And now here they are, Nick and Sue on Chatterbox.
When the stars talk, they talk to Nick and Sue.
And welcome back to the Chatterbox Redux podcast
with Nick and Sue. And today our guest is Jeff
Wayne of The War of the Worlds. And now on Chatterbox
UK we're just lucky enough to welcome Jeff Wayne.
Jeff, welcome to Chatterbox. How are you, sir?
Hello, Jeff. Hi there, you guys. Thank you for
your invitation. I look forward to our chat on
Chatterbox. Yes, absolutely. It's great to meet
you at last. Okay. Now, I think most of our listeners
would be aware of, obviously, War of the Worlds.
It's an album that sold, I think, is it 16 million
copies or something? Something amazing, anyway.
And as the years have gone by, you've basically,
there's been a reworks version we'd like to talk
about. Now, we've got a new version of War of
the Worlds, a new radio edit, and we've got this
thing to do with National Album Day, so are you
giving that a bit of a push? And also, I hope
we've got time, we've got you doing a tour and
I'm pleased to say you're coming within 30 miles
of us to Brighton, so we'll be catching you then.
So, Jeff, anniversary, I know you did a 35th
and so on, but... the reimagined play and the
album that's out, I mean, basically, what's different
about it? Well, every production we've ever done,
right from the very beginning, beginning of our
arena tours, which started in 2006, have all
been different. I've never wanted to just take
it out of the box and do it the same way each
time. That would be a bit too easy. And I don't
think it would be of a great challenge for us
as creative people. And we want to entertain
audiences in a way that is always looking at
what's technology, for example, what's new in
technology, using it, incorporating it into our
arena tours. We've had it's called the war of
the world's experience. occupies a whole building,
24 rooms, a bar and a restaurant all sort of
decorated in steampunk. You're greeted by a Martian
fighting machine when you enter and it fires,
doesn't fire real flames like we do in our arena
tours. The fighting machine at the experience
is smoke and light, but it's very effective and
It's an example of something that, sort of like
my original double album, that we had no idea
what this sort of acceptance, if there would
be, by the public, the critics, the media. And
this experience, we thought if it ran three to
six months, we would have done very well. And
it's now in its sixth year, and it's going at
least to the end of the seventh year. And that's
really been my whole history sort of with the
War of the Worlds. Every new production, the
West End, the tours, our audio book with Michael
Sheen and Taron Egerton. Every interpretation
is different. The score has always been the heart
of every one of these productions, but I add
new things. I look at and listen to the way the
grooves are sounding and the technology in our
arena tours is quite something because if you
compare our first tour in 2006 when it was considered
a pretty groundbreaking multimedia extravaganza,
it bears no real similarity to the show we're
doing now. Just the pushing and challenging of
of new ways of interpreting without losing the
essence of my original score. Perfect. Well,
you can imagine me when it came out, I was something
like I was eight years old when it came out and
I did soon after my birthday. And I got one of
those little vouchers for some records. It might
be W. H. Smith or someone. But I went and bought
the album with it. Absolutely true. And I've
got to tell you now, Jeff, when I put the stylus
on and those first few bars of the Eve of War,
imagine a kid listening to that playing it too
loud. You imagine what. So absolutely amazing.
And it was sort of like, wow, this thing's great.
It's futuristic, but classical at the same time.
And those few bars, just amazing. And of course,
I'm pleased to say that's, of course, the new
radio edits of Eve of War. I've just had it blasting
in my headphones. Totally and utterly amazing.
