Ian Anderson almost became a cop

No, music wasn’t always the dream of Ian Anderson. In fact, it was his “plan C”. The iconic flute of the Jethro Tull he says he pursued a music career only after failing in another direction: becoming a police officer.

“Don’t give up on your dreams, but make sure they include plan B and preferably plan Cbecause to say that not everyone is lucky would be an understatement… (especially) in an era where competing for an increasingly small number of places is a difficult choice to make if you want to become a professional musician.”

There police career it foundered because of the O-Level, a British academic exam for 15-16 year old students, replaced in the UK in 1988 by the GCSE, but still offered internationally by Cambridge International Examinations as a basic qualification, preparatory to the A-Levels. It is therefore an “ordinary” level scholastic qualification, one step lower than the more specialized A-Levels (Advanced Levels).

“I was 17 and about to sign the form when the recruitment inspector said to me: ‘Sorry, I forgot to ask, do you have O-Levels?’. When I told him I was eight, he told me to come back when I went to university and that he would get me a great job in the police. I felt rejectedYes; but it was good pragmatic advice.”

My passion for music was “a slow crescendo, starting when I was four years old and playing a few notes on the piano to please my elderly grandmother. If there was a turning point, it was Elvis Presley who sang Heartbreak Hotelbut also skiffle in the form of Lonnie Donegan.” He adds: “When I was 18, there was this blues subculture growing, thanks to John Mayall and Eric Clapton. Then there were Sgt Pepper And The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn in ’67. They were all signs that maybe there was something interesting for us.”