BATT’S ENTERTAINMENT

It’s years since he said goodbye to The Wombles, but MIKE BATT isn’t ashamed of his beloved children’s TV character past. TERRY STAUNTON helps tidy up the solo years.

There is a popular misconception that the man whose 1974 rallying cry was “remember you’re a Womble” has spent the last 35 years trying to forget that he ever was. Yet, having once described the spin-off pop success he achieved from the eco-friendly inhabitants of Wimbledon Common as a “furry anvil” around his neck, Mike Batt is today remarkably good-humoured and philosophical about their place in his history.

He’ll never escape The Wombles, but it’s not as if he’s been tied to Madame Cholet’s apron strings all this time. Post-puppetry, Batt has enjoyed a varied and rewarding career as a musician, composer, producer and record company mogul. Six of his back catalogue albums have been reissued as doublepacks, and having steered Katie Melua to global fame, he continues to work with up-and-coming acts on his own Dramatico label. He still enjoys a handson role in the industry as deputy chairman of the British Phonographic Industry.

You once described The Wombles as a “furry anvil” around your neck.

Well, yes, they were, but as a musician it was great thing to be involved with. It gave me an opportunity to write in every genre; there was a Mozart pastiche (Minuetto Allegretto), a Fred …

by TERRY STAUNTON
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