{"product_id":"9781785120862","title":"PRE-ORDER NOW Closest Thing to Crazy : My Life of Musical Adventures by Mike Batt","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e PRE-ORDER NOW - Published: 06\/01\/2026 \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Fabulously readable.\" \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e—\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eSTEPHEN FRY\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Wildly entertaining.\" \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e—\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eDAILY EXPRESS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNominated for the 2025 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Described variously as a 'polymath', a 'renaissance man' and 'one of the most colorful 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Featuring cameos from some of the biggest stars in the business from Paul McCartney to Prince, \u003ci\u003eThe Closest Thing to Crazy\u003c\/i\u003e 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.  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback \/ softback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55205888229749,"sku":"9781785120862","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781785120862_4f94b1e4-271c-46b4-b360-f380e9bc6e1c.jpg?v=1748097556","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/9781785120862","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}