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

There is nobody else in the music business like Mike Batt.

An internationally successful singer, composer, lyricist, producer, designer, arranger and conductor since the early 1970s, his wide cannon of work includes collaborations with, among others, Art Garfunkel, George Harrison, Hawkwind, Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Katie Melua.

Songs he has written include Bright Eyes, Nine Million Bicycles, The Closest Thing to Crazy, A Winter’s Tale and prior to that, the many hits by ubiquitous ’70s eco warriors The Wombles. He has conducted many of the world’s great orchestras in both classical and pop repertoire, worked across many art forms and musical genres, and engaged in a wide spectrum of entrepreneurial activities in the entertainment industry.

Mike Batt has led an extraordinarily vibrant and challenging life that has been full of glorious victories and bitter failures. For better or worse, he is a man who has always lived life on his own terms. Idiosyncratic but mainstream, complicated but compassionate, and steadfastly maverick in spirit.

His fascinating life is recalled in his rapturously-received autobiography, The Closest Thing to Crazy, now available in paperback, which is packed with mad, challenging adventures and includes cameos from some of the biggest stars in the business, from Paul McCartney to Prince, – and a two-year nautical circumnavigation of the world at the age of thirty.

Whilst the book is full of hilarious (and mind-boggling) showbusiness anecdotes, it doesn’t shy away from the darker side of the entertainment industry. After Mike’s musical The Hunting of the Snark left him in financial trouble, he suffered from deep clinical depression, as he would again, many years later after the collapse of another ambitious venture. However, he bounced back, as this eternal optimist always does.

The Closest Thing to Crazy takes the reader on an intimate journey to the centre of the world of entertainment, and into the mind of a man whose immense creativity has led to work which means so much to millions of people. It not only tells the story of Mike’s creative and personal life but also offers inspiration to anyone who wants to pursue a life in the arts.

Mike Batt’s creative mind never stops. Whether it’s duetting with Moody Blues front-man Justin Hayward, putting together a 50th anniversary limited edition Wombles album, hand-painting one of his famous jackets or working on his first symphony, 76-year-old Mike always has something on the go.

Praise for The Closest Thing To Crazy includes:

‘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

‘The Closest Thing to Crazy makes clear that if there is one thing Batt possesses it is the spirit to bounce back . . . full of enthusiasm’ Independent

‘[A] mind-boggling autobiography. Batt emerges as a born risk taker, willing to stake everything on even the most reckless gamble’ Telegraph

‘Rollicking . . . ebullient . . . all credit to Batt for his persistence. He remains a great entertainer’ Mail on Sunday

‘Wildly entertaining . . . a remarkable anecdote on almost every page’ Daily Express