That's why we're sticking it straight on our
playlist. But can I ask you, Geoff, obviously
the inspiration is, of course, the War of the
Worlds from HG Wells. As a kid, as you were growing
up, were you into classical music or were you
into rock and what was your inspiration as a
kid, just out of interest? Well, it comes from
the fact that From about the age of five, I started
taking piano lessons. My dad was a very popular
singer and actor in the United States for many
years. And so I always was growing up around
musicians and writers and directors, creative
talent. And I started with classical piano. And
then many years later, I switched to jazz, living
in New York at the time. I went to a teacher
who was a brilliant musician in his own right,
named John Mahigan, but he also wrote books and
took on certain people for pupils. And I was
fortunate that he took me on. He taught at the
Juilliard School of Music in New York, and then
came back to England. Pop music was starting
to come out. Bill Haley in the Comets was my
first awareness of an act that was making incredible
energy unique in the way they performed. They
came to England. I was living here as a young
boy. Whereas Elvis, who never came here, I was
becoming familiar with his records when he became
the legend that he did. But I've been in... involved
as a writer and a producer in probably most genres
of music. So I feel sort of at home in most genres,
but I love writing classical string orchestrations.
And The War of the Worlds contains, I think,
a mixture of styles because the HGOL story motivated
me to, I sort of in my mind was creating a musical
ping pong match in that when the story is being
told through the eyes of humanity, it's much
more acoustic and string orientated. And when
it switches and we're being told about the Martians,
their machines, their weaponry, it becomes much
more electronic and aggressive. And it's all
linked together. It's a continuous work. The
truth is You know, if you'd asked me, as I was,
who did I think was going to like this sort of
double album? I remember answering, I have no
idea. I really don't know who it will appeal
to. But I had so many wonderful artists, musicians
and technicians involved with me that I always
felt if I could just see the album for one week
in the UK album charts, I would feel that I hadn't
let everybody down, not knowing it would last
in the charts in its first, however many years,
330 weeks. And it keeps popping up now and then
and like reissues on vinyl. And they always seem
to do well. And here I am talking to you. Now,
if I had been asked, would I be talking to you
guys today, 48 years on? Of course not. That's
great. Great answer. But then you go, it goes
back to me hearing those bars for the first time.
Never tired of it. Listening to the radio edit,
which all the stations are going to be playing,
it still sounds exciting. It is really exciting.
Just like, you know, it is just amazing. Excites
you every time. So if it does that to me still,
someone hearing it for the first time in a younger
audience, you know, the people that are just
learning about it, like the record buyers of
today, as I call them. Yeah. I heard it for the
first time on the podcast, didn't I? You did.
And it was amazing. Absolutely. And also, we've
got the opening bars playing on the current EE
mobile TV adverts. television here. Okay. That's
also, I think, the 10th anniversary of that version
coming out, which is the Ben Librand remix. So
look for that coming up the charts as well as
the single by Jeff. That's all rather good. So,
Jeff, National Album Day, 19th of October. You're
championing it with, obviously, the War of the
Worlds remix double album by the looks of it.
in yellow and orange vinyl. We give you a free
pair of sunglasses because they're so bright,
the two vinyl discs, that you need sunglasses
to save time. Sue's just seen it, seen them.
I like that. I like the cover as well. So that's
a nice, and also on the 19th of October, because
this will be going, yeah, it will be being played
then, the show will. You're doing a one -off
signing on National Album Day, 19th of October,
at the Massive HMV in Oxford Street in London.
I am, and I've done a couple over the years.
And they're always good fun because you get to
meet people that you wouldn't have in normal
circumstances. So I'm looking forward to it.
Yeah, National Album Day, I learned very recently.
It's been going for some years. And this year,
I'm one of their champions, as they call them,
representing the war of the worlds. And there's
others that are participating. in their own way
on albums that they've been sort of praised for.
That's great, absolutely great, and it's a great
store as well, absolutely massive. And I love
the yellow and orange double vinyl, but yeah,
it's great, especially for such a fantastic album
as well, you know, amazing. So the experience
you mentioned, that is going to certainly run
to the end of its seventh year. We've got War
of the Worlds at the Dominion Theatre, Tottenham
Court Road. I mean, that's already been on for
some time again. How long is it the ticket's
been sold for now? I think it's going to go on
and on, but I mean, are they booking to the end
of next year or where's that one going at the
moment? Actually, we played there but are not
playing any longer because what happened was
that I was invited by now the late Bill Kenwright.
