All I want to do is talk about Madonna

Mark and Kenny face their own forbidden fears about love while grooving to the first collaboration with Babyface Edmonds. Topics include the superstar sequencing of Bedtime Stories, the musical beauty of whispering, the rumored musical video, the shadow disco song of the same name, Mike the Trainer, and a sexy jaunt through 90s radio R&B. Plus, the imagined first meeting in Central Park with …...

Madonna musically addresses her critics for the first time with a funky Dave Hall-penned anthem and a definitive video (welcome back to the party, Jean-Baptiste Mondino!) as Kenny and Mark explore misogyny, punk, Main Source, a new perspective on the reception of the Sex book, Bettina Rheims, the Bottom Heavy Dub (and that maxi-single!), Norman Mailer’s interview for Esquire , Ruby Wax, and Prince...

Mark and Kenny celebrate the breathy hidden gem of Bedtime Stories - and the transformative aspects of time, experiences, and strong songwriting (not to mention some killer samples and production!) to celebrate the role of Madonna’s mother on her art and the path she continues to chart in her life. Here’s to a soaring 2022 for us all!

Kenny withholds his appreciation of this mid-tempo charmer and suggests an alternate version of Bedtime Stories , leaving Mark scrambling for worthy substitutions, including lost b-sides “Let Down Your Guard” and “Your Honesty,” and sending a warning shot into Season Four. Sing La Di Da De and Happy New Year!!

Bedtime Stories gets truly funky as Mark and Kenny discuss the meeting of Tupac Shakur & Madonna. Topics include: Dave Hall, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Rosie Perez, Jada Pinkett, Lou Donaldson’s “It’s Your Thing” sample, and the arrival of Maverick artist (and bassist extraordinaire) ME’SHELL NDEGEOCELLO. All that we know is her albums are classics - check ‘em out!

Happiness lies in Kenny and Mark’s hands as they discuss the powerful first single from Bedtime Stories, including it’s visually brilliant (if narrative-light) video. Topics include: Dallas Austin, Melodie McDaniel, the power of an acoustic guitar, Madonna’s warpaint look, pregnancy rumors, and a bizarre side trip down the streets of Philadelphia (tell the boys at Woody’s hello!). Share your secre...

Mark and Kenny dig into the first song on the first side of the pivotal Bedtime Stories album - a musical crossroad for Madonna. Topics include: the (brief) return of Niki Haris and Donna De Lory, the wide-array of star collaborators, the searching cover art and design of the record, fixing the feud with Letterman, and how Madonna’s contemporaries may (or may not) have informed her new approach to...

Kenny and Mark begin the new season as Madonna embarks on a new era with the yearning and beautiful theme song from the WITH HONORS soundtrack. Topics include: Miami, Joe Pesci, Moira Kelly, Brenden Fraser, Alex Keshishian, basketball games, stand-in back-up singers, that disappointing music video, the many Maverick projects a-brewing, and - oh yes - the Letterman appearance in the early spring of...

Mark and Kenny celebrate the FINAL episode of Season 2: 1988-1993 with a long and detailed conversation about the famed 1993 tour behind Erotica - including all of Madonna’s inspirations for the tour (and brother Christopher’s problematic influences), her musical shout-outs throughout the show, and the many ways this tour has continued to resonate through the rest of her touring career - as well a...

Kenny and Mark wrap up their conversation about Erotica with the moody and restless final Andre Betts track on the album - and the impact of Madonna beginning to take her time.

Mark and Kenny dive into the crushing and complicated final ballad from Erotica and take time to discuss Madonna’s long and personal commitment to the AIDS crisis as well as her relationship to those who suffered and were lost. They then welcome a special guest - UK-based playwright and theatre-maker Brian Mullin -who discusses his own relationship to Madonna, what it means for him to live and thr...

Reggae and Protest join hands as Kenny and Mark discuss the “sing-a-long” song on Erotica, the song’s musical siblings in the Madonna catalog (we are NOT looking at you, “Hey You”), earnestness, the vocal debut of Tony Shimkin, guitarist Paul Pesco, and when it is appropriate to grab a soda during a Madonna concert. Why’s it STILL so damn hard?

Mark and Kenny celebrate the gorgeous (and multi-meaning) power ballad from Erotica . Topics include the importance of counterpoint vocals, the necessity of a radio remix, Mark Romanek’s video of beauty portraiture, Whitney Houston’s radio dominance, bukkake, the glorious maxi-single and justice of its forgotten (and rare) non-album track, and Kenny’s reaction to the possibility of working with Ma...

