For those curious, Ian Anderson is 35 years old here.

I could listen to him talk for hours on end. Such a soothing, calm and intelligent voice. Always love to hear what he has to say.

Fantastic interview. A young Mark Goodman shows how it’s done. He really did his homework to create a very interesting interview with intellectual Ian Anderson. He is not your typical rock and roller. Very refreshing.

He was 34 years old in this interview. 😮 Always so ahead of his time.

Ian Anderson is a renaissance man. Sublime flautist, guitarist and musician for sure not forgetting his vocals! Credit must also be given to his band.

I met him a couple of times. Very nice man.

Ian is his own man and easy to admire!

Ian Andersons amazing intellect shines forth in his songs & his interviews what a guy.............

Brilliant, artistic and self deprecating..Ian Anderson is fabulous..excellent well informed interviewer

Ian never had a better, or more musically sympathetic, set of supporting musicians, than the band members he had between 1969-79. Which is why that period was, in my opinion, the best in Tull's recording career.

Mark Goodman did an excellent job. He'd really done his homework, knew his subject and asked interesting questions - and he responded to Ian's replies intelligently. He allowed him to talk about his work in detail. Its so interesting to listen to a guy who's music I've enjoyed for 40 years. I don't think it would be possible to have a long and rambling interview like this on MTV or another music channel today.

It's amazing(ly sad) how much MTV has changed. This was when MTV was still a baby -- a baby who cared _a lot_ about music. I remember seeing the occasional interview like this. The VJs clearly were music fans. Those days are long gone. 😔

Ian is the Bard King!

I saw Jethro Tull seven times before the end of '79. I was and am a huge fan. He's about the music, plain and simple. Music over lyrics over sexdrugsrockandroll. His arrangements are superb. You can hear everyone from Brahms to Metallica in his work.

Ian Anderson musical genius .

Very personal interview, great

i follow jethro tull from the first days i was 16 yaers old till now i am now tday 2023 63 yaers old

I love the song "The Mouse Police Never Sleeps".

Mark Goodman was a thoughtful and careful interviewer.

Thanks ever so much for posting this! It's an absolute gem of an interview! The man is a genius songwriter and musician

Damn, Mark Goodman was a great interviewer.

Really impressed with Ian Anderston as I'm discovering Jethro, such an incredible artist and musician, and so insightful and clearminded in his interviews. Not many like him.

Ian's the best thing that happened to R&R !

Mark Goodman, one of the original MTV VJays, is actually a big time classic rock nerd! RIght on!

I love how he is able to formulate complex sentences with total ease, there is absolutely no trouble comprehending what he’s talking about, his points are satisfyingly concise

I always wanted him to play Tom Bombadil in Peter Jackson's LORD OF THE RINGS.

Amazing guy

There are many reasons why this is great, but one of them has to be that this is the most spectacular beard I've ever seen Anderson sport.

Dude is a good interviewer in my opinion

Ian Anderson is always interesting to hear and Mark Goodman did an excellent job of interviewing; ask the question and let the person answer. Good job, Mark.

A very `thorough` interview - no stone left unturned - as Ian confirms this at the end, with a look of slight relief

Broadsword and the Beast is one of my favorites Tull albums. Up there with Aqualung, Songs From The Wood, and A.

I saw Tull during the Aqualung tour, never herd of them before, they popped into my life Big time, Stand Up and Benefit appeared and I was along for the ride thru Passion Play. They were quite an influence on a young teen in the early 70's Catching up a bit now, happy they held on to it all! Thanks!

Great stuff! I have to wonder how much of this kind of thing in laying around in vaults somewhere, never having seen the light of day, while much of MTV's garbage in still in circulation. What a shame. Thanks for posting this interview. Ian is a genius and a true artist. A dying breed. Broadsword is a fantastic album as well. Cheerio!

Awesome interview. I couldn't help but notice Mark Goodman says "We here at MTV have a great stock in video and the future of it..." Yet 30 years later, unless you're awake at 4am, you'd have no idea the M stood for Music.

