"The Closest Thing to Crazy" is the debut single of Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

-born songstress Katie Melua

Katie Melua

Ketevan "Katie" Melua is a British-Georgian singer, songwriter and musician. She moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then to England at fourteen. Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of composer Mike Batt, and made her musical debut in 2003...

. It is featured on her hugely successful album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

, Call Off the Search

Call off the Search

The Japanese release has the extra track "Deep Purple".-Personnel:*Katie Melua - guitar, vocals*Mike Batt - organ, piano, conductor*Jim Cregan - guitar*Tim Harries - bass*The Irish Film Orchestra - orchestra*Michael Kruk - drums*Alan Smale - leader...

. The song appeared first in 1995 on Mike Batt

Mike Batt

Michael Philip "Mike" Batt is a British songwriter, musician, producer and Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry...

's album Arabesque.

The single was originally due out in January 2004, but was released a month early in an attempt by Terry Wogan

Terry Wogan

Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...

 to make it that year’s Christmas number one in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The single reached only number ten in the UK charts, however owing to the success of the album reaching number one it helped the song climb back into the top 20 during the January and February period, and resulted in obtaining Katie's first nomination for the annual The Record of the Year

Record Of The Year

Record of the Year may refer to:*Grammy Award for Record of the Year*The Record of the Year, a British award based on public polling...

 prize on ITV1

ITV1

ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...

 (she was to be nominated again at the ceremony the following year for Nine Million Bicycles

Nine Million Bicycles

"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...

, but lost out to Busted

Busted

Busted were an English pop band consisting of members James Bourne and Matt Willis and previously Charlie Simpson who left the band in 2005. Busted split up in January 2005 after Simpson decided to leave to join his own band Fightstar. During their run, they released two studio albums, a...

 and Westlife

Westlife

Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...

 respectively. She did however finish in the top 5 of voting for both years).

Track listings

1. "Closest Thing to Crazy" (Mike Batt
   Mike Batt
   Michael Philip "Mike" Batt is a British songwriter, musician, producer and Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry...
   
   )
2. "Downstairs to the Sun" (Katie Melua
   Katie Melua
   Ketevan "Katie" Melua is a British-Georgian singer, songwriter and musician. She moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then to England at fourteen. Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of composer Mike Batt, and made her musical debut in 2003...
   
   )
3. "Thank You, Stars" (Mike Batt)

The enhanced CD had the video of "The Closest Thing to Crazy".

Personnel

• Katie Melua - guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Mike Batt - organ
  Organ (music)
  The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
  
  , piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , conductor
• Jim Cregan
  Jim Cregan
  Jim Cregan, born James Cregan, 9 March 1946, Yeovil, Somerset, England is an English rock guitarist and bassist who best known for his associations with Family, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel and Rod Stewart. Cregan is a former husband of the singer Linda Lewis and worked with her as a record producer...
  
   - guitar
• Tim Harries
  Tim Harries
  Tim Harries is a British bass player.Harries studied music at the University of York, graduating in 1981 before going on to study Double Bass with Tom Martin at the Guildhall School of Music...
  
   - bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Irish Film Orchestra - orchestra
• Michael Kruk - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Alan Smale - leader
• Chris Spedding
  Chris Spedding
  Chris Spedding is an English rock and roll and jazz guitarist, best known for his session work. Allmusic states - "Spedding is one of the UK's most versatile session guitarists, and has had a long career on two continents that saw him tackle nearly every style of rock and roll, as well as...
  
   - guitar
• Henry Spinetti
  Henry Spinetti
  Henry Spinetti is a Welsh-born session drummer whose playing has featured on a large number of prominent rock and pop albums. He is the younger brother of the actor, Victor Spinetti.-Career:...
  
  – drums

Music Details

The song is played in the key of E Major at a tempo of 64bpm. The vocal range is G#3-C#5.

Charts

> > > > >

Chart (2004)	Peak Position

External links

• Katie Melua web site
• New Music: Katie Melua (BBC News)