Mike Batt
2CD ALBUM RELEASED ON MAY 8TH 2020
Live date: Bush Hall, Shepherd’s Bush, London - Monday May 4th 2020
Live date: Bush Hall, Shepherd’s Bush, London - Monday May 4th 2020
About
Mike Batt is one of Britain's best-known songwriter/composers. His consistent track record of success includes production, composition and conducting on projects as diverse as 'Watership Down' (music and lyrics to Art Garfunkel's international number one single, 'Bright Eyes'), 'Phantom of The Opera' (producing, orchestrating and contributing lyrics to the first hit) and a great deal of symphonic work, including many television and film scores. He has won five Ivor Novello Awards including 'Best Film Song or Music' two years in succession, once with 'Watership Down' and once with 'Caravans' the epic adaptation of Michener's novel, starring Anthony Quinn.
He has conducted many of the world's great orchestras including the London Symphony, The London Philharmonic, The Royal Philharmonic, The Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the State Orchestra of Victoria and The National Symphony Orchestra Of Ireland.
He began his career in popular music at the age of eighteen, as a signed artist with and subsequently Head of A&R for Liberty/United Artists Records. Leaving to form his own music publishing company two years later, and simultaneously working as a recording artist. His first hits as a singer/songwriter/producer were by The Wombles, in 1974.
After eight hit singles and four gold albums with The Wombles, he moved on to work with Steeleye Span ('All Around My Hat'), the Kursall Flyers ('Little Did She Know'), Elkie Brookes ('Lilac Wine'), Barbara Dickson ('Caravan Song') and Art Garfunkel ('Bright Eyes') all of which were top five in at least the UK
He has conducted many of the world's great orchestras including the London Symphony, The London Philharmonic, The Royal Philharmonic, The Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the State Orchestra of Victoria and The National Symphony Orchestra Of Ireland.
He began his career in popular music at the age of eighteen, as a signed artist with and subsequently Head of A&R for Liberty/United Artists Records. Leaving to form his own music publishing company two years later, and simultaneously working as a recording artist. His first hits as a singer/songwriter/producer were by The Wombles, in 1974.
After eight hit singles and four gold albums with The Wombles, he moved on to work with Steeleye Span ('All Around My Hat'), the Kursall Flyers ('Little Did She Know'), Elkie Brookes ('Lilac Wine'), Barbara Dickson ('Caravan Song') and Art Garfunkel ('Bright Eyes') all of which were top five in at least the UK
Mike Batt’s long and varied career is celebrated on his new Penultimate Collection double album, with 35 tracks highlighting his work as performer, composer, arranger and key British musical figure – but especially as performer, as not only does it feature Batt’s original solo material – including his international solo hits -, but also his own versions of songs he wrote for other artists. The Closest Thing To Crazy, Bright Eyes, A Winter’s Tale, Caravan Song and I Feel Like Buddy Holly are given Mike’s own distinctive treatment, alongside his orchestral works, and contributions from Colin Blunstone, Bonnie Tyler and Family’s Roger Chapman.
Mike Batt
talks to
Eoghan Lyng
Fifty years after the break-up, The Beatles are still a common fixture in everyday conversation. It was certainly a fixture of this conversation, though Mike Batt's work is almost as impressive as The Beatles and more diverse than John Lennon's. It was a thrill to talk to a songwriter of Batt's standing,as he talked about the songs he's written for others and the songs he's written for himself.
I love that fiery, almost Hawaiian, "Children Of The Sky" solo. Is it George Harrison?
It is. I became quite friendly with George. We later tried writing together, although we didn't really produce anything of great worth. It was the first time I'd met George; I knew Paul, not George. I went to his place. It was like something from The Wizard of Oz, buzzing at the gate. So, I met Olivia, went up to George. He had an engineer in with him. I don't drink these days, but I was so excited I had a few beers. George wasn't sure what to play. I get the impression his solos in The Beatles were considered in the band. He's like Tony Hicks and The Hollies. Very carefully considered solos, instead of splatters of passion. George was trying out a few things. With a few beers, I suggested "why not that bottleneck stuff from "My Sweet Lord"?" He said [imitates scouse accent] "that's easy to do". George was great fun to work with.
From Beatle to Beatle son; how did you approach Julian Lennon for The Hunting of the Snark?
This was when Julian was enjoying some hits. I wouldn't say it was his one hit, but his biggest hit [Too Late For Goodbyes]. I met him through his manager. They were the same age: twenty, twenty one.I must have been quite old to them, I must have been thirty five. When we had Julian in the studio, it was dimly lit. He had long hair and glasses and looked uncannily like John! He sounded like his dad. My son Luke has a very similar voice to mine. We play jokes on the telephone. Anyway, Julian played The Baker at the Royal Albert Hall. Justin Hayward was involved too. You can find the performance on YouTube. We did a Green Screen video with Julian, but I don't know if we released it. There was a disagreement with his label. I've kept in touch with Julian over the years. As you know, he's a fantastic photographer. We don't know each other that well, I'm not if we're friends as such, but we follow each other on Instagram. That's the great thing about the internet and Instagram; you can be friends with people you've never met. We met up for a meal a few years ago.
