The Closest Thing to Crazy (Paperback)

Mike Batt

ISBN 10: 1785120867 / ISBN 13: 9781785120862

Published by Bonnier Books Ltd, Chichester, 2025

About this Item

Paperback. 'Fabulously readable' STEPHEN FRY'Wildly entertaining' DAILY EXPRESS'Rollicking . ebullient . Christmas present problems are instantly solved' MAIL ON SUNDAYNominated for the 2025 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound ResearchDescribed variously as a 'polymath', a 'renaissance man' and 'one of the most colourful characters in the music business', Mike Batt has led an extraordinarily vibrant and challenging life that has been full of both glorious victories and bitter failures.For better or for worse, he is a man who has always lived life on his own terms. Idiosyncratic but mainstream, complicated but compassionate, steadfastly maverick in spirit but avowedly commercial in outlook. He is a man of great contradictions, but even greater talent.After starting out in the music business as a teenager, Batt shot to fame in the early 1970s for his part in the creation of the Wombles pop group. But this success proved to be just the beginning as he then went on to work with various artists as a songwriter, composer and producer, including Art Garfunkel, George Harrison, Cliff Richard, Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Katie Melua.Featuring cameos from some of the biggest stars in the business from Paul McCartney to Prince, The Closest Thing to Crazy takes us not only on the rocky (and classical) journey of Mike Batt's life but also on a tour around the inside of his mind. The extraordinary life story of songwriter and composer Mike Batt, the man who has written multi-million selling hits for and with Art Garfunkel, Katie Melua, on the fiftieth anniversary since he shot to fame as part of the Wombles. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781785120862

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Closest Thing to Crazy (Paperback)
• Publisher: Bonnier Books Ltd, Chichester
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1785120867
• ISBN 13: 9781785120862
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

"Fabulously readable." —STEPHEN FRY

"Wildly entertaining." —DAILY EXPRESS

Nominated for the 2025 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research

Described variously as a 'polymath', a 'renaissance man' and 'one of the most colorful characters in the music business', Mike Batt has led an extraordinarily vibrant and challenging life that has been full of both glorious victories and bitter failures.

For better or for worse, he is a man who has always lived life on his own terms. Idiosyncratic but mainstream, complicated but compassionate, steadfastly maverick in spirit but avowedly commercial in outlook. He is a man of great contradictions, but even greater talent.

After starting out in the music business as a teenager, Batt shot to fame in the early 1970s for his part in the creation of the Wombles pop group. But this success proved to be just the beginning as he then went on to work with various artists as a songwriter, composer and producer, including Art Garfunkel, George Harrison, Cliff Richard, Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Katie Melua.

Featuring cameos from some of the biggest stars in the business from Paul McCartney to Prince, The Closest Thing to Crazy takes us not only on the rocky (and classical) journey of Mike Batt's life but also on a tour around the inside of his mind.

About the Author

Mike Batt is a singer, songwriter, producer and composer who has been making hit records for more than 50 years. He was the lead singer and creator of the Wombles pop group in the early 1970s and is a multi-Ivor Novello Award winner, who has written and produced music for many artists, including Art Garfunkel, Cliff Richard, David Essex and Katie Melua, conducted many of the world's great orchestras and worked across many art forms, directing, designing, conducting and engaging in entrepreneurial activities in the entertainment industry.