Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend - The Conan and Jordan Show – Geddy Lee

Episode Date: March 14, 2025

On this episode of “The Conan and Jordan Show”, Conan and Jordan are joined by Geddy Lee for an in-depth conversation on RUSH and the audio intricacies that Jordan appreciates with their music. Get access to all the podcasts you love, music channels and radio shows with the SiriusXM App! Get 3 months free using this show link: https://siriusxm.com/conan.

Well, that iconic song can only mean one thing. It's the Conan and Jordan show. And I'm joined, of course I'm Conan O'Brien, I think that shouldn't have to be said. And I'm joined by my enemy, my friend, my frenemy, a man I loathe, a man I love, Mr. Jordan Schlansky. Yes, hi. You've been in my employ for how many years now, Jordan?

Decades.ky. Yes, hi. You've been in my employ for how many years now, Jordan? Decades. Okay. Yes. And you bring up that iconic song, Tom Sawyer by Rush that starts our show. I would like to point out that long time listeners of our show may have noticed something a little different today in that our engineer,

Eduardo, graciously played my preferred mastering of that song. This is not the readily available mastering that any fool would get on a streaming service these days. Any fool? Okay, I have put a lot of time and money into seeking out the best version of all of my favorite music.

I have bought probably 20 versions of that album on various media. Right, well better that than have your kids go to college. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. These are hobbies. We all have our hobbies. Yeah. Yeah. These are hobbies. We all have our hobbies.

Okay. Okay, these are benevolent pursuits. You spend your money on various hobbies. I believe you have a collection of guitars. Often, no, they were all given to me. I understand. Well, that's impressive. That's cool when you just know famous people,

they give you guitars. Yes, well, we can all aspire to that level of fame. So this is a special, to cut to the chase, this is a, what's different about this pressing of that song? Okay, like all of us, I like music. Some say the language of music is older than the word language itself. Music is a great unifier, much like food, okay? When we all disagree on so many things, we all appreciate music.

I go one step further. I like to have the best version of music to listen to. I like my music to sound as good as possible. Back in the 70s, when you were growing up, you might've called me a hi-fi guy, okay? So for any given music release- Now I'd have a different term for you now, but this goes out to families, so I'm not gonna do it.

So again, I'm gonna try and get you to the point rather than taking us to- Well, this is a radio show. We talk. That is our venture here. We are here to talk. What is different about this pressing? You interrupt my talking,

but that's the whole point of the show. What's different about this pressing? Okay. There are many, back in the day before things were standardized- You keep going back to the day. I just wanna know what's different about this pressing. Yes.

This is a spoken word program. Is that correct? Yes. Okay, so I am speaking words, all right? That is. This is a spoken word program, is that correct? Yes. Okay, so I am speaking words, all right? That is what I was told the assignment was, all right? I'm here to complete the assignment, all right? Today we're gonna spend, I don't know, a half hour talking about different-

Guess what, you just passed that mark. Different CD pressings, okay? So now things are kind of standardized in the digital age, but back in the 80s and 90s, my preferred musical genres, any given CD pressing might have a different sound to it. If you bought a CD of a given album in Japan, it would sound different than one in West Germany. Yes. Okay. So Rush Moving Pictures is the album in question. 1981, it was released on various media, of course, vinyl. Now that's very expensive, so keep your greasy fingers off of it.

Oh, sorry. Yeah, you can touch the case. I don't want it on the disc, okay? I wasn't going to touch the disc. How did you know that I had liquid grease for lunch? Well, I've known you for decades and we've had these experiences before. Unbelievable. So basically, I have an inquest. This is actually a very well recorded album, very well mixed, a lot of dynamics. But in recent releases, those dynamics are squashed. There's a trend to make digital releases of music

sound as loud as possible, okay? Nobody wants their song to sound quieter on the radio or on a streaming service compared to the song next to it. You know, your body language makes me feel a bit rushed. This is gonna take a while, okay? I just want, yeah, this is not punchy stuff. This is a slow burn. No pun intended.

I did not mean to rush you. Yeah, you got something? Do I have something? Yes, you got a paper, okay. I have a little- I guess this is more important than what I was talking about. I think you're gonna agree that it is.

I have a special guest for you today who's joining us right now. All right. Let's get him in here. I think this is a big moment. There he is, Geddy Lee. Oh yes. What do you mean, oh yes?

