Jeffry Wayne (born 1 July 1943) is an American-British composer, musician and lyricist. In 1978, he released ''

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds ''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds'' is a studio double album by American-born British musician, composer, and record producer Jeff Wayne, released on 9 June 1978 by CBS Records. It is an album musical adapted from the sci ...

'', his musical adaptation of

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

''. Wayne wrote approximately 3,000 advertising jingles in the 1970s which appeared on television in the United Kingdom, including a

Gordon's Gin Gordon's is a brand of London dry gin first produced in 1769. The top markets for Gordon's are the United Kingdom, the United States and Greece. It is owned by the British spirits company Diageo. It is the world's best-selling London dry gin. G ...

commercial which was covered by

the Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...

. Wayne also composed numerous television themes, including '' Good Morning Britain'' (

TV-am TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise ...

), ITV's ''

The Big Match ''The Big Match'' was a British football television programme, screened on ITV between 1968 and 1992. ''The Big Match'' originally launched on London Weekend Television (LWT) – the ITV regional station that served London and the Home Counties ...

'' and '' World of Sport'', BBC's ''

Sixty Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique sty ...

'', and for 24 years, the UK's first news radio station,

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadca ...

. Wayne wrote feature film and documentary film scores and was musical director for various artists. Wayne published a book called ''The Book of Tennis'' and created, produced and scored eight thirty-minute episodes of ''The Book of Tennis Chronicles'' that was distributed by

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

in approximately twenty countries, and was broadcast in the US on the

Tennis Channel Tennis Channel is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Sinclair Television Group subsidiary of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. It is devoted to events and other programming related to the game of ...

between 2005 and 2008.

Early life

Jeff Wayne was born on 1 July 1943, in Forest Hills,

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States. His father, Jerry Wayne ''(né'' Jerome Marvin Krauth; 1916–1996), was an actor, singer, and theatre producer. Jeff Wayne spent four years of his childhood in the UK when his father played romantic gambler Sky Masterson in the original West End musical production of ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

''. Four years later they returned to New York. Wayne graduated from Stephen Halsey Jr. High and attended Forest Hills High School for one year, and played for its tennis team, before moving to California. Wayne graduated from Grant High School, then from

Los Angeles Valley College Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) is a public community college in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Los Angeles Community College District. The college is adjacent to Grant High School in the neighborhood of Valley Glen. Often call ...

with a journalism degree. He played keyboards in local bands and coached tennis to support himself. After completing his journalism degree he switched to music, playing keyboards briefly with

the Sandpipers The Sandpipers were an American easy listening trio who carved a niche in 1960s folk rock with their vocals and innovative arrangements of international ballads and pop standards. They are best remembered for their cover version of "Guantanamera ...

Musical career

In 1966, Wayne composed the score for his father's West End musical ''Two Cities'' based on

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

' ''

A Tale of Two Cities ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in the ...

'' which ran at London's Palace Theatre. The musical was successful, winning for

Edward Woodward Edward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE (1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009) was an English actor and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he began his career on stage. Throughout his career, he appeared in productions ...

the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' Award for Best Male Performance in a Musical for 1968–69. Returning to the UK, Wayne became a record producer. In 1970 or 1971, he made a single, "The Bittermen Theme", featuring

Chris Spedding Christopher John Spedding (born Peter Robinson, 17 June 1944) is an English musician, singer, guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Spedding is best known for his st ...

on guitar, a version of which was used in a television commercial for Ansells bitter. Wayne helped produce

David Essex David Essex (born David Albert Cook; 23 July 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. Since the 1970s, he has attained 19 Top 40 singles in the UK (including two number ones) and 16 Top 40 albums. Internationally, Essex had the most ...

's album '' Rock On''. Essex was subsequently a

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

in ''The War of the Worlds'', playing the part of the Artilleryman. Wayne also provided the score for the 1977 action thriller ''

Golden Rendezvous ''Golden Rendezvous'' is a 1977 South African action thriller film directed by Ashley Lazarus and starring Richard Harris, Ann Turkel and David Janssen. It was based on the 1962 novel '' The Golden Rendezvous'' by Alistair MacLean. Plot The '' ...

'', which starred

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in ''This Sporting ...

''The War of the Worlds''

In 1978, ''

'' was released, achieving international success. Wayne's two-disc composition sold millions of copies around the world''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds'' website
''The Story'', Chap.14. and was the 40th best selling album of all time in the UK by 2009. It included worldwide hit singles: "The Eve of the War" and " Forever Autumn", both sung by

Justin Hayward David Justin Hayward (born 14 October 1946) is an English musician best known as the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the rock band the Moody Blues. Hayward became the group's principal lead guitarist and vocalist over the 1967–1974 ...

, and included narration throughout by

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

. It won two

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

s and ''The Best Recording in Science Fiction and Fantasy'' (the judges included

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...

, and

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

). "The Eve of the War" was used by the offshore radio station Radio Delmare as its theme tune. The album was re-released on SACD in 2005

audio CD Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the ''Red Book'', one of a series of Rainbow Books (named fo ...

; five tracks were remastered and placed on the second disc (mostly without Wayne's input). A Limited Edition 7-disc Collector's Edition CD and DVD box set, which included remixes, outtakes, and documentary, was issued in 2005. Wayne announced a new ''Musical Version of The War of the Worlds'' album to be released in June 2012 titled ''

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds – The New Generation ''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds – The New Generation'' is a 2012 concept album by Jeff Wayne and is a re-working of his 1978 concept album, retelling the story of the 1898 novel ''The War of the Worlds'' by H. G. Well ...

''. The album was released in November 2012.

