The Closest Thing to Crazy

"The Closest Thing to Crazy"
Single by Katie Melua
from the album Call Off the Search
Released	December 1, 2003
Format	CD
Genre	Acoustic, blues
Length	4:11
Label	Dramatico
Writer(s)	Mike Batt
Producer	Mike Batt
Katie Melua singles chronology
"The Closest Thing to Crazy" (2003) "Call Off the Search" (2004)
Call Off the Search track listing "Crawling up a Hill" (2) "The Closest Thing to Crazy" (3) "My Aphrodisiac Is You" (4)

"The Closest Thing to Crazy" is the debut single of Georgia-born songstress Katie Melua. It is featured on her hugely successful album, Call Off the Search. The song appeared first in 1995 on Mike Batt's album Arabesque.

The single was originally due out in January 2004, but was released a month early in an attempt by Terry Wogan to make it that year’s Christmas number one in the UK. 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 prize on ITV1 (she was to be nominated again at the ceremony the following year for Nine Million Bicycles, but lost out to Busted and Westlife respectively. She did however finish in the top 5 of voting for both years).

Track listings

1. "Closest Thing to Crazy" (Mike Batt)
2. "Downstairs to the Sun" (Katie Melua)
3. "Thank You, Stars" (Mike Batt)

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

Personnel

• Katie Melua - guitar, vocals
• Mike Batt - organ, piano, conductor
• Jim Cregan - guitar
• Tim Harries - bass
• Irish Film Orchestra - orchestra
• Michael Kruk - drums
• Alan Smale - leader
• Chris Spedding - guitar
• Henry Spinetti – drums

Production

• Producer: Mike Batt
• Engineer: Steve Sale
• Arranger: Mike Batt

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^[1].

Charts

Chart (2004)	Peak Position
Australia (ARIA)[2]	45
Ireland (IRMA)[3]	8
Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100)[4]	41
Norway (VG-lista)[5]	15
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[6]	10

External links

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

References

1. ^ "Katie Melua: Closest Thing To Crazy Sheet Music". sheetmusicdirect.com. © Copyright 1992 Dramitico Music Publishing Ltd & Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Ltd. http://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/se/ID_No/26970/Product.aspx. 
2. ^ "Australian-charts.com – Katie Melua – The Closest Thing to Crazy". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Hung Medien.
3. ^ "Chart Track". Irish Singles Chart. Irish Recorded Music Association.
4. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Katie Melua – The Closest Thing to Crazy" (in Dutch). Mega Single Top 100. Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.
5. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Katie Melua – The Closest Thing to Crazy". VG-lista. Hung Medien.
6. ^ "Chart Stats – Katie Melua – The Closest Thing to Crazy" UK Singles Chart. Chart Stats.