Segueing from fathers' to mothers', my mother adores "Nine Million Bicycles". Where did that come from?
As a songwriter, I'm always listening for what makes a good title in conversations. I appeared on a Chinese television show with Katie Melua. We were told ten million people will be watching. That's fine, we thought. Later, we were told that was a mistake. It wasn't ten, it was a hundred million. I'm glad I didn't know that before I sang "Bright Eyes"! Katie and I had an interpreter, who also acted as a tour guide. She was telling us all these facts, who lived in what house under the emperor. And then she said "there are nine million bicycles in Beijing". I turned to Katie and said "that's a song title". She said "you must be fucking joking". She said it in a nice way, but I thought "I'm going to write this bloody song".
It's an arresting title.
Yes, but how to make it into a song? Life is full of trivial facts. Listen to the Steve Wright show, it seems to be full of them. So, bringing factoids and little pieces of trivia to make it a song. It could have been a comedy song, but I wanted it to be more serious. When I had "I know I will love you till I die", it being one of the most important things you can say among the trivial things in life, I had the song. I had the idea for a month, but when I realised this, I had it written in about twenty minutes. Well,a bit more. The second and third verses took a bit of work. But it was basically there in twenty minutes.
I love that fiery, almost Hawaiian, "Children Of The Sky" solo. Is it George Harrison?
It is. I became quite friendly with George. We later tried writing together, although we didn't really produce anything of great worth. It was the first time I'd met George; I knew Paul, not George. I went to his place. It was like something from The Wizard of Oz, buzzing at the gate. So, I met Olivia, went up to George. He had an engineer in with him. I don't drink these days, but I was so excited I had a few beers. George wasn't sure what to play. I get the impression his solos in The Beatles were considered in the band. He's like Tony Hicks and The Hollies. Very carefully considered solos, instead of splatters of passion. George was trying out a few things. With a few beers, I suggested "why not that bottleneck stuff from "My Sweet Lord"?" He said [imitates scouse accent] "that's easy to do". George was great fun to work with.
From Beatle to Beatle son; how did you approach Julian Lennon for The Hunting of the Snark?
This was when Julian was enjoying some hits. I wouldn't say it was his one hit, but his biggest hit [Too Late For Goodbyes]. I met him through his manager. They were the same age: twenty, twenty one.I must have been quite old to them, I must have been thirty five. When we had Julian in the studio, it was dimly lit. He had long hair and glasses and looked uncannily like John! He sounded like his dad. My son Luke has a very similar voice to mine. We play jokes on the telephone. Anyway, Julian played The Baker at the Royal Albert Hall. Justin Hayward was involved too. You can find the performance on YouTube. We did a Green Screen video with Julian, but I don't know if we released it. There was a disagreement with his label. I've kept in touch with Julian over the years. As you know, he's a fantastic photographer. We don't know each other that well, I'm not if we're friends as such, but we follow each other on Instagram. That's the great thing about the internet and Instagram; you can be friends with people you've never met. We met up for a meal a few years ago.
Segueing from fathers' to mothers', my mother adores "Nine Million Bicycles". Where did that come from?
As a songwriter, I'm always listening for what makes a good title in conversations. I appeared on a Chinese television show with Katie Melua. We were told ten million people will be watching. That's fine, we thought. Later, we were told that was a mistake. It wasn't ten, it was a hundred million. I'm glad I didn't know that before I sang "Bright Eyes"! Katie and I had an interpreter, who also acted as a tour guide. She was telling us all these facts, who lived in what house under the emperor. And then she said "there are nine million bicycles in Beijing". I turned to Katie and said "that's a song title". She said "you must be fucking joking". She said it in a nice way, but I thought "I'm going to write this bloody song".
It's an arresting title.
Yes, but how to make it into a song? Life is full of trivial facts. Listen to the Steve Wright show, it seems to be full of them. So, bringing factoids and little pieces of trivia to make it a song. It could have been a comedy song, but I wanted it to be more serious. When I had "I know I will love you till I die", it being one of the most important things you can say among the trivial things in life, I had the song. I had the idea for a month, but when I realised this, I had it written in about twenty minutes. Well,a bit more. The second and third verses took a bit of work. But it was basically there in twenty minutes.
Tell me about "A Winter's Tale".
Again, it goes back to titles. I love working with Tim Rice. We'd written a song that was eventually recorded by Elaine Page. I knew him through the Society of Distinguished Songwriters. It's SODS. There were about thirty or forty of us. We'd dine together, play piano. This was just after my first marriage had fallen apart and I'd met someone who lived in Australia. She was in Australia and I was in England. It was this forced, unrequited love; there was nothing we could do. We were ten thousand miles apart. I met Tim in the pub. We were going to write together, I wanted to write a musical about The Aztecs. I mentioned to Tim that David Essex had called, asking for a Christmas song. Tim said "we'd better work on that instead of The Aztecs". I told him about my situation, and he thought was a great subject for the song. He was going through various titles. I wasn't too crazy on them. Then he said "A Winter's Tale" and I knew that was it. Credit to a lyricist, he let me get heavily involved in the lyrics. I'd say it's more a co-written lyric than a co-written song. I was venting it all out. We're two very different lyricists. Tim likes crosswords and anagrams. I think its a good hybrid of two lyricists. There's the romanticism, there's the realism.
