I did a deep search of this blog because I was absolutely convinced I had already posted this interview on Wentyworld. But, turns out I didn’t. It’s not like people haven’t had the chance to hear it…I’ve posted it 14 ways from Sunday.
But, for those who haven’t heard it, and since Conan is having such a fine year (Oscar host, Mark Twain Award) here’s the story.
It’s 1996. I’m a college radio nerd at 89.1 WBSU. I was the station’s news director and in that capacity I did interviews quite a bit. At one point….and God help me, I cannot remember what planted this into my brain…I decided I wanted to interview Conan O’Brien. I liked his show, and I thought he would be a fun guy to talk to.
In 1996, the internet was still kind of a novelty, but I’m sure our college radio station did not have a New York City phonebook, so I must have found the NBC phone number online. I called and eventually reached a fellow from Press Relations or whatever you would call it. I asked if I could record a phone interview with Conan for our college radio station. He promised me he would look into it.
If this was a black and white movie, the next scene would be a montage of me calling the guy once every two weeks for the next two months, set to this music:
Why on earth did I keep calling this guy? I guess it’s the hubris of youth, thinking that you can accomplish anything if you want to. Allso, and this is the real reason: the NBC guy seemed legitimately interested in having the interview happen. He never seemed irritated or disinterested in my keening for a Conan chat. It probably helps that “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” was hugely popular with college audiences. And it probably took so long because I’m guessing there were a lot of other collegiate radio geeks trying to get an interview.
The fateful day arrived. I called NBC at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, a different number this time. I got a nice old lady who said something along the lines of “Connecting you to Mr. O’Brien.”
And then…the interview. (This starts with a music promo and an introduction to the interview by my old pal Pat Adriance. He is also the official cartoonist of Wentyworld.
And there it is. Things of note:
-My old pal Dan Connelly was in the WBSU Newsroom while I taped this interview. And after the interview (more of that younthful hubris) I asked Conan to voice a liner for our “80’s Flashback” show, which he did. The interview survives but the liner is nowhere to be found. An absolute tragedy!
-My stomach hurt. The entire interview. Not from lunch, but from nerves. I was very worried about how it would go. Even when I realized it was going okay, my stomach still registered anxiety.
-This interview happened 29 years ago. There is a very good possibility that I have forgotten or mis-remembered elements of this incident. Hopefully Dan Connelly sees this and can set me straight.