Such a wonderful interview. I have seen this before but enjoyed it thoroughly again. The whole interview just flows beautifully. A real gem. Thank you.

Brilliant, humane gentleman

Thank you Tull Tapes. What a gift from the vaults. A real pleasure to consume. Ian amazing, as always and good interviewer. Funny aside....Ian's little eye roll is like no one else......except John Lydon!

Thanks for making all this precious footage available online.

"...And The Mouse Police Never Sleeps" is an excellent song and a brilliant album opener to Heavy Horses. It has an unusual rhythm and atmosphere, ominous and tense like something important is about to happen, exactly what you want for an album opener, even though it could easily work on its own in a set. Musicianship is impeccably tight, expressive and melodic. This has been my thesis on why this song is good.

Such a class act

Interesting comments about his son: “I’d be worried if he wanted to become a musician”. Whoops! James is now a musician (often found drumming for his dad).

GREAT. GREAT interview. Mark Goodman did a wonderful job of preparing and really coaxed some lovely insights out of Ian. Bravo.

Ian ... you're wrong. Tull fans haven't deserted you. Not yet. Not ever.

Not bad for VHS tape. Thanks for uploading.

Seen those guys a dozen times over the years...great shows.

I love this man Ian.

Broadsword & Beastie is one of my favorite albums. Actually... I had been in a ... Uh ... Mass media boycott of sorts, in terms of music. I had gotten bored in the mid-1970s (disco), so I went on to different genres. Classical, neo-classical, blues, jazz, various ethnic types... So a friend played the album at a party, and I had a double take. Mid-80s. I sorta discovered Tull late. Story: was playing Songs of the Wood in the car, and Mom and Dad were along. Mom said "That sounds like Ian Anderson." "Yes, it's Jethro Tull." "No! I know that is Ian Anderson!" "Yeeaahss... It's Jethro Tull..." about that time I figured out she knew Ian from PBS appearances, and it was getting funny. Let her argue with me a few rounds before I explained the connection. 😂

Tull was always their own genre, they owned it, unique, immediately identifiable sound like no other. I love their blend of (remember it's the sixties going into the 70's) progressive blues/rock/jazz/ and I don't know what to call the other element they incorporated, don't know if it's proper to say Scot/Celtic, baroque? That other element that defined, the unique blend of strings meet percussion meet a master at his trade flautist. Great stuff. Saw em twice, about 80-81, and " 25 more years of Tull, yeah Ian came on stage (mid 80's sometime SDSU amphitheatre, came out in a wheelchair covered in blankets or something, and then kept out of the wheel chair in classic style, and proceeded. Tull's always a winner

Been a dedicated fan since first listen which was Passion Play. Always bought the new releases sight unseen. I’m thankful for Ian and Jethro Tulls hard work over the years to create my favorite music. Always wished I could meet Ian Anderson.

So funny that I thought Ian Anderson was VERY theatrical, almost Shakespearean. I loved that about Ian Anderson and the Jethro Tull band. It was the music of course, but it was also the spectacle that made it so out of the ordinary. Ian Anderson was the conductor, and in command of his audience as well.

I was lucky to see Tull in their early days at Filmore East and Randall's Island. Their first 2 lps were my favs, still listen to them. Ian was a great talent and performer.

Paul Samwell Smith was the bass player for the Yardbirds for many years

WOW...thanks so much for posting this!

I thought the whole interview went seamlessly. Great flow and anything awkward was soon kicked into touch by the disarming Ian via frank disclosures.

Anderson seems like he could jump right in front of a camera and be a great smart aleck take on Sherlock Holmes

GREAT upload. Thanks!

It's funny to hear that end bit, since his son is a drummer and plays with Ian now and he also manages the old man.....

Very sharp interviewer.

It's sad we all get old. I have lost two brothers in the past six months. Life is sad, hard then you die.

