Description

‘Fabulously readable’ STEPHEN FRY

‘Brilliantly told, the fascinating life of one of Britain’s greatest songwriters’ MATT LUCAS

‘A brilliant, funny, emotional book’ DAVID QUANTICK

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.

Publisher Review

‘What a life, what a talent. Very funny and very quirky, but don’t be fooled: just as remarkable musicianship lies behind the sweet accessibility of his best-known tunes, so a fearsome intelligence and a huge heart lie behind the immortal battiness of Batt. A fabulously readable and enjoyable ride from first to last’ — Stephen Fry ‘Brilliantly told, the fascinating life of one of Britain’s greatest songwriters’ — Matt Lucas ‘A brilliant, funny, emotional book – I really enjoyed reading it’ — David Quantick I’ve known Mike Batt for half a century. I’ve seen his ups and downs (mainly ups) at close quarters and have been fascinated and staggered in equal measure, as readers of this memoir will be. I write words. He writes both words and music, conducts, produces, orchestrates and sings. Very annoying. Luckily he’s also a good egg and a very funny one — Tim Rice