Speak of the devil. This is your god. Hello. Geddy, how are you? Great to see you. I'm good. Hello. I can't believe I just-

I'm learning so much about records. I just bring Geddy into the conversations and you go, oh yes. You freak. Okay, for anyone that doesn't know, we've been joined by Geddy Lee. I believe your original name is Gary Levy, Toronto, Canada, perhaps a man of Willowdale.

Well, I think, yes. I was born Gary Lee Weingrub. Okay. And changed it to Geddy Lee, which is a long story. Yes. Where are you right now, Geddy? Where are you zooming into us from? I'm at home in Toronto,

Toronto, Canada. Okay. Lovely, and first of all, let me thank you, Geddy, because you are an iconic musician. You're a big deal, and for you to join our ridiculous show is very cool. And so thank you so much for doing that. The reason I wanted you to join is I talked to Jordan, we've traveled the world together,

we have a famous relationship. I think 40% of the time, Jordan is trying to talk to me about you, your music. And it's very flattering, but I thought you should come together now and you should talk to Jordan because Jordan claims that this pressing is much better, of superior quality.

Can you hear the difference, Geddy? I'm learning so much today. I can tell you from Jordan, just listening to you guys talk about this stuff. There was a time I could hear the difference. I couldn't swear to hear the difference today because I'm a little bit older and my hearing isn't what it used to be. But audiophiles know far more about that quality of sound

than the guys that actually make the records, I think. Isn't that incredible? Jordan is basing his whole life. It's like a religion to him that this is the only version that can be played. You, Geddy Lee, can't hear the difference. I understand that. Nevertheless, I appreciate what he's done. And now I want to hear his work in the best way possible. It's really honoring him and his bandmates. Okay. Okay. All right.

So I like a dynamic version. Now, my favorite recording or mastering of Moving Pictures was actually an original Dutch vinyl record. And there is a famous digital rip of that online. And I requested permission to play it on air and I was unable to obtain that permission. But my second favorite. Geddy, are you feeling at all unsafe right now? Are you feeling that you're in the presence of, I don't know, a madman, someone who...

I'm very impressed. And I understand that the Rush fans are quite nerdy as I am myself. And this is sort of living proof of that, I think. If you know the Dutch pressing of one of our records, if that doesn't qualify for nerdism, I don't know what that is. Thank you for identifying the exact nature of the illness.

Well, listen, these men and their engineers at Les Studio in Morin Heights, Quebec in 1980, 1981, spent a lot of time to get a certain sound. Okay, they experimented with different techniques. Digital technology was new at that time. Their drummer Neil Peart wore a microphone tape to his chest to get a drummer's perspective. You know what might be interesting? To hear Geddy Lee talk about Rush.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Geddy, would you like to say anything about those days and some of the innovations and what the sound you were going after? Or are we gonna let R2D2 over here ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha I'd be happy to chime in. Yes. But yes, Jason, you're correct. Yes. It's Jordan by the way. It's a common mistake.

When we recorded Atlas Studio, we were one of the first bands certainly in the genre of music we're making to use digital mix down system and computerized mixing was kind of a new thing in 1980. So we experimented with a lot of that kind of stuff. And it was not easy because you're wrestling with new technology. But you're quite uh, rock bands were not doing that because they were one of the last of the genre to convert from analog to digital. And a lot of people were questioning the validity of digital music for heart rock. Uh, anyway, um, it was a hell of a good sound, a hell of a good noise.

We ended up with, and we spent, you know, we spent weeks, if not months, at the studio in the snow in the winter of 1980. So yeah, it was, and Neil Denningby found a microphone taped to his chest, particularly I think for the song Vital Signs, so we can get the sound that he hears in terms of that. There's a certain impact the drummer gets from his drum kit that nobody else can hear because they're in front of the drums and not sitting behind the kit. So we wanted to blend some of that in. So all those nerdy facts are true.