to present the War of the Worlds in the West
End for a limited season of seven weeks. It did
so well, it was extended for another month. But
by that point, we were confirmed to go back into
the arenas because it was the 30th anniversary
at that point of the release of the original
double album of the War of the Worlds. So we
were there in 2016. uh for however many months
the it was 88 shows the season wound up but we
have been talking and hope that we'll wind up
back in the theaters because it's another it's
another environment it's so different from uh
arenas which of course are are giant and uh you
have to redesign and rethink the show for uh
even though the dominion is one of the biggest
theaters in the west end uh about 2100 people
the smallest arenas in the UK are about 4 ,000
people and go up to 21 ,000 or so. So one is
designing and communicating in a different sort
of way when you're in a theatre that has different
intimacy. It offers really some very exciting
challenges. Oh, I can imagine. As I say, we're
definitely going to be coming along to Brighton
to see you because That's a bit of a modern square
venue. And as you say, the smaller venues you're
playing at are 4 ,000, which is about what Brighton
has. It is about 4 ,000. Yeah, spot on, actually.
Anyway, this World of Worlds Tour, while we've
got you, is the Alive on Stage Tour, Spirit of
Manta 2023, 2025 even. OK, now. We've got Liam
Neeson a hologram of Liam Neeson, which is great
You're conducting it. So you're there at the
front conducting at every one of these Concerts
as it plays around the country. You're actually
there since 2006 I've never missed a show in
the arenas and I didn't miss one show when we
played 88 shows at the Dominion And long may
that continue? Absolutely At the end of the interview,
I should go through all the theatres that exist.
It's like a dozen or more. So we do that at the
end. So it doesn't take up your time. OK, what
I'd like to ask is what's next for Jeff Wayne?
Are we going for the 50th anniversary or we got
something in between? Well, we may have something
in between. But yes, we're going for a 50th anniversary.
It's already being planned. And it's good that
I was a three -year -old child prodigy when I
wrote The War of the Worlds because I may not
have made it to the 50th anniversary. Wow. That's
a joke. Oh, I thought you were a real child.
You know, I've seen them on TV before. Wow. This
is funny. He was so serious. I can assure you.
Well, very good. I like that. It's definitely
staying in. What's the difference between the
Spirit of Man tour and the original? Well, every
tour has been different. There's always new ingredients
that challenges the audience in new ways and
emotionally and visually. The Spirit of Man is
a duet that's in my original... uh, double album
and it stays throughout. It's a duet between
Parson Nathaniel and his wife, Beth. And it's
an, in a way it's an argument between the two
of them because the Parson is somebody you would
think in times of stress, like a Martian invasion
is, uh, the local community would come to him
for moral and spiritual support, but he's the
first one that really loses it. Whereas his wife,
Beth, is a simple, decent woman who tries to
bring him back from his madness and convince
him that life is worth living for. It's so important
that it's almost worth fighting for and even
dying for. And it's a major moment in our story
and in the score. And it's a very dramatic and
emotional piece. And Many of our tours I've given
a name to. So this is the War of the Worlds,
the Spirit of Mantor, which I named not just
because of the duet that appears in the show
and on my albums, but because of the world we're
living in at the moment. And what we need is
a lot of good spirit and hope, which the song
is really about. It's just a simple and small
way of trying to... Pass that emotion on Jeff
when you're on tour and you go to these big venues
do any of the people in the audience like get
dressed up or Yeah, we've had Many tours where
I'm more aware of it when maybe I'm leaving the
venue and there's some people waiting outside
and I suddenly see them dressed as the characters
in the war of the worlds It and it's amazing
and it's it's wonderful because again you realize
how over the years we've reached people and We're
now and again. It's only because we're in performing
for so many years now the the tours That we've
started to realize we're into our third generation
people because you know you said earlier Nick
that you became aware of it when you were eight?
