During an assembly at school one of the teachers played the “Coming of the Martians” as we came in and I was hooked. I had never heard anything like it because my parents were not fans of music. I got a copy and listened to the whole thing that night with my bemused Grandmother.
In 1978 Jeff Wayne wrote a musical version of HG Wells ‘The War of the Worlds’. It is largely true to the text and contains most of the characters although simplified for the medium of music. Stars such as Richard Burton voiced characters such as the Journalist bringing their talent to an already talented performance.
War of the Worlds is for me a very moving and engaging experience verging on the sublime. I cry at the Thunderchilds loss, I am moved by the evacuation of London and am over joyed at the defeat of the Martians at the end. This I think is one of the great strengths of the performance, there is no sympathy for the devil.