And thank you for doubling down the nerdy thing. But Geddy, I'm curious, could you have had any idea back in 1980, you're up in Quebec, that all these years later, I mean, here we are some 44 years later, and that someone like a Jordan, and Jordan is not, I mean, Jordan's very peculiar, but Rush fans really know this stuff. That's gotta, it must blow your mind to think

that what you guys were doing back then is now a chapter and verse. It's like talking about something in the Bible or the Talmud. It's gotta be kind of freaky for you, huh? Yeah, it is. The level of our fan, the level of knowledge that our fan base possesses is quite daunting. And they, like you did at the beginning of the show, talking about pressings, et cetera,

et cetera. But we've been lucky to have such a dedicated fan base. I don't think we would have ever made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without their fervent pleas to put us in there. But, um, certainly, uh, I'm grateful to their level of nerdism and their fanaticism, but they do know more about us than we can even remember. I can assure you that.

Now, Geddy, this is an awkward question, but say Jordan were to show up outside your home in Toronto. Would you invite him in and let him stay for a week? Fuck no. Sorry, am I allowed to but that's just the answer. That's the answer. That's the way it's gonna have to be. Look, I appreciate the music. I understand that we don't need to know each other

in real life. I respect that professional distance. Nevertheless, I appreciate the music. I have many things to say, which will go unsaid today and stay for another day. You have a chance to ask him anything you want. Yeah, this is your chance. This is your big chance.

Shoot a whip, you'll fire away. More so requests than questions. I've educated myself on most of the knowledge base out there, but of course there are requests. A certain material I would like to see. There was a 1990 concert at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan on the Presto Tour. It was shot by the in-house cameras at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan on the Presto tour. It was shot by the in-house cameras at the venue

and parts of it were released on a special album release a few years ago, but it wasn't the entire concert. I'd like to see the entire concert on video of that Presto show because that was my first concert April 1990. Do you know what he's talking about, Geddy? Vaguely, actually. I think some of those venues did record our shows back then.

There is a show that we did record in 1997 in Toronto at the amphitheater that we have yet to release, but there is some talk about doing something with that, but time will tell. But I don't remember that particular footage that you're talking about. Yeah, it was released under the name Through the Rabbit Hole. And I understand the artist doesn't necessarily oversee every aspect of this. That would be incredibly tiresome. And that's not his responsibility. His responsibility was to make the music and then he has the right people that he trusts

to take it from there. And I respect that. I'm not requesting they can handle it personally, but if it ever comes up in discussions, there is a call for that by the fans. And I would like to see the last, some of the later albums, such as Vapor Trails and Clockwork Angels,

released in a more dynamic form in 2015. The Abbey Road engineer, Sean McGee, remastered most of their catalog from their Mercury years and then some of the later releases as well. But he never got to those two and there aren't really good dynamic releases of those. I would like to hear those at some point in the future. Thank you for your time and attention.

Dude, you need to send me a list of this. Yeah, Geddy, it doesn't seem to be, and I'm noticing he's not writing any of this down, by the way. I'm well aware. And I did notice he Yeah, Geddy, it doesn't seem to be, and I'm noticing he's not writing any of this down, by the way. I'm well aware, I'm putting this out. And I did notice he has, like me, he has a button in his study that alerts security,

and he's been leaning on that thing for about 10 minutes. Yes. Geddy, you are a very good sport, in addition to being an incredibly talented musician and a great guy, and it was very nice of you to drop in and speak to Jordan. I worry about Jordan, frankly. And I think after this conversation,

you're a little worried about him too. In all seriousness, I understand it's his birthday. So, or coming up to his birthday, is that- Well, recently passed, recently passed, yes. Okay, well, I just want to wish you a happy birthday, Jordan. Thank you very much. Thank you for being a fan. Thank you.

I really appreciate it, and hopefully we will get to meet on a more human level than through the Zoom machine. With maybe security present. Yeah. It's also my bar mitzvah today, Geddy, so if you wanna say a word about that. Yes. Geddy Lee, thank you so much. It's very kind of you to call in and our regards to your

bandmates and to all the good people in Toronto. That's one of my favorite towns in the world. So thank you. Thank you, Conan. It's great to be here. It's nice to meet you too. Likewise. Big fan. Take care. Take care, Getty Lee. Thank you very much. Cheers. Thank you. Cheers. Thank you. What an incredibly nice guy.

That was a really nice treat that he could drop in here. Were you, how did it feel? Had you spoken with Geddy Lee before? I met him a few times. He's incredibly well-spoken. He's enjoyable when you listen to him speak in interviews, just the way he forms words. Those are called sentences, yeah.