Yeah, absolutely. So here you are now, a man
of what, 32, 33? I'm afraid I'm 35 now. Thank
you. Thank you very much. I try to get away with
that one as well. But yeah, so you now are of
an age where perhaps you have a child or children
and they've grown up and they're bringing their
children and we see them and I only started to
see this when we started touring because how
else do you know who's buying your album short
of doing a signing at a record store? You mostly
only know how well a record is done. Is it in
the charts? Is it being played? Is it selling?
But you don't always truly know who those people
are. And I'm discounting mail that comes our
way of people who have admired the War of the
Worlds. But you're not meeting them. You just
know about their appreciation of the work. Sure.
Jeff, comment for you. Nick's just loaded up
your Wikipedia page. Cool, you're a handsome
guy in that picture. He still is. Look at him.
Without saying on air. Well, not on air, but
have you seen how old he is? Yes. Wow. Amazing.
brilliant but you look really good in that picture
well thank you very much i must check wikipedia
out to see which one it is but thank you very
much standing next to a mic stand obviously that
picture was taken here in my studio which i don't
know whether you can see much of it but uh yeah
and uh i think i'm wearing a suit yes very nice
nice picture okay um one little comment i'd like
to because before i met uh War of the Worlds,
when I was eight years old, with that voucher
to W .H. Smiths, I had already, I was already
enjoying Holst and the Planets. I just wanted
to ask you, as you were growing up, was any inspiration
devolved from Holst and the Planets in what we
got as the final production of the first War
of the Worlds album? Is there any inspiration
there? Not so much inspiration, but awareness
of Holtz's wonderful composition, which is divided
up into the planets. But ironically, or coincidentally,
many years later, there was a group called Sky.
Is that? Yeah. And I was they were doing a new
version of the planets, an interpretation. And
they asked me to compose a starting piece for
it. And by the time they got into production,
one of the two guitarists, Kevin Peake, emigrated
to Australia. And it became his solo album. And
I think it was, from memory, called Return to
the Planets. And I sent him my piece, and it
starts off the album. And it's another interpretation
of Holst's Planets. It's a magnificent piece
and a real sort of feel for the universe and
the main planets within it. Sure, absolutely.
Sue, have you got anything else? The only comment
is how amazing is the website? It is. Well, we
always finish with social media, Geoff, so I
do actually urge everyone to have a look at the
website. And there's merchandise. Yep. We've
got thewaroftheworlds .com. do click on the little
green green the little green martian button there
and um you can actually get your tour tickets
um straight from there um you've got the music
and playlists you can buy the war of the worlds
merchandise in fact it's all there just have
a look at it that is thewaroftheworlds .com and
i'm certain if i hit that button there there
will be links to your other social media as well
jeff Leaves me to say, Jeff Wayne, it's great
to meet you at last. Absolutely, mate. We'll
see you in Brighton, won't we? We are going to
see you in Brighton, doing your bit. And it's
been great chatting to you. And hopefully we
get a chat. Obviously, there's a 50th anniversary
coming up. I hope we have a chat for that. But
that project in the meantime, that'd be wonderful.
So hopefully we can hook up for that one as well,
Jeff. Thank you so much to you both, Nick and
Sue. Thank you for the lovely words. Geoff, just
before we go, have you thought of doing an autobiography?
Yes, have you done one? Yeah. Well, that little
project that I was saying was going to come before
the 50th anniversary, it is that. Oh, Geoff,
that's amazing. That is amazing. Thank you. Your
face. Yeah. And thank you so much for your time.
Take care, Geoff. It's been a real pleasure.
Thank you for inviting me. Thank you very much.
Take care. Bye -bye. Bye -bye. Bye. Thanks for
watching! This edition of the Chatterbox Redux
podcast was presented by Nick and Sue. We thank
our special guest who was Jeff Wayne from the
War of the Worlds. Our email address is nicklbum
at myyahoo .com Alternatively, you could send
press releases, CDs, vinyls, books, merch and
even portraits to PO Box 26, the old Observer
Building, Telford Road, St Leonard's -on -Sea,
East Sussex, England, TM38, 9LZ. We thank you
for your company and look forward to welcoming
you again next time when our guest will be newcomer
Danny Addison. Until then, bye -bye. you