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Mike Batt

Jools welcomes Mike Batt to the studio to sing with the band, chat and play some favourite records.

Mike Batt guests, singing with Jools's band, chatting and playing some favourite records.

British singer/songwriter, producer, and composer Mike Batt is an artist with a long track record of successful productions that cross from film and television to musical theater and pop music. Born in 1949 in Southampton, Hampshire, England, Batt was signed to Liberty/United Artists Records at age 18 and left after two years to form his own publishing company. Beginning in 1974, Batt began writing and recording music for the children's television show and bubblegum pop group the Wombles, and ultimately scored eight hit singles with the group. He then went on to write successfully for a bevy of artists including Steeleye Span, Linda Lewis, Elkie Brooks, the Kursaal Flyers, and Art Garfunkel, with whom he won his second Ivor Novello Award for 1979's "Bright Eyes" from the animated film Watership Down.

During the '90s, Batt continued his work in both the classical and pop worlds by collaborating with several high-profile artists and ensembles including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Finbar Wright, Vanessa-Mae, XTC, and others. In 1994, he released the solo album Arabesque. The following year, he received a royal commission to compose the music for the inauguration of the Channel Tunnel. . Batt continued to hone his niche as a man behind the scenes, developing and guiding the careers of several acts including the classical-crossover groups Bond and the Planets, whose 2002 album Classical Graffiti spent three months at number one on the classical charts. Batt also helped guide and launch the career of vocalist Katie Melua, whom he discovered in 2003 while she was attending the BRIT School for the Performing Arts & Technology.

57 minutes

Last on

Mon 23 May 2016 23:00
BBC Radio 2

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Music Played

  • Roy Brown

    Cadillac Baby

    • Lonesome Highway - This Land Is Your Land.
    • Proper Records.
    • 22.

  • Howlin’ Wolf

    Mr. Highway Man

    • Lonesome Highway - Hubbin' It.
    • Proper.
    • 13.

  • Etta James & Harvey Fuqua

    If I Can't Have You

    • R&B Spotlight 60.
    • Fantastic Voyage.
    • 16.

  • Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues band

    Sweethearts On Parade

  • David Gilmour

    5am

    • Rattle That Lock.
    • Columbia.
    • 5.

  • Sidney Bechet

    Back Home

    • Three Classic Albums Plus.
    • Avid Entertainment.
    • 1.

Broadcast

  • Mon 23 May 2016 23:00
    BBC Radio 2