Yeah, right, but the way he puts words together. Yeah, that's a sentence. He's a verb, he's an adjective. He has the man's very intelligent, well-spoken. I enjoy listening to people like that. I don't know, I mean, I listen to him. He seemed like a nice, smart guy, but I think I'm just as intelligent.

I make words too and put them into sentences. I think there's a conflation with the idea of fandom. So most people are fans and they feel like they need to meet the person. They need to hang out with the person. I'm a huge fan of Rush, but I don't feel the need to hang out or even meet him. Guess what?

That feeling is shared by, I think, by Geddy Lee and the rest of the members of Rush, which I think works out nicely. You don't feel the need to meet them. Right. And he does not want to meet you, and shouldn't really meet you. Right.

Because based on this presentation, based on what he was given, I would not want to meet me either. So you understand. Right, what I'm saying is he's seeing a very limited side of me. No, no, no, no, no, no. He's not seeing a limited side of you. That is you, no, he's not seeing a limited side of you.

That is you. No, he is seeing what was just presented to him. What was just presented to him is you. We have many aspects to our personality. No, you don't. No, you don't. What I'm saying is- You're a fucking floor lamp

that I've been looking at for years. I've walked around it, I've pushed it on, and I've turned it off, and now you're saying there's many sides to me. There are many sides to me, and I think he would appreciate some of that. First of all, I don't care if he would appreciate them, because I have no interest in bonding with him. Nevertheless...

What? That's so rude! This guy just called into one shoe a happy birthday, and suddenly you're saying I don't give a flying fuck when he does? My birthday passed two months ago. I was being polite. Now listen to me. Wait!

Now listen to me. Oh, so Geddy Lee has to know your birthday exactly? I want to know what fool in this room told Geddy Lee that my birthday was right now and I have to play along like a jackass because I'm not going to be the asshole that tells him, no, you're wrong, that's going nowhere. Well, you did tell him. You did tell him it was past. Well, I was polite.

You told him it was past. That's the best I can do. I'm not going to flat out lie and say, yes, today is my birthday. I think within two months is a fairly good shot. There are 12 months. Two months? That's a sixth of the year for God's sake. So what? He came within a sixth.

He came within a sixth. You think that's accurate? What kind of scale are we on right now? If I got within a sixth of Brigitte Bardot, I'd be fucking happy. Now you listen to me, you son of a bitch. What I'm saying is- You ingrate, we just arranged,

you know what it costs for us to get Geddy Lee on the phone? Nothing. $600,000. What I'm saying is the man likes wine, okay? He has a preference for French wine. I have a preference for Italian wine. Nevertheless, there are things that we could connect on should either of us want to.

I don't want to. I don't want to. Oh, stop saying that. No offense to that man. No offense to that man. I enjoy listening to his music and I enjoy listening to him speak, but I don't make any pretense

that him and I would ever go hang out. Wait. I'm an introvert. I fear human interaction. I avoid it like the break. You have a radio show with me. Yeah, I have one human being here and some nice gentlemen over here,

but I'm not talking to large quantities of people. Okay, first of all, you're saying that if you passed a cafe, if you were walking, strolling along, if you were strolling along and you passed a cafe and Geddy Lee was sitting there and he happened to remember you. And he said, oh, Jason. And you went, well, it's Jordan.

And he said, have a seat. Let's share a bottle of French wine. You wouldn't join him? Okay, first of all, of course I would be polite. Secondly, if I walked by him- Be polite, wouldn't you be honored? If I walked by and he didn't recognize me and he was sitting there,

I would absolutely not approach him, either before or after this experience, okay? I would give the man his space. I have no interest. It doesn't do anything. I'd rather go home, put my headphones on at 3 a.m. and listen to my favorite pressing of moving pictures and get lost in it than sit down at a cafe

with a man that clearly wanted to be alone. No, I'm different than you. I want to know the man. I'm someone who likes people. I interact. I know we're on this spinning blue globe we call Earth for a short time. And so, no, I don't want to huddle off in the dark

and put my headphones on and have the same technical experience that I've had many times before. You know, I find that- Well, you and I are different. Maybe you're somehow consumed by the idea of fame. Nope, nope. And also-

Fame doesn't interest me at all. And also, as you'll know, a lot of artists, he's actually a very friendly, gregarious man with great social skills, but there are many artists are kind of at the other end of the spectrum and are more introverted like myself and don't necessarily wanna connect with people.

