Forever Autumn (song)

"Forever Autumn" is a song written by Jeff Wayne, Gary Osborne and Paul Vigrass. The original melody was written by Wayne in 1969 as a jingle for a Lego commercial. Vigrass and Osborne, the performers of the original jingle, added lyrics to the song and recorded it for inclusion on their 1972 album Queues. Their interpretation was also released as a single and gained moderate commercial success in Japan, selling more than 100,000 copies and becoming a top-20 hit on the country's record chart.

"Forever Autumn"
Single by Jeff Wayne, Richard Burton and Justin Hayward
from the album Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
Released	1978
Recorded	May 1976
Length	7:43
Songwriter(s)	Jeff Wayne, Gary Osborne and Paul Vigrass
Jeff Wayne singles chronology
"The Eve of The War" (1978) "Forever Autumn" (1978) "Jubilation" (1980)

The best-known version is the recording by Justin Hayward from the album Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds. Wayne wanted to include a love song on the album that sounded like "Forever Autumn", and he decided that the best course of action was to simply use the original song. Wayne chose Hayward, of The Moody Blues, to sing it saying that he "wanted that voice from 'Nights in White Satin'". It was recorded at London's Advision Studios in 1976. The song reached #5 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1978.

A new version was released in late 2012, sung by Gary Barlow for the new album Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds – The New Generation.[1]

Notable recordings

• Vigrass and Osborne performed it on their 1972 album, Queues. This version also appeared as a single.
• Hayward performed it on the 1978 album Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds. A slightly different mix (notably excluding the narration from the album) was released as a single. The latter version was included in the Moody Blues' box set Time Traveller. Although sometimes falsely credited as being an original single by the Moody Blues itself, Hayward has performed the song live with that group.[2]
• Pierre Belmonde, on the 1980 album, Themes for Dreams.
• Acker Bilk, on the 1980 album, Mellow Music.
• Paul Brett, on the 1980 album, Guitar Trek. This version also appeared as a single.
• Peter Hayward, on the 1982 album, Hayward's Choice.
• Ronnie Aldrich, on the 1987 album, For All Seasons.
• Ed Starink, on the 1990 album Synthesizer Greatest Volume 5 and 1992 album Synthesizer Gold.
• Gary Barlow, on the 2012 album Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds: The New Generation.[1]
• Luka Kuncevic, for the opening and end titles of the 2012 animated movie War of the Worlds: Goliath
• Sarah McQuaid on the 2018 Album, If we dig any deeper it could get dangerous

Chart positions

Vigrass and Osborne Chart (1972) Peak position Japanese Oricon International Singles Chart[3] 2

Justin Hayward Chart (1978) Peak position Canada Top Singles (RPM)[4] 73 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[5] 5 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[6] 20 US Billboard Hot 100[7] 47 U.S. Cashbox Top 100[8] 34

References

1. "Gary Barlow to perform on War of the Worlds album remake". The Guardian. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 2013-03-22.
2. http://www.allmusic.com/album/time-traveller-mw0000113455
3. "Description page of 2005 remastered edition of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds" (in Japanese). Sony Music Entertainment Japan Inc. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
4. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0072b." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. December 30, 1978.
5. "Justin Hayward: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
6. "Justin Hayward Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
7. "Justin Hayward Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
8. Downey, Albert, and Hoffmann, p. 153

Bibliography

• Downey, Pat; Albert, George; Hoffmann, Frank W (1994). Cash Box pop singles charts, 1950–1993. Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 978-1-56308-316-7.