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A bit about ... Ian Anderson
23/ 2/2006
Ian Anderson
was one of the founding
members of the folk-rock band Jethro Tull, named after an 18th
century agriculturalist who invented the seed drill. The band,
formed in Blackpool, became known for frontman Anderson's
distinctive flute playing. Albums including Aqualung - which
featured a song about a homeless alcoholic paedophile - and Thick
As A Brick - made up of a single track on both sides of an LP -
became classics of the progressive rock era. The band continues to
tour, and plays the Apollo on March 4.
The first thing I do when I wake up is ...
Think about how lucky I am to be awake because one day I won't wake
up. I tend to get up early, I'm not one for keeping rock 'n roll
hours.
Ideally I would spend every day ... Playing my
flute. While some people do yoga or go jogging, for me it's the the
breathing and posture I need for my instrument.
If money was no object I would ... Give most of it
away as I'd still have a big pile left.
The greatest gift I have ever received was ... The
love of a good woman. A mother's love comes a close second but I
didn't really have a very loving relationship with my mother. The
sticky love, that has damp connotations, is the best kind.
My one piece of advice would be ... Remember every
day is another step on the learning curve.
My first job was ... Delivering the parcel post in
Lytham St Annes at Christmas.
I'm scared of ... Flying is the thing I have to do
that frightens me the most. I feel like a cat that's lost eight of
its lives. I've seen engine failures, ran out of fuel twice, I've
seen a drinks trolley crash down the corridor when we hit
turbulence.
I'm excited by ... Hearing music by young people
who aren't afraid to bring their cultural roots to the fore.
If I could go back in time and do one thing again it would
be ... The album Aqualung.
You have to read ... The Naïve And Sentimental
Lover by John le Carre. It's got nothing to do with spies or the
Cold War, but it's a fantastic book. I approached him about buying
the film rights some years ago, but he replied he sold them when he
was short of cash.
Everyone should listen to ... Beethoven's Ninth
Symphony or Muddy Waters singing She's 19 Years Old. Somewhere
between them lies the true heart of the universe of music.
You must watch ... Best In Show, by the same
actors that were in Spinal Tap.
My biggest inspiration has been ... Eric Clapton,
when I was a teenager trying to master the guitar. He demonstrated
that I wasn't going to achieve anything close to his level of
proficiency, so I dropped the guitar and picked up the flute,
because he didn't play it.
The first time I fell in love ... Probably Linda
Nelson when I was 11 years old at primary school in Edinburgh.
She's probably as fat and undesirable as I am now.
I think God is ... All around us.
I think the death penalty is ... I wouldn't find
it easy to condone, but it's worth re-examining for the worst acts
of human dreadfulness.
Fur or faux? Definitely faux.
Mayonnaise or salad cream? Neither, I'm an olive
oil man.
Eastenders or Coronation Street? Neither, and you
can add Casualty, Holby City or any other soap opera to that
list.
Daily Mail or Guardian? My wife reads the Mail as
do I but the 15 seconds it takes me isn't satisfactory, so I
clamber for The Independent.
Harry or William? William. I can imagine Harry in
40 years time sporting even redder cheeks, drinking port in a
gentleman's club, with a bevvy of debutantes sitting on either arm
of his leather chair.
United or City? It means nothing to me. Men who
spit on the ground and then roll around in each other's saliva -
end of story.
Chav or scally? I hope that neither of them come
to live near me.
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