Of course, they do it out of obligation to their fan base, but yeah, so I don't need to impose myself on anybody. I'm gonna give you my takeaways from what we just experienced. Your favorite band of all time, Rush, Getty Lee. I surprise you with Getty Lee and you time, Rush, Getty Lee. I surprise you with Getty Lee and you went, ah. Yes. Yes. Which stunned me because unbelievable.

This is- What did you expect? What would you have expected? I thought you would crack a smile and go, oh my, oh, whoa, oh, hey, whoa, this is- Fumpering, you wanted a fumpering. That to you shows that, wow, I've done well. You've got the fumumpfering from me. I'm saying I saw him, I acknowledged him.

I understood. You acknowledged him. I understood the situation. You acknowledged him like you went into a supermarket. You were looking for a bag of Snickers bars, and you went in the candy aisle and you went, oh, there they are. That's the reaction you gave.

You saw some Nutter Butter cookies you were looking for. Yes, there they are. There was no, that's all. And I found that to be unusual. The other takeaway is you go on and on and on about the difference in these audio pressings. He didn't know, he didn't know what you were talking about. I didn't expect him to know.

I wouldn't expect, that's not his job. He passes that off to other people. I don't have access to those other people. You put him up on a screen, so he's the man I made my case to. If you put the head of their catalog up on screen, I would have made a better case to them. Okay, all right.

Now, listen, I've had the experience of being an artist. I have a great, vast body of work going back. I mean, even before 1993, Simpson's Saturn and the Like. Oh, I'm familiar with it. Well, North Report. Yeah. Let's not go that far back.

Not necessarily the news. Okay, now you overdid it. The groundlings. Well, when I'm pooned before that. So what I'm saying is, I've been making comedy pretty much steadily since 1981. Even earlier, Simpson. You, as a fan, probably have liked to go back sometimes

and watch my old work. Yeah, I do it regularly as part of my career. No, no, no, no, as a fan. Yeah, I do. I'm a huge fan of the show. I was happy to work on it for so long because I was a fan of it, but I'm gonna say very clearly,

I have no interest in famous people simply because they're famous. Yes, you do. You must sometimes, you must sometimes when you and I are walking around together, be thinking, oh my God, this is Colin O'Brien. That thought does occur to me based on situations that happen around me, but I don't reject you

or accept you simply because you're famous. I don't seek out famous people. I don't feel any more exhilaration talking to a famous person than a non-famous person. Liar! Now, there are some famous people that I am infatuated with that I've never met, okay? Neil Diamond, Tristan Rogers from General Hospital

in the 1980s. Jesus, what a list! There are certain- What a list! Yes, there are certain- Neil Diamond, Tristan Rogers from General Hospital? I can count on one hand the amount of famous people I was very interested to meet. John Williams, I've met- From General Hospital? I can count on one hand the amount of famous people I was very interested to meet.

John Williams, I've met him a number of times, of course, the famous composer. He was a big one for me. Neil Diamond, I never had the chance to meet. John Ritter, I did meet a wonderful guy. He was wonderful. He was on my list. Oh, I got Tristan Rodgers here.

Tristan Rodgers, Australian. He's Australian. Yes, he certainly has a beautiful voice. I don't know how old he is. 78. Okay, that sounds about right. I modeled my personality after him. I watched General Hospital religiously in the 1980s.

It was him, it was John Riley who played Sean Donnelly, who I met at the Grove once, the late, great John Riley. Hold it, hold it, hold it. Stop for just a second. Okay. You're saying that you didn't have a personality. You were an empty vessel and you decided to, you watched a soap opera and you saw a person

acting on a soap opera and modeled who you are after that person. You certainly extrapolated a bit, okay? No, no, that's not, that's an exact description. I think you embellished the core of what I was saying, okay? I just repeated what you said. The man spoke like music. You listen to the words that come out of his mouth

in his Australian accent and he speaks like music. He could play it all. He could play the mystery. He could play the drama, love, anger. That episode with him and Bert, December, 1986, is Bert Ramsey, his former police commissioner that betrayed him and became head of the mob.