Later work

After ''The War of the Worlds'', Wayne continued to compose and produce music, such as the music for the 1979 television film ''

The Knowledge Taxicabs are regulated throughout the United Kingdom, but the regulation of taxicabs in London is especially rigorous with regard to mechanical integrity and driver knowledge. An official report observed that: "Little however is known about ...

'' and the Who's movie '' McVicar'' released in 1980. Wayne composed music for the

Fry's Turkish Delight Fry's Turkish Delight is a chocolate bar made by Cadbury. It was launched in the UK in 1914 by the Bristol-based chocolate manufacturer J. S. Fry & Sons and consists of a rose-flavoured Turkish delight surrounded by milk chocolate. The Fry's id ...

advertisement in 1981, the theme for '' Good Morning Britain'' in 1982 on

, and music for the 1984 album ''Beyond the Planets'', Kevin Peek and

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. Born and raised ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

recording of Holst's orchestral suite. In 1992 Wayne released ''

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus ''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus'' is a 1992 concept album produced and composed by Jeff Wayne with Lyrics by Gary Osborne, telling the story of Roman gladiator, Spartacus. It starred Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones (in her fir ...

'', his first major release since ''The War of the Worlds''. Its cast included

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...

Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones (; born 25 September 1969) is a Welsh actress. Known for her versatility, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Tony Award. In 2010, she was appointed C ...

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Ladysmith Black Mambazo are a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of ''isicathamiya'' and '' mbube''. They became known internationally after singing with Paul Simon on his 1986 album ''Graceland'', and have won m ...

, and

Marillion Marillion are a British rock music, rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becomin ...

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

. It featured a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Gary Osborne Gary Osborne (born 1949 in London) is an English singer and songwriter. He chaired The Songwriters Executive of the British Academy Of Songwriters Composers and Authors for 12 years during which time he was also chairman of The Ivor Novello Awar ...

and a story combining powerful themes of oppression, desperation, love and death. Wayne was involved in producing '' Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds'' in 1998, a computer game that included 45 minutes of music from his ''Musical Version of The War of the Worlds'', re-scored and

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed in an

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

style with

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

beats. The game also featured computer-generated visualisations of numerous scenes from the album – an idea Wayne would later revisit. In 1999, a related game, also titled '' Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds'', was released for the

Sony PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divi ...

. ''The War of the Worlds'' was re-released in the summer of 2005. It spent ten consecutive weeks in the Top 10 of the UK Album charts. Including this re-release, the album achieved sales to 3 million in the UK, and approximately 14 million worldwide. Also in 2005, it was announced that the musical would be going on a UK tour in April 2006. The live show was taken to Australia and New Zealand and returned the UK during December 2007. The show, produced by

Damian Collier Damian Collier is a British entrepreneur, businessman, lawyer, and producer. He is the founder and former owner and CEO of Spiral Viral, a company designed to help the creators of unexpectedly viral videos with the legal side of things, and the ...

, used a ten-piece band and a 48-piece string orchestra, voice actors, screen-projected images and

animatronics Animatronics refers to mechatronic puppets. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films and in theme park attractions. It is a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy a ...

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

released a DVD of the show, filmed at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...

using 23 high definition cameras and directed by David Mallet. In 2022, the UK Arena tour relaunched following the Covid-19 outbreak. The tour premiered at Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena on 23 March and once again starred Justin Hayward as the sung thoughts of The Journalist. Other notable cast for this tour include Claire Richards (Steps) as Beth, Duncan James (Blue) as Parson Nathaniel and Kevin Clifton (Strictly Come Dancing) as the Artilleryman. The show also featured a holographic version of Liam Neeson as the Journalist. Wayne's first television series, ''The Book of Tennis Chronicles'', was broadcast worldwide in 2005 and distributed by Fox Sports. It features well-known tennis players and events, set against events in world history from 1877 to 2005. Wayne created and produced eight half-hour episodes and scored its music. The series' executive producer was Damian Collier.

Tennis

A keen player and follower of tennis throughout his life, Wayne remains involved with the sport; he has won the British National Indoor Veterans singles and doubles titles, and the National Clay Court doubles. In 1992 he partnered former Great Britain No. 1 and

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

captain

Roger Taylor Roger Taylor may refer to: *Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) (born 1949), drummer for Queen *Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) (born 1960), drummer for Duran Duran *Roger Taylor (author), author of epic fantasy Hawklan series *Roger Taylor (college pr ...

at the European Veteran Championships. In 1999, Wayne represented Great Britain in the Austria Cup in Spain, and achieved an ITF world ranking in his age group. In 2008 Wayne was elected into the International Lawn Tennis Club of Great Britain. Wayne has also played in numerous fundraising pro-am tournaments, including for

Muscular dystrophy Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affe ...

and

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

* ''Pianos, Strings and Some Other Things'' (2018)

Singles

* "The Bittermen Theme"/"Remember Joe" ( Hollick & Taylor HT/SP 1312, 1970 or 1971) * "Jubilation" (1978 television theme for ''

'') * "Matador" (1982 television theme for the World Cup)

References

External links

''Interview with Jeff Wayne talking about his Jewish roots, Martians and family''
* Jeff Wayne Biography at allmusic.combr>Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds review (album and DVD) at War Of The Worlds Invasion website'Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds Official Tour Ticket Pre Sale & Mailing List Registration
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wayne, Jeff 1943 births Living people American emigrants to England People from Forest Hills, Queens Record producers from New York (state) Songwriters from New York (state) American male conductors (music) 20th-century American composers British songwriters British conductors (music) British male conductors (music) British male composers British record producers British rock keyboardists British male pianists 20th-century American pianists American male pianists American male composers 20th-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Forest Hills High School (New York) alumni Grant High School (Los Angeles) alumni Los Angeles Valley College 21st-century American keyboardists Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom British male songwriters American male songwriters