Finding open end interviews- response only interviews with musicians

December 12, 2021 7:34 PM

I just learned of the existence of "open-end" interviews- a record with, say, the Beatles giving just the answers to scripted questions, but the questions are not on the recording. Example. A radio DJ would broadcast themselves "asking" the Beatles the canned questions and the Beatles would "respond" via the recording, thus creating the illusion that the DJ is actually interviewing them. So far, I have found Al Green and The Beatles, but am struggling to find other ones. What's out there?
posted by Larry David Syndrome to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Best answer: Youtube Search Brings up a few.
Also found this one Julie Andrews.
Internet Archive also might get a few hits Internet Archive
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 8:00 PM on December 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

In case you weren't aware, this kind of thing is super common on local news broadcasts to this day. Government agency press packages are often posted publicly on their websites if you're interested in source material. I know I've seen NOAA and CDC do it, and I'm pretty sure I've even seen one from the FTC.

Commercial packages will often even have a bit of introductory banter tailored to specific stations/hosts to make it seem more realistic, but the source video isn't available publicly for obvious reasons.
posted by wierdo at 8:31 PM on December 12, 2021 [4 favorites]

I remember there were a few of these that came through our college radio station in the mid-80s. I honestly can’t recall which groups/bands did these, but there was one instance where I tried doing the “interview” on air and it was a spectacular fizzle.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 8:42 PM on December 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

If I understand correctly (and I suspect I don’t), most of the Song Exploder podcast is like this because the interview questions are edited out. From a profile in the New Yorker: “ At the start of each episode, Hirway delivers a brief introduction in a soft, steady voice, and then mostly disappears. The choice to edit his own questions out of the show feels egoless—especially in the podcast business, which seems to reward a kind of unabashed garrulousness—and it lends his interviews a rambling, barstool intimacy. The episodes are short, often between fifteen and twenty minutes, and end with Hirway playing the deconstructed song in its entirety. (For much of 2019, “Song Exploder” was hosted by the musician and songwriter Thao Nguyen, who followed a similar format.) ”
posted by vunder at 8:58 PM on December 12, 2021 [2 favorites]

Any time you see your local newsperson doing an interview with a movie/tv star about their latest big blockbuster production, this is exactly what you're seeing. A canned, scripted "interview" that is provided to any tv station that wants it. I have to think a few of them have been leaked out.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:02 AM on December 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Seemed to me that if there were Beatles ones (and I've heard one of the Beatles ones, it's great), there would probably be a Monkees one, so:

Davy Jones open-end interview - looks like it might be included in the Rhino box set.

Here's one with Winston Hibler, about whom I know nothing.

And here's a Shirley Jones open-end interview on Spotify.

I don't know how often one can find the accompanying promo sheet with the questions, but that would be especially cool. (You can see part of the Davy Jones script.)

Great question!
posted by kristi at 4:04 PM on December 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

Ah, see, now you've got me all curious.

A search for

"open end interview" sheet

further turns up

Dolly Parton open end interview on eBay

Escape from the Planet of the Apes open end interviews - Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowall (with sheet of interview questions!)

Ethel Merman open end interview discovered - blog post from the Stanford Library (with partial sheet of interview questions)

Fright Night electronic press kit discusses a video version of an open end interview

If there's anyone in particular you THINK might have done one, a search on

"open end interview" name

might well turn it up.
posted by kristi at 4:13 PM on December 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Oh, and there's a category at discogs:

Interview and 7"s

which turns up

Kingston Trio
Clint Eastwood
Bread
Jose Feliciano

which indicates that a search on

"open end interview" site:discogs.com
or
"open ended interview" site:discogs.com

should be a gold mine.


(Sorry if you wanted to HEAR these and not just know of their existence, but maybe knowing of their existence will help you track them down if you'd like to hear them.)
posted by kristi at 4:21 PM on December 15, 2021