When he yelled at him at the end of that episode, that was like stunning. That changed me. Can I say something? Yes. What boy your age is watching these soap operas, these soap operas were meant for housewives. There was a time I sought out those old episodes

at General Hospital. I tried to get the footage. It was unavailable everywhere. They would put out little retrospectives on VHS. I'm like, Luke and Laura's wedding, no one gives a shit about that. We've all seen it 50 times. I want to see the Aztec treasure. 1984. I want to see the Asian quarter from 1985. So your whole life is chasing lost footage that no one else gives a shit about. You just said, you had one question for Geddy Lee. Yes, yes, we can have a concert. 1991. 1990. 1990, I'm sorry, oh, I missed it.

I missed it by less than how she missed your birthday. And you know what I'm saying? Two months, unacceptable. And I say, you guys, you performed that on the rooftop of Beth Israel Hospital, and I just wanna say, buh, I've seen most of it, but there's a section where you guys take a bathroom break, buh, and it's missing, buh.

And so you're asking for that for it. She doesn't know what the fuck you're talking about. I know he doesn't know what the fuck. I'd rather meet Tristan Rogers than Getty Lee, god damn it. There, I said it. I said it. Get Tristan Rogers. Who's Tristan?

Get Tristan Rogers. Get Tristan Rogers up on the screen. All right, we're gonna get Tristan Rogers. I want Tristan Rogers. Okay, so your list is Neil Diamond. Will you be excited for Tristan Rogers when he comes up? No, I'll do an impression of him. First of all, yeah.

I'll do an impression of you bringing him up. Oh, guess what? We have a treat for you. The person you modeled your entire personality on who you've never met before. And here he is, and you go like, oh, yes, that's what you're gonna do. Okay, first of all, let's pretend that as human beings,

we're not influenced by the media figures we're exposed to every day. Like Tony Hopkins said in the Silence of the Lambs, we covet what we see every day around us, okay? I saw him every day. Stop Tony Hopkins said in the Silence of the Lambs, we covet what we see every day around us. I saw him every day. Stop shouting, you're shouting. I found him compelling. He had charisma.

The charisma that I have, I learned from him. Oh, okay. Well then guess what? He should be shot. He should be sued. What do you mean the charisma you have? This man is cool as ice. I don't equate somebody's talent by their level of fame,

their level of objective fame, okay? He may not be the most famous person in this town, but to me, he's the most compelling. Can I ask you something? Yeah. So have you ever wondered, or I don't know if you've had therapy, and my guess is you have not.

I think you would, I don't think a therapist would be able to help you. I think it'd be like a to- I don't need help. Hold on. I think it'd be like a therapist sitting and there's a toaster oven on the couch.

I'm fine. Yeah, people can say I don't need help, I'm fine. Shouting it, usually you're fine. So my question is, do you ever wonder why you needed, why couldn't you just let your own personality form? Why did you need to take it from a character on General Hospital? Oh yes, the ideal, the ignorant ideal. Let me explain to you how human psychology works, okay?

Let me explain to you nature and nurture. We are a product of what we are exposed to every day, and you can look at this as a negative, or you can look at this as empowering. We can choose what we surround ourselves with every day. These things will become part of our personality. You are comprised of the people You can look at this as a negative or you can look at this as empowering. We can choose what we surround ourselves with every day. These things will become part of our personality. You are comprised in part of me

because you have been exposed to me. I have rubbed off on you in ways you may or may not be aware of. You've never rubbed me. We are a product of our environment. As strong as we think we are mentally, I'm true to myself. Yourself is based on your environment. Every single human being that's around you,

every single object becomes part of you. I am a part of you, and I will always be. Yeah, you're inside me. Listen, I wanna say something, Jordan. You say you're fine, you say you're okay. I'm just gonna notice. Yeah. I think we've all noticed it.

You've been shouting. Okay. For much of the last 15 minutes. I keep seeing Eduardo reach over and turn the dials down because you're gonna blow out these beautiful microphones. These are gorgeous. Sure SMB7s? That's, yeah.

These have a very low gain, by the way. You need a very powerful mixer to extrapolate the proper sound. You can use a cloud lifter though, which a lot of amateur podcasters do. And now they have a new model that has a built-in preamp. They're a little bit longer, they're shiny, and they say short down the side.

So. What I'm saying is the fact that I'm shouting doesn't preclude me from being content. I am a content man. It stuns me that SXM, they're a big company, big company and they are in business with all the biggest talents. Yeah. And somehow you're on there now.

