Christopher John Spedding is an English musician, singer, guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Spedding is best known for his studio session work. By the early 1970s, he had become one of the most sought-after session guitarists in England. Spedding has played on and produced many albums and singles. He has also been a member of eleven rock bands: the Battered Ornaments, Frank Ricotti Quartet, King Mob, Mike Batt and Friends, Necessaries, Nucleus, Ricky Norton, Sharks, Trigger, and The Wombles. In May 1976, Spedding also produced the very first Sex Pistols recordings.
Ketevan "Katie" Melua is a Georgian-British singer and songwriter. She moved to the United Kingdom at the age of eight – first to Belfast, and then to London in 1999. Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of composer Mike Batt, and made her musical debut in 2003. In 2006, she became the United Kingdom's best-selling female artist and Europe's highest selling European female artist.
Call off the Search is the debut studio album by Georgian-British jazz and blues singer Katie Melua, released in 2003.
"What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released in 1967 as a single, which topped the pop charts in the United Kingdom, though it performed poorly in the United States because Larry Newton, the president of ABC Records, disliked the song and refused to promote it.
Michael Philip Batt, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer, director, conductor and former Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry. Having achieved substantial international success as a solo artist, he is particularly known in the UK for creating The Wombles pop act, writing many hits including the chart-topping "Bright Eyes", and discovering Katie Melua. He has also conducted many of the world's great orchestras, including the London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and Stuttgart Philharmonic in both classical and pop recordings and performances.
Piece by Piece is the second studio album by British-Georgian jazz and blues singer Katie Melua. It was released on 26 September 2005 by Dramatico Records. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at #1 with 120,459 copies sold in its first week.
In Winter is the seventh studio album by British singer-songwriter Katie Melua. It was released through BMG Rights Management on 14 October 2016.
"The Closest Thing to Crazy" is the debut single of Georgia-born singer Katie Melua. The song is featured on her first studio album, Call Off the Search (2003). The song was written as part of the musical Men Who March Away', and appeared first in 1995 on Mike Batt's album Arabesque.
"Call Off the Search" is the second single of Georgian-born singer Katie Melua. It is the title song of her debut album, Call Off the Search. The single had two versions that both came out on the same day. The B-side of the second version, "Turn to Tell", was composed by Melua's guitar teacher, Justin Sandercoe. The song peaked at number 19 on the UK Singles Chart and number 27 in Ireland.
"Nine Million Bicycles" is a song written and produced by Mike Batt for the singer Katie Melua's second album, Piece by Piece. It was released as the album's first single in September 2005 and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Melua's first top five hit as a solo artist. It was a finalist for The Record of the Year prize, losing to "You Raise Me Up" by Westlife.
"I Cried for You" is a song by Georgian-born singer Katie Melua, released as the second single from her second album, Piece by Piece, on 5 December 2005. The single is a double A-side consisting of "I Cried for You", which is one of Melua's own compositions, and a cover of the Cure's song "Just Like Heaven", the latter of which was the theme song of the film Just like Heaven. "I Cried for You" is inspired by the idea of Jesus and Mary Magdalene having been in a close relationship, and the loss she would have felt.
"It's Only Pain" is the seventh single by Georgian-born singer-songwriter Katie Melua and the fourth from her second album, Piece by Piece. The song had been thought to be about her pain at breaking-up with her boyfriend, Luke Pritchard. This is not true. The song was written in New York by Mike Batt as a single for her but with no reference to Melua's own life events.
"Shy Boy" is the eighth single by Georgian-born singer Katie Melua and the fifth from her second album, Piece by Piece (2005).
"If You Were a Sailboat" is a song by British singer Katie Melua. Written and produced by Mike Batt, it is Melua's ninth single and the first from her third album, Pictures (2007). Melua said of the song:
What I liked about the song is the fact that a lot of love songs tend to deal with the fluffy nice side of love, but this one deals with how you get very selfish when you fall in love with someone, and you don't want to share them with the world, you just want them all about yourself. What's genius about Mike's lyrics is that instead of saying that directly he uses these crazy strange metaphors, "if you were a piece of wood I'd nail you to the floor" and quite bizarre stuff and I like that. Musically it sounds like a really nice smooth love song, but the message is pretty intense and quite dark.
The Katie Melua Collection is a compilation album by Georgian-born British singer and songwriter Katie Melua. The album is a two disc set with 17 songs, three previously unreleased, and a DVD that was filmed in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Live at the O² Arena is a live album by Georgian-born British singer–songwriter Katie Melua. It was recorded on 8 November 2008 at The O2 Arena in London. The CD release of the album contains 19 tracks whereas the vinyl edition features a different track listing with three additional songs, namely "Thank You Stars", "Two Bare Feet" and "Spellbound". Those three tracks are also included in the digital download release of the album.
The House is the fourth studio album by British-Georgian singer Katie Melua, released on 24 May 2010 by Dramatico. This is Melua's first studio album not to be produced by Mike Batt. The first single from the album, "The Flood", was released on 17 May 2010 and was written by Melua, Guy Chambers and Lauren Christy. The second single A Happy Place was released in July 2010, featuring a remix of the track by Sparks. The third single To Kill You With A Kiss was released at the end of November 2010.
Secret Symphony is the fifth studio album by singer-songwriter Katie Melua, and was released on 5 March 2012. The album was recorded at Air Studios in London in collaboration with orchestrator and conductor Mike Batt.
"Better Than a Dream" is a song performed by the Georgian-born, British singer Katie Melua, from her fifth studio album Secret Symphony. The song was written and originally recorded by Mike Batt whose version was used as the closing credits theme of the 1990s animated series, The Dreamstone. The single was released on 9 March 2012. The song has charted in Belgium.
Ketevan is the sixth studio album by Georgian-British singer Katie Melua, released in the United Kingdom on 16 September 2013 through Dramatico. At birth Melua was given the name Ketevan, but later she adopted the name Katie.