Kenny and Mark return to the “Rain Tapes” to discuss the evolving and evolving versions of this personal (and restless) favorite. Topics include the importance of a writing life, the notorious romance letters with Amanda Cazalet, Bette Midler, reading lists, Pain & Glory , THAT brilliant musical bridge, the power, and limits, of words, and the moment that makes Erotica THE Madonna masterpiece.

Theories abound as Mark and Kenny dig into the backside of Erotica with this “dance” track – Madonna’s breaking glass, verbally slapping, and – yes – rapping. It’s getting crazy during this hot August summer, y’all – folk heroes Peter, Paul, and Mary make THEIR inaugural appearance on the podcast. Calling all remixers!!

The feud over the 14-track version of Erotica continues ... though not before Kenny and Mark celebrate one of the thrilling and genre-bending centerpieces on Erotica (and which closes out it's cassette Side A). Topics include another sojourn into Mark's teen years spent at the mall, the welcome appearance of jazz and horns on a Madonna record, and a final tribute to Madonna protégé Nick Kamen (RIP...

Mark and Kenny dive deep into the beloved and much admired first ballad on Erotica and its masterpiece of a video (the final - so far - collaboration with David Fincher) as well as some other not-so-masterful pieces Madonna worked on in 1993. Featuring Louise Oriole, Jonathan Ross, Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe, Joe Mantegna, Anne Archer, Julianne Moore, Alfred Hitchcock, Gregory Peck, Louis Jo...

Kenny and Mark kick-off the Andre Betts celebration with the notorious (and brilliant) first Madonna/Betts collaboration on Erotica . Mark muses on Dre’s contributions to the songwriting process, Jonathan Ross proves a worthy interviewer for Dita Parlo, and Kenny makes a controversial stance about the “deluxe editions” of future Madonna albums. It’s warm inside …

Mark and Kenny celebrate the house classic hit from Erotica - the only song where Shep Pettibone and Udo Kier could possibly convene - with a minute-by-minute dissection of a reference-filled video, a recalibration of Mark’s ever present “Top Five of All Time” list, Kenny’s deep love of remixes using organs, AND welcoming special guest Jonathan Norton to celebrate the return of Donna DeLory &...

Kenny and Mark dig into their diaries to discuss this ode to relationship “flings” and “fizzles.” Madonna demonstrates a new mastery of specificity in the studio … and demands her fans pay attention to those brilliant lyrics. And yet had the popular tide turned by the time it was released as a single? To love you IS a sin, apparently …

Dita hands Erotica back over to Madonna as Mark and Kenny hit the club floor to discuss this (now) classic cover. Peggy Lee, Little Willie Joe, EGOT Rita Moreno and the Muppet Show, Anthony Kiedis and Arsenio Hall, the lost “Goodbye to Innocence” and THOSE remixes. What a lovely way to burn, indeed .

Did we do it? You KNOW we did it! At long last, Kenny and Mark kick off their conversation about all things “Erotica” - the song, the video, the remixes, AND the Sex book. Maverick Records, Shep Pettibone, Dita Parlo, Big Daddy Kane, Vanilla Ice … they’re all here, kids. And - if that weren’t enough - Kenny kicks off the episode with his testimonial on why this album is Madonna’s masterpiece - and...

Mark and Kenny recall shopping malls and cassingles while discussing the gorgeous (and surprising #1 charting) single from the 1992 summer blockbuster A League of Their Own . Topics include: Penny Marshall, Tom Hanks, Rosie O'Donnell, Arsenio Hall, Tank Girl, and "All the Way" Mae.

Led by a guiding document by scribe Marsha Norman, Mark and Kenny break down the seminal and genre-shattering (now classic) documentary, celebrating it’s 30th (!) anniversary this year. Will Mark ever pronounce Wuthering Heights correctly? Will Kenny ever share a viewing experience of TorD with his husband? Will a restored full version of the concert footage (or the deleted footage) ever see the l...

Kenny and Mark do battle over the “other” new song on Madonna’s definitive (early) greatest hits collection. Topics include the staying power of Shep Pettibone, Tony winner Lilias White, jazz singer Catherine Russell, and Kenny’s conviction that recording vocals in a French toilet is the right way to go.