Yeah, I apparently am a radio host on the SiriusXM. Yeah, and it's stunning to me. Yeah. The amount of bibble, babble, blither and blather that spews out of this face of yours that I'd like to smash. It's incredible that people are listening in their cars right now. Their Dodge Neons, their Chevrolet Gugus.

I'm just making up car names, I don't know. For anyone wondering what it's like to be a radio host, I'll tell you what it's like. There's no change to my life. There are no perks. I'm not even convinced we have a radio show. I've seen clips of it on YouTube. I don't have, there's no mug in front of me with the Conan O'Brien show logo that has two meatballs that look like the Orange Chicken and Panda Express. I don't feel, you tell me we have a radio show and you think I'd feel some level of accomplishment

to be a radio host, a goal that I never set for myself, but somehow found me. And I just have a normal life. I don't get free things. I don't get special privileges at restaurants. Just for anyone wondering, maybe you aspire to be a radio host,

and you think your life will change, I'm here to tell you there is zero change. So you thought that by sitting next to me on a radio show, I thought there'd be some sense of accomplishment. You'd be ushered into a better seat. Yes, yes I did. At the Lucky Duck Chicken House.

You know, you thought, okay, that's incredible. You, you're a mystery to me. You continue to be a mystery. I try to make you happy by bringing you I'm happy. One of your icons daily. I'm happy. I try to get you therapy so you don. I'm happy. One of your icons daily. I'm happy. I try to get you therapy so you don't need it.

Yeah. You still shout. I don't know. This was an incredible experience for me to watch you. I try to help you. I try to do nice things for you. I took you to Italy. You can all watch it.

I do all these extraordinary things for you and you always end up angry. You seem angry. No, I'm not angry. I seem angry. I'm not angry. I'm content. I'm passionate. I appreciate the things you've done to me. I'm self-aware.

To you? You just said to you. Done to me, for me, with me. You can choose your conjunction. Freud's on line one. Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate them.

I'm passionate about them. Look, people say apathy is the worst insult. If I shout and I'm passionate, don't worry so much about, am I angry, am I happy? Just be happy that you're evoking a response in me. Sure. Mussolini shouted and he was just trying to get his point across. If that's the criteria for being a dictator, then I think half of the population is guilty. Okay. Well, we got off on a crazy tangent. I think you brought up Mussolini and I think

that's weird. Okay. Listen, we had a wonderful episode, I think. You got to meet one of your great heroes and talk to him. I know you say you've met him before, but he got to call you two months after your birthday, which is a big deal. He happy birthday'd me two months late and called me by the wrong name. And I, again, I wasn't expecting anything out of this interaction. So why do you keep mentioning it?

By the way, this interaction, I didn't even know out of this interaction. So why do you keep mentioning it? By the way, this interaction, I didn't even know this interaction was gonna happen. I don't think you guys have disclosed that I wasn't aware that this was going. I think it's clear to everyone that you don't know what's happening. Okay, yeah, I walk into this room. I was told to sit in a different spot than normal, okay?

So there was an agenda, clearly. But I am fine with the way this interaction went. I think he understands now that there is an appreciation of his work on a very granular level. And when asked if he would hang out with you, he said, fuck no. I don't need to hang out with him. Yeah, well, I think you don't even have to worry about it.

I don't have to worry about it. You don't have to reject a date that you've not invited on. No, I was not worried about it. All right, well, listen, this has been our episode of the Conan and Jordan show, featuring a guest appearance by Jordan's all-time hero, Geddy Lee. We're going to try and get this gentleman from General Hospital.

Tristan Rogers. Tristan Rogers to be on soon. And you say you molded your personality around him. That is a sad, sad story about a sad little boy who, Pinocchio, who one day wished he would become real and be a real boy. Listen to him speak. Okay. Peace out.

The Conan and Jordan Show with Conan O'Brien and Jordan Schlansky is produced by me, Frank Smiley. Executive produced by Adam Sacks, Jeff Ross, and Jim McClure. Engineering and mixing by Eduardo Perez. Our supervising producer is Andrew Groose. Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Battista and Rick Kahn. The theme song is Tom Sawyer by Rush. You can rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts and you might find your review read

on a future episode. Got a question for Conan and Jordan? Call the Team Coco Hotline, 669-587-2847 and leave a message. It too could be featured on a future episode. And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, wherever fine podcasts are downloaded. And be sure to subscribe and tune into Conan O'Brien Radio, Channel 104 on SiriusXM.