Schizophonia (Mike Batt album)

Last updated
Schizophonia
Mike Batt Schizophonia album cover.jpg
Studio album by
Mike Batt
Released1977
Label Epic
Producer Mike Batt
Mike Batt chronology
Yoga for Health
(1973)		Schizophonia
(1977)		 Tarot Suite
(1979)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Schizophonia is the second solo album by English singer-songwriter Mike Batt, backed with the London Symphony Orchestra. It was released in 1977 by Epic Records.

Contents

Background and content

According to Batt, Schizophonia was originally a concept album with the title The Adventures of God and His Pals, with God being like Lord Snooty from The Beano comic magazine. [2] Having started writing songs for that album, Batt thought the theme was "a bit silly", before imagining an Arabic story and then discovering one "about Mohammed the Fifth and the Berber Revolt in the Encyclopædia Britannica ." [2]

Schizophonia partly contains a theme of Arabic music, which persuaded film producer Elmo Williams to commission Batt to write the score for the 1978 film Caravans. [3]

Track listing

All tracks written by Mike Batt, except where noted.

Side one

No.TitleLength
1."The Ride to Agadir"6:40
2."Berber's Prayer"2:03
3."The Walls of the World"3:19
4."Insh'Allah"4:58
5."The Fires of Rabat"2:56

Side two

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time" 2:53
2."Bourrée" Johann Sebastian Bach 1:35
3."Railway Hotel" 3:21
4."Voices in the Dark" 4:04
5."Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"
4:09

Personnel

Adapted from the album's liner notes. [4]

Musicians

  • Mike Batt – vocals (side one: tracks 1, 3, 4; side two: tracks 1, 3–5), Wurlitzer electric piano (side one: track 3; side two: track 4), ARP synthesizer (side one: track 4; side two: track 4), Clavinet (side one: track 5), arrangement (side two: track 2), keyboards (side two: track 5), accordion (side two: track 5)
  • Anthony Camden – oboe (side one: track 1), cor anglais (side two: track 3)
  • Clem Cattini – drums (side one: tracks 1, 3, 4; side two: track 1)
  • B. J. Cole – pedal steel guitar (side one: tracks 3, 5; side two: track 4)
  • Ray Cooper – percussion (side one: tracks 1, 3–5; side two: tracks 1, 3–5)
  • Terry Cox – drums (side one: track 5; side two: track 4)
  • John Fiddy – bass guitar (side one: track 5; side two: tracks 1, 4)
  • Chris Gent – saxophone (side two: track 5)
  • Herbie Flowers – bass (side one: track 3)
  • Warwick Hill – violin (side one: track 1)
  • Les Hurdle – bass (side one: tracks 1, 4)
  • Seoud Islam – spoken voice (side one: track 2)
  • Kenney Jones – drums (side two: track 5)
  • Chris Karan – tablas (side one: tracks 1, 4)
  • Rick Kemp – bass (side two: tracks 3, 5)
  • Peter Knight – fiddle (side one: track 1)
  • London Symphony Orchestra – orchestra (arranged and conducted by Mike Batt)
  • Roger McKew – guitar (side one: tracks 1, 3)
  • Alan Parker – guitar (side one: tracks 1, 4, 5; side two: track 4)
  • Chris Spedding – guitar (side one: tracks 1, 3–5; side two: tracks 1, 3–5)
  • Richard Studt – violin (side one: track 1)
  • Toose Taylor – guitar solo (side two: track 5)
  • Les Thatcher – guitar (side one: track 3)

Technical

Charts

Chart performance for Schizophonia
Chart (1977)Peak
position
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [5] 46

References

  1. ↑ "Schizophonia - Mike Batt | Album | AllMusic" . Retrieved Apr 25, 2025– via www.allmusic.com.
  2. 1 2 Kendallpublished, Jo (Feb 6, 2024). ""The director told me he wanted a song about death… Not only that, but it was a rabbit": Mike Batt on Watership Down, his concept albums and the connection between the Wombles, Steeleye Span and (maybe) Hawkwind". Louder. Retrieved Apr 25, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Mike Batt celebrates". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. May 25, 2009. Retrieved Apr 25, 2025.
  4. ↑ Schizophonia (liner notes). Mike Batt. Epic. 1977.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Mike Batt – Schizophonia". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.