War of the Worlds visits Birmingham NIA
He didn't expect it to become one of the most successful rock operas of all time. In fact, if he's being completely honest, Jeff Wayne didn't think The War of the Worlds would see the light of day.
His 1978 concept album, which is the UK's 38th best-selling album of all time after shifting 2.5 million copies, almost wasn't released.
Wayne says: "I wasn't confident about it at all. I was with CBS but my record label provided no guarantees that it would be released.
"They had 30 days to consider it, once it was finished. Then they requested another 30 days. It was torture.
"I didn't think it would come out. But eventually it did, and it just exploded. I think it spent about 330 weeks in the chart, it was a phenomenon."
Remarkably, the War of the Worlds story didn't end when Wayne's musical re-imagining of HG Wells' novel slowly slipped out of the charts. It spawned computer games, DVDs, a 2006 live tour and more besides.
It has been re-imagined once more and a new tour will reach Birmingham's NIA tonight featuring a 3D holograph of Oscar-nominated actor Liam Neeson, Marti Pellow, Jason Donovan, Wicked's Kerry Ellis, Kaiser Chiefs' Ricky Wilson and Jettblack's Will Stapleton.
The tour coincides with the recent release of a New Generation Album, which features Neeson, Gary Barlow, Maverick Sabre, Joss Stone, Alex Clare and Ricky Wilson.
Wayne says: "The New Generation Album and tour has been really exciting. I consider myself twice blessed.
"We have a great cast of characters and the new artists all perform in their own way; they re-interpret the roles.
"Down the years, I've had nothing but great talent to work with. It's been a joy."
Wayne was particularly thrilled to work with Liam Neeson and Gary Barlow. "I had a list of actors whose work I admired and who I thought might be appropriate for the role.
"I watched lots of YouTube clips of them and then narrowed it down to one, which was Liam.
"He is totally different to Richard Burton, who took the original role, but his voice filled the space. He was interested and invited me to New York, where he was spending time. It all happened quite easily.
"It was great working with Gary Barlow. I contacted him through Jason Donovan, because they are good friends and their children go to the same school.
"He loved the idea and we went for lunch. After that, it was simple. It just clicked. We allocated 36 hours to record and we managed to complete everything in just eight. It was a great session."
By Andy Richardson
* War of the Worlds plays Birmingham's NIA tonight and tickets are available at www.thenia.co.uk.