How did you approach "Bright Eyes" differently to Art Garfunkel?
In a way, I didn't. The fact that there was going to be a different singer was enough, so I felt I could use the same arrangement. He's got such a beautiful voice, and nobody sings like Art Garfunkel. But nobody sings like me either. It's a songwriter's version of the song.There have been times I've done songs differently to others. Dave and Cliff have had hits with my songs. When I produced the original "I Feel Like Buddy Holly", it was very synthetic. It was the eighties, eighty-three. When I did it, it was me on a piano and a couple of friends. Here, the arrangement is the same. We use the same portamento string part, which is a violinistic term, for this album.
It's a gorgeous melody.
Thank you. I once received a letter from a mother who'd lost her child to leukemia. She said the song had been a great comfort to them in their final weeks. The child must have been nine, but understood the lyrics. It's about life after death. When I wrote it, it was about rabbits who thought one of their rabbits was dead. It was a huge success; number one in six countries. It was great for me to write that. People knew me for my Wombles stuff, so this was something more serious.
What are your thoughts and feelings about The Wombles?
With absolute fondness. It was my first hit. I was only twenty three. My mother made the original costumes. I'd seen so many one hit wonders that I knew if I caught that exalted hit, I'd latch onto it. So, "Remember You're A Womble" followed the first single, some people think that was the first one. It was a decision I made. I'm sure David Bowie dumped The Laughing Gnome as soon as it was nearly successful. He'd have been like me with The Wombles. I'm not comparing myself to Bowie, but I'm not knocking myself artistically either. People ask me if I'm bitter. Of course I'm not, but I'd have liked to have been better thought of by my contemporary critics. You probably haven't heard "The Ride to Agadir"?
I'm afraid not.
I'd have been surprised if you had. But if I were talking to someone from Germany, that would have come up by now in the interview. I had a solo album called Schizophonia. It did well in other countries, but it was harder in England. Everyone knew me from The Wombles.Any writer from Melody Maker and NME wouldn't take me seriously. As time has gone on, critics have gone to look at my work with more interest. John Peel was a fan of my early work. I did some acid rock, despite never taking acid, and other underground stuff. But once I had The Wombles, I think he looked at me as a sellout.But I can't look back with anything but fondness. Playing Glastonbury in 2011, dressed in my Womble costume,was something. People didn't know it was me; except those that did. We did it all live, no backing tracks. People of all ages came to see us.
I need to ask you about working The Zombies' Colin Blunstone.
When we did Watership Down, I put a list together of people who could sing it. Number one was Art Garfunkel. I didn't think we'd get him, probably better not to ask. I put myself in tenth place, and Colin was number two on the list. People have noted a melancholy to my work. I haven't picked up on it, but I think they're right. Colin has that wistfulness. I wrote "Tiger Of The Night" for a film based off a George Orwell book. It starred Helena Bonham Carter and Richard E. Grant. I knew Colin would the perfect singer for the song. I believe it's on the new album.
It just precedes a track with Roger Chapman; what was he like?
He's a fantastic singer. I knew him from Family. I did some arrangements for A Doll's House; uncredited, I might add. Everyone thought Family were going to be the next Beatles. The Beatles thought they were going to be the next Beatles. Roger was almost an aggressive punk singer, this was long before punk. Roger sang on Tarot Suite. Rory Gallagher also played on that album.
Perhaps Ireland's finest guitarist and certainly my favourite.
Good. I can say he was a really lovely man. We were a bit naughty drinking pints of Guinness on the mixing desk. Probably shouldn't have been drinking, but the pub down the road did nice Guinness. Rory and I enjoyed them. I got a call to say that "Bright Eyes" was selling so many units, and would definitely hit no.1. I apologised to Rory, told him I had to take the call.He told me not to be mad and to have a pint!
You worked on the sprawling Caravans. What was that like to soundtrack?
Did you say sprawling? Because of the way it looks? It looks fantastic and the book is brilliant. But it didn't come across very well as a film, I don't think. The film was made on Iranian money and they didn't want the Nazi character. The film lost its main character! But the music was great fun. We recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. For a bit of fun, I had permission, I put some sand down on the ground. Added to the fun.
Finally, and most importantly, I have to ask this question. Would you return for another series of Brian Pern?
Ha ha! I think the guys feel they've come full circle on that show, but it was great fun. I know I was on at first so they'd take the piss, but I thought the joke about me spiking the drinks was very funny. I was included because I was having an affair with Brian's wife, played by Jane Asher. Why not? [chuckles] And if Brian remains in the rainforests, I suppose I could sing for his band!
Mike Batt, thank you!
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