Nine Million Bicycles
| Nine Million Bicycles | |
|---|---|
| Katie Melua | |
| publication | September 23, 2005 |
| length | 3:14 |
| Genre (s) | Pop , Jazz , Adult Alternative |
| Author (s) | Mike Batt |
| Label | Dramatico |
| album | Piece by piece |
Nine Million Bicycles is a song written and produced by British record producer Mike Batt for Georgian- British singer Katie Melua's second album , Piece by Piece . It was released as the first album single in 2005 and reached number 5 on the UK Singles Chart . It became Melua's first top five hit. The song was a finalist of The Record of the Year , but lost to the cover version of the Irish boy band Westlife of the song You Raise Me Up .
Emergence
According to Melua, she got the idea for the song while staying in Beijing with her then manager Batt. An interpreter showed them around the city and mentioned that there were nine million bicycles there. Back in England , Batt wrote the song for the title Nine Million Bicycles two weeks later .
Adrian Brett, who also played the flute in Batt's album Caravans (1978), contributed to the song. An ocarina was used for the low notes and a Chinese bamboo flute for the high notes .
Chart placements
| Charts | Top ranking | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Chart placements | ||
 Germany (GfK)
|
31 (40 weeks) | 40 |
 Switzerland (IFPI)
|
43 (40 weeks) | 40 |
 United Kingdom (OCC)
|
5 (17 weeks) | 17th |
Individual evidence
- ↑ What's Music Record 1993, no. WS-2052, in Mandarin
- ↑ The Official Katie Melua Website. Archived from the original on November 30, 2006 ; accessed on September 28, 2006 (English).
- ↑ Katie Melua - Nine Million Bicycles Chart Placement Germany. GfK Entertainment , accessed on October 9, 2016 .
- ↑ Katie Melua - Nine Million Bicycles Chart Placement Switzerland. In: Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien, accessed October 9, 2016 .
- ^ Katie Melua Charthistory United Kingdom. Official Charts Company , accessed October 9, 2016 .