Jeff Wayne’s best buy ‘was piano I used to write War Of The Worlds’

JEFF WAYNE will get another chance to visit the statue of his old friend Phil Lynott next year when Wayne’s War Of The Worlds show comes to Dublin. Lynott played the part of Parson Nathaniel on Wayne’s original album, a musical retelling of HG Wells’s classic novel. The album sold 15 million copies after its release in 1978 and spawned hit singles, Forever Autumn and The

Eve Of War. Wayne, who was born in New York, has also composed nearly 3,000 advertising jingles and numerous TV theme tunes.

What did your parents teach you about money?

I grew up knowing that however comfortably off one might be, it could all be snatched away at a moment’s notice. My father Jerry was a popular singer, actor and writer in the US. I thought my dad’s career would last forever but it crashed abruptly when he was blacklisted in 1950 during the McCarthy era. I saw my parents go from having a comfortable lifestyle to selling prized possessions and counting the pennies. So in 1953, we moved to London.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

Oh yes, when I returned to Britain in the mid-1960s after a spell in the US. I ran out of money when a music project got delayed but was fortunate to be able to borrow £6,000 from my best friend in California. After my career got going, I paid him back with interest.

What was the best year of your financial life?

Probably 1978, the year that I released my Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds double album. One day my dad gave me a copy of HG Wells’s classic and after one read I knew it had the potential to be turned into a musical because, while on one level it’s the story of a Martian invasion of Victorian England, it’s also a story of hope, love and not giving up. I spent the next 18 months writing the music and putting together the double album. It spent 330 weeks in the album charts. It spawned two hit singles, Forever

Autumn and The Eve Of The War, as well as video games, an ‘immersive experience’ and a live West End production stage show.

The most expensive thing you’ve bought for fun?

A Cherokee Chief car, which had just gone on sale this side of the Atlantic. I treated myself to it after The War Of The Worlds album success in 1978.

Your best money decision?

Investing around £200,000 of my own money into recording War Of

The Worlds. My most wonderful purchase was my Steinway Concert D Grand Piano in 1975, on which I wrote The War Of The

Worlds. It was a good investment and a similar model today would cost £120,000-£140,000

The War Of The Worlds – starring Liam Neeson as The Journalist – comes to Dublin’s 3Arena on March 30 next year.