'Fabulously readable' STEPHEN FRY
'Wildly entertaining' DAILY EXPRESS
'Rollicking ... ebullient ... Christmas present problems are instantly solved' MAIL ON SUNDAY
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 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.
- 368 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Information
Subtopic
Classical MusicTable of contents
- Cover
- Half Title
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Prelude
- PART ONE
- 1. A Brush with Death
- 2. Breaking into the Music Business
- 3. Learning the Ropes
- 4. Out on a Limb
- 5. ‘Breaking’ the Wombles
- 6. Busy and Hot
- 7. Let’s Get Serious Again
- 8. Films and Family
- PART TWO
- PART THREE
- Acknowledgements
- Index
- Photos
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Yes, you can access The Closest Thing to Crazy by Mike Batt in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Media & Performing Arts & Classical Music. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.