A Songwriter's Tale

One of Britain's most successful songwriters and record producers, having composed and produced both pop and classical hits for many artists from Art Garfunkel and Vanessa Mae to Cliff Richard and Katie Melua and won 5 Ivor Novello Awards, Mike Batt returns to his original role - as a singer and artist.

Taking to the stage with his band, Mike will perform songs from his 40 year career, one that started when he was 18 years old and signed to Liberty Records. Subsequently signed to Epic, Mike recorded 6 solo albums including 'Schizophonia' and 'Tarot Suite' (both with the London Symphony Orchestra). From these albums came the European hit songs 'Railway Hotel', 'Lady Of The Dawn', 'The Winds Of Change' and 'The Ride To Agadir'. He achieved the number four position as an artist in the UK charts in 1976 with his single 'Summertime City'.

Having spent the following decades writing and producing for other artists, in 2008 Mike returned to the charts when his album 'A Songwriter's Tale' debuted at number 23. 'A Songwriter's Tale' comprised fresh recordings of 16 tracks representing some of the key songs of his life as a performer and writer including 'Bright Eyes', 'Soldier's Song', 'A Winter's Tale', 'The Closest Thing To Crazy', 'I Feel Like Buddy Holly', 'Please Don't Fall In Love' and 'Caravan Song'.

The concert announcement coincides with the release of his catalogue of work on CD, initially in the form of "The Mike Batt Music Cube" before the release of the individual CDs. The cube contains a total of 16 discs, presented as 8 double albums, and is intended as a collector's edition with contents ranging from the recently successful chart album 'A Songwriter's Tale' right back through the 6 solo albums he made for Sony between the 70s and 90s.

A highlight of the collection is a new compilation, 'The Orinoco Kid', containing Batt's own selection of early singles and Wombles curios. Other rare items featured in 'The Cube' are 'Rapid Eye Movements', originally a double album made by Batt for Chrysalis in the early 80s under the pseudonym 'Autopilot'. This adventurous electronic project disappeared off the radar fairly soon after its release but has been much requested by fans ever since.

One of Batt's most popular albums over the years has been 'Caravans', - the soundtrack of which has been a hardy perennial seller since its release in 1978. For this edition, Batt has substituted the shorter Barbara Dickson track 'Caravan Song' for the longer single version which was never on the original album and added a new soundtrack item 'Minuet at Nazrullah's', - which has never appeared on record, until now.

Other highlights of this package include a coupling of the much-acclaimed 'Zero Zero' album with a DVD of the ambitious TV production which accompanied its release in 1982 when broadcast by the new Channel 4 in the first week of the broadcaster's existence. In a similar album/DVD combination, the original 'The Hunting Of The Snark' album (featuring Art Garfunkel, Roger Daltrey, George Harrison, Stephane Grappelli, Sir John Gielgud, John Hurt, Captain Sensible, Deniece Williams, Julian Lennon, and Sir Cliff Richard) is paired with the DVD of the costumed performance of 'Snark' at the Albert Hall, featuring a similarly star-studded line up with the substitution of Justin Hayward for Art Garfunkel, Midge Ure for George Harrison, and Billy Connolly for Cliff Richard!

An additional item within 'The Mike Batt Music Cube' is the first ever appearance on record of his 'Watership Down Suite', a symphonic composition based upon his score for the successful TV series.

Tickets are on sale now, priced at £28.50 + booking fee.