Mike Batt

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Mike Batt, 1971

Michael Philip "Mike" Batt LVO (born  February 6, 1949 in Southampton , Hampshire ) is a British musician , composer and record producer . The focus of his works lies in the area of popular classical music and quiet pop ballads . Often his songs are sung by other singers, such as the chart hits Bright Eyes (1979 by Art Garfunkel ) and Nine Million Bicycles (2005 by Katie Melua ).

Career

Batt's first single was his 1969 cover version of the Beatles song Your Mother Should Know . He had his first hits from 1974 with the theme music and other pieces for the television series The Wombles . He then worked as a songwriter and producer with various musicians, including 1975 with the folk rock band Steeleye Span . His best-known pieces include Bright Eyes sung by Art Garfunkel , Run Like the Wind interpreted by Roger Chapman , I Feel Like Buddy Holly sung by Alvin Stardust and the Lady of the Dawn sung by Batt himself , The Ride to Agadir , The Winds Of Change and Love Makes You Crazy . He also wrote the film music for Caravans (1978, German title: Der Herr der Karawane ). In 1983 he produced his record The Whisper for David Essex and also composed several pieces, including A Winter's Tale . In 1995 he appeared as the composer and producer of the bestselling album The Violin Player by violinist Vanessa-Mae . Batt also produced several songs with Sandra Schwarzhaupt , the theme song for the TV show Wetten, dass ..? is also a Batt composition.

Life

Mike Batt is a second wife to Australian actress Julianne White and has three children.

In 2013, shortly before the death of his mother, who in turn had made the costumes for the Wombles, Mike Batt was awarded the Royal Victorian Order .

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Musicals

Mike Batt was involved in various musicals, including the most important arrangements for Andrew Lloyd-Webber's The Phantom of the Opera .

In 1986 he turned Lewis Carroll's nonsense ballad The Hunting of the Snark into a musical of the same name with well-known guest musicians , which he performed live and released as a studio album . Were on this project, among others, Art Garfunkel (: live album Justin Hayward ), Julian Lennon , Cliff Richard (Album) and Maggie Reilly involved, as George Harrison with a guitar part on the album. Roger Daltrey also sang and John Hurt acted as narrator. A partially staged performance at the Royal Albert Hall was recorded and televised in 1987. In 1991, the expanded version was performed as a musical, but could not reliably fill the theater.

Mike Batt's musical Men who march away was premiered once under his direction on March 17th in London's East End in St Anne's, Limehouse with the Docklands Sinfonia.

The project, created in 1992 while working with Finbar Wright under the working title War Baby , was renamed Men Who March Away in 1996 and is based on poems by Thomas Hardy .

Philharmania

In 1998 Batt re-recorded well-known rock songs with other artists and the London Philharmonic Orchestra for the album Philharmania , including with musicians who had already been involved in the original versions of the respective pieces. Mike Batt himself contributed Bright Eyes , Ultravox lead singer Midge Ure re- recorded Vienna and with Moody Blues singer Hayward, whose ballad cover album Classic Blue Batt had already produced and worked on in 1989, a new recording of the classic Nights in White Satin was made . Foreign contributions included Boys of Summer (originally by Don Henley , sung here by The Who singer Roger Daltrey ) and Eve of Destruction (original by Barry McGuire , in the new version with Motörhead singer Lemmy Kilmister ).

Katie Melua

As a music producer , Batt discovered the Georgian- British singer Katie Melua in 2002 and produced the albums Call Off the Search (2003/04), Piece by Piece (2005), Pictures (2007) and Secret Symphony (2012) with her released on his record label Dramatico . He also composed some of the music, including the hits Nine Million Bicycles , If You Were a Sailboat and The Closest Thing to Crazy , which he had previously interpreted himself on his album Arabesque (1995). After six albums, Katie Melua's 10-year contract with Mike Batt and Dramatico ends in January 2014.

Planetarium show

In cooperation with the Planetarium Hamburg , the planetarium show Voices in the Dark was created under the direction of Terry Rudat , which combines 3D animations and 360 ° film sequences with the music of Mike Batt to create an audiovisual experience in the planetarium dome. The show premiered in May 2008. In November 2019, the premiere of a new edition of the planetarium show took place in the Hamburg planetarium; it also contained two sequences for the songs Lady of the Dawn and Bright Eyes.

