Mike Batt

A nice callback to three years ago when my son and I went to the same place for the same sort of thing and where he answered a question about Abraham Lincoln's coffin correctly.

They returned a couple of hours later when we enjoyed a final scotch and excerpts from Mike Batt's The Hunting of the Snark.

Well, two of us did.

One of us complained about the earworms, Mom, and the other looked deeply concerned, son's partner.

Rather than writing it himself, Essex reached out to two of the industry heavyweights.

The music was composed by the brilliant Mike Batt, who we met all the way back in episode four with the Caravan song, the man famously known for orchestrating the thematic sounds of The Wombles, while the words were penned by the legendary theater lyricist Tim Rice.

The production values were immaculate, featuring engineering by Lawrence Diana, Greg Jackman, and Mike Nacito, while mastering handled by Dennis Blackman.

Vaughan Thomas and Mike Batt themselves even stepped into the booth to provide the lush background vocals that gave the track its distinct comforting depth.

While the lyrics heavily echo themes of the Nativity, famously questioning whether certain signs like a bell ringing were just another fictional winter legend or a genuine love story meant to reshape his world, the music itself carried a deeply personal hidden narrative.

Decades later, during an appearance on BBC Three Counties Radio, Mike Batt revealed a surprising detail about the track's true inspiration.

He disclosed that A Winter's Tale, alongside two other songs he wrote, Please Don't Fall in Love and I Feel Like Buddy Holly, was written about a personal relationship of his that seemed doomed to fail exclusively due to geographical differences.

Fortunately, real life provided a much happier ending than the melancholic tone of the song suggests.

Bring

back Mike Batt.

Do you remember Mike Batt wrote an anthem for William Hague? Or maybe he's just to remember you a womble instead.

Well, I think that's the perfect segue into our memories of conference.

It's fair to say that we entered employment with the Conservative Party at a time when conferences weren't always perfect.

Or the Terror Suite, if you like.

It was actually released by Mike Batt.

but at the end of Triple M's cut I'll play you some of that mic bat one and it's absolutely no perfect you won't believe it but of course they had the goodwill to credit mic bat on the singles label but unfortunately the mere mentions of it went almost unnoticed over the years because the popularity of Dr Dan and of course stuff that went with it and then of course Slash many years later had his version but we're going to play Dr Dan once from 85 so let's have a listen to that Bye.

Even just that whispered triple M. Yeah.

how you cut, otherwise you'll go to the Wombles site.

Mike Batt will be getting really pissed.

I am a big fan of the Wombles, to be fair.

I've interviewed Mike

I don't think anyone's got opinions

about Mike Batt as strong

as yours, apart from maybe Mike Batt.

No, I've spoken to Mike Batt about it and he didn't have that many opinions.

He's like, it's all in the work.

It's all in the work.

Number four.

Mike Batt with the new edition and Summertime City.

In the cool light of the dawn, when the sky awakes and the sun shines on the boulevard.

In the town where I was born, I am sitting thinking about you wondering.

And he went on to write Bright Eyes from the Watership Down animated film, which Art Garfunkel sung on the soundtrack.

So there was a kind of indirect line from Simon and Garfunkel to the Wombles by Mike Batt.

So that was kind of my kid cassette era.

And then I think from there, when I was starting to develop my slightly more adult tastes, then the transition is my album choice, in fact.