And not long after this Ian went totally "modern" making videos, cutting his hair, introducing a new sound, then sort of went back to the basics after losing his voice. He's always been a walking contradiction and that's what I've always loved about him, so smart and yet realizes that nothing really makes any sense, just do what you feel is natural and roll the bones.

After watching this interview a new appreciation for Ian what an articulate country gentlemen a genius composer entertainer should have had a better interviewer to showcase his personna

I was totally prepared to blow off “Vinnie” but that guy did his homework and elicited an interview from Ian Anderson that rewards close listening and repays subsequent viewing.

Just discovered JT music....I know, only took 50 years. Incredible sophistication and originality. Ian is a well spoken gentlemen, very intriguing. Thanks for posting this. Prog rock archetype ???

Jethro Tull didnt want or need to release MTV videos, he is authentic and stays by his beliefs and is of legends are made of.

While its true I can't afford to run around chasing Jethro Tull concerts now in my 40s, I did as a late teen and you can bet I'll do it again when I retire :)

40 friggin years ago ?!!!!

Did IA ever get an IQ test. Man, he seems like he could easily be among the quickest people, in any walk of life. Like all geniuses, he may hv had a few non negotiable ways of working and idiosyncracies on the one hand, while on the other he is downright simple and humble!!

Thanks TullTapes,,,,

Great interviewer!

“I hate fashion” couldn’t agree more.

I wish he had just been left to talk , without questions about rock trends etc . This is the Ian who wrote HEAVY HORSES , with deep respect for the land etc . But he is not singing , but free associating with a sharp mind . Let him talk ...

As others have pointed out, with the sound off he could be Graham Chapman in character

FANTASTIC

Loved the interviewer's description of what a slipstream might be. How is this not a meme, absolute classic.

Cool Old Ian Anderson......made one bad movw...ditching Martin Barre, who ,IMO, was the SOUL of that bands sound !

Thank god for Paul Samuel Smith! Best album they've ever made! And maybe even THE best album ever made.. : )

Wow, Jim Morrison interviewing Ian in 1982. Who woulda thunk?

we can listen to him talk endlessly - stand there, jump up and down, as they prompt you…lol. ‘The Controllers’, lol. So you should do a podcast, and you can call it Story Time. Tons of thoughts, and to state that unique perspective. Ty

The fucking pipe slays me, classic

"I'm a useless sod actually." LOL

Love him so smart and nice to look at

As true then as he is today! Ian Anderson,

I think Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd were at school together and once in the same class. I heard that Pink wanted to play with Jethro one time but Jethro didn’t like him.

Thanks for posting.

Ian is very relaxed, here.

He has a point at the beginning. I had Auqalung for a couple of years before i was aware of Ian.

Maybe it’s the pipe that gives him that college professor aire about him but he has a way of looking like he’s thinking “You mere mortal... if you only knew what I know” ... his talent certainly puts mere mortals to shame. I wonder how high his IQ is...and how he got his musical talent. A creative genius that didn’t use a producer ... writing and producing Aqualung himself... amazing...What does he have in common with his audience? Nothing much when you’re a musical genius ...

Very interresting. Ian Anderson in the middle of his carrier...

The man's a genius.

IA is so cool.

Какие умные и интелектуальные лица ....

Ian Anderson is one of the few giants in ..... He's the gimmick , (or furnishes it )... And walking a tightrope,is probably easier to do what he pulled..off. ( As far as side projects he brought along Steeleye Span..) ' Really don't mind , if l sit this one out..'

This man blames on-stage smoke machines for ruining his lungs.

Yes, Mark Goodman is a really, really shitty interviewer in terms of energy, but he knows his Tull and asks good questions and has good follow up...Ian is a sharp guy.

Proper interview

Goodman was an excellent interviewer. People putting him down must have wanted him to plug in an instrument? Anderson was not the easiest interview.

caught Ian checking his watch around 2:10.

interesting that they thought video albums were going to be the thing of the future, just shows nobody can tell..

The tribal guy felt nervous at Ian's forthright and honest dialogue...