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Wombling Songs (The Wombles)
  UK 19th 
gold
gold
03/02/1974 (17 weeks)
Remember You're A Womble (The Wombles)
  UK 18th 
gold
gold
07/13/1974 (29 weeks)
Keep On Wombling (The Wombles)
  UK 17th 
gold
gold
December 21, 1974 (6 weeks)
20 Wombling Greats (The Wombles)
  UK 29 01/08/1977 (1 week)
Tarot Suite
  DE 29 05/05/1980 (10 weeks)
Waves
  DE 37 December 29, 1980 (9 weeks)
The Hunting Of The Snark
  DE 48 06/15/1987 (9 weeks)
Classic Blue ( Justin Hayward , Mike Batt & London Philharmonic Orchestra)
  UK 47 10/28/1989 (7 weeks)
Philharmania Vol. 1
  DE 80 11/23/1998 (3 weeks)
The Best So Far (The Wombles)
  UK 26th 04/18/1998 (4 weeks)
A songwriter's tale
  UK 24 04/05/2008 (6 weeks)
  DE 58 02/08/2008 (3 weeks)
Singles
Wombling Song (The Wombles)
  UK 4th 01/26/1974 (23 weeks)
Remember You're A Womble (The Wombles)
  UK 3 04/06/1974 (16 weeks)
  DE 22nd 06/17/1974 (7 weeks)
Banana Rock (The Wombles)
  UK 9 06/22/1974 (13 weeks)
  DE 45 09/23/1974 (1 week)
Minuetto Allegretto (The Wombles)
  UK 16 October 12, 1974 (9 weeks)
Wombling Merry Christmas (The Wombles)
  UK 2 
silver
silver
07/12/1974 (8 weeks)
Wombling White Tie And Tails (The Wombles)
  UK 22nd 05/10/1975 (7 weeks)
Super Womble (The Wombles)
  UK 20th 08/09/1975 (6 weeks)
Summertime City (Mike Batt with New Edition)
  UK 4th 08/16/1975 (8 weeks)
Let's Womble To The Party Tonight (The Wombles)
  UK 34 December 13, 1975 (5 weeks)
Lady Of The Dawn
  DE 16 March 31, 1980 (17 weeks)
  CH 3 03/23/1980 (9 weeks)
The Walls Of The World
  DE 73 09/01/1980 (1 week)
The Winds Of Change
  DE 29 01/05/1981 (17 weeks)
Mona
  DE 65 05/18/1981 (3 weeks)
Love Makes You Crazy
  DE 51 05/09/1983 (9 weeks)
Remember You're A Womble (1998) (The Wombles)
  UK 13 03/21/1998 (5 weeks)
Wombling Song (Underground Overground) (1998) (The Wombles)
  UK 27 06/13/1998 (3 weeks)

1970–1972: MBO - The Mike Batt Orchestra

1973-1978: The Wombles

  • 1973: Wombling Songs
  • 1974: Remember You're A Womble
  • 1974: Keep On Wombling
  • 1975: Superwombling (UK:silversilver)
  • 1976: Womble Stories
  • 1978: Wombling Free (Soundtrack)

From 1973: Mike Batt

  • 1973: Yoga For Health
  • 1973: Moog At The Movies
  • 1974: Ye Olde Moog
  • 1977: Schizophonia (with the London Symphony Orchestra )
  • 1978: Caravans (soundtrack; with the London Philharmonic Orchestra)
  • 1979: Tarot Suite with Friends (with the London Symphony Orchestra )
  • 1980: Waves (with the Amsterdam Chamber Orchestra)
  • 1981: Six Days In Berlin (with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra)
  • 1982: Zero Zero (musical; with the Sydney Symphonic Orchestra)
  • 1985: Dragon Dance / Theme Of The Dragon (Instrumental; with the London Philharmonic Orchestra)
  • 1987: The Hunting Of The Snark with Friends (with the London Symphony Orchestra )
  • 1988: Songs Of Love And War (with the London Philharmonic Orchestra)
  • 1990: The Dreamstone with Friends (soundtrack; with the London Philharmonic Orchestra)
  • 1995: Arabesque (with the National Symphony Orchestra of London)
  • 1998: Keep The Aspidistra Flying (Alternative title: A Merry War , Soundtrack; with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
  • 1998: Philharmania Vol. 1 with Friends (with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
  • 1999: The Ride To Agadir - Best (1977–1983) [Sony / Zounds, all tracks digitally remastered]
  • 2000: Watership Down with Friends (soundtrack; with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
  • 2008: A Songwriter's Tale (with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) - pre-released in 2000 in parts under the title Bright Eyes At The Railway Hotel
  • 2015: A Classical Tale - Collection of published and unpublished classical compositions
  • 2020: The Penultimate Collection - Collection of 34 released and 2 new recordings

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Hampshire funeral of Wombles costume maker Elaine Batt , Southern Daily Echo, July 5, 2013
  2. ↑ The Hunting of the Snark , Theatrecrafts.com
  3. ^ How to survive a stage flop: Mike Batt shares his West End disappointment , Express, May 4, 2014
  4. ↑ Charts DE Charts DE The Wombles Charts CH Charts UK Charts UK The Wombles
  5. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
personal data
SURNAME Batt, Mike
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Batt, Michael Philip (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British musician and composer
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Southampton , England