is bright and happy, but the child resists. Characters, Superman and Captain Kidd are referenced in the lyrics. The close of the song features a nursery rhyme narrated by Abby Kimber, who was the 11-year-old daughter of Bill Kimber, an executive of RCA Records. This was an original piece penned by Sinfield. At the time, radio stations were instructed to fade the song before the narration. Sinfield said that the song "Beneath its tra-la-la's is a virulent anti-Thatcher song" and went on to say "it is ten-times more difficult to write a three-minute hit song, with a veneer of integrity, than it is to write anything for King Crimson or ELP".
During the recording member Mike Nolan expressed reservations for the song and told producer Andy Hill that it would not be a hit and probably the end for the band. Hill however told Nolan that Bobby G and Cheryl Baker had already recorded their parts of the song and had said that they really liked it. Nolan later admitted that his judgement was obviously wrong. Bobby G spent an afternoon recording harmonies for the middle 8 of the song, but after he left the studio, the engineer accidentally wiped the tape and the vocal part was never re-recorded.