There were no click tracks вЂ“ we just had to groove together, and then move on to the next tune. I was the keyboardist, and we did it as if was a live performance. I gave handwritten parts to the band, and we just went through it. I started recording the score with the main band, while the guest artists вЂ“ David, Phil Lynott, Julie Covington, Justin Hayward вЂ“ came in when they were available. So we ended up having someone voice the sound, then treated it electronically, making it as dramatic as possible. But things were pretty primitive back then, and we could only do the вЂњooвЂќ and вЂњahhвЂќ sounds, not the вЂњlвЂќ. I wanted to use synthesisers to create the вЂњooll-laвЂќ sound the Martians make before they blast people with their heat ray. ItвЂ™s the only piece on the album that pre-existed. I had my own little battle with myself, but I went for it. Although I was trying to write an original work, I kept thinking the song was a perfect fit. Later, as I was writing War of the Worlds, I reached the bit where the Journalist discovers his fiancee is missing вЂ“ and it reminded me of Forever Autumn. The advert got a great reaction, so we added lyrics and turned it into a single. The Forever Autumn part вЂ“ with its hook вЂњBecause youвЂ™re not hereвЂќ вЂ“ actually started out as a jingle for a Lego commercial, sung by Gary Osborne and Paul Vigrass. Richard was about to go to California to do The Exorcist followup, so I took David out there to record with him. A few days later, his manager called to say Richard loved the idea. In my view, Richard BurtonвЂ™s voice was like a musical instrument, so I wrote him a letter вЂ“ no emails in those days вЂ“ addressed to the theatre in New York where he was doing Equus. I wanted someone with a voice that would take the listener right inside this world. It certainly kept me focused: I finished the first draft in six weeks.Дuring the composing period, I realised the Journalist character was the key вЂ“ the thread that ran through the whole thing.

It was 1976, early January, and I wanted to have a bit of pressure, so I booked a studio for May. I handed my scribbles to my fatherвЂ™s wife, Doreen, and then started composing the score for the album while she wrote a script. I envisaged my version of War of the Worlds as an opera: story, leitmotifs, musical phrases, sounds and compositions that relate to the whole. He came across one by HG Wells about a Martian invasion of Earth.

My dad reminded me that IвЂ™d always wanted to write some sort of musical story, so the two of us started reading books of all shapes and sizes. In the early 1970s, I had a very profitable and enjoyable run as David EssexвЂ™s producer and arranger, but my composing side had diminished.

Lego worlds narrator