All I want to do is talk about Madonna

Mark and Kenny explore the not-so-seceret legacy behind the authorship of this head-spinning (and chapter turning) single which proved to be one of Madonna’s greatest triumphs - and controversies. Topics include: INGRID CHAVEZ, Lenny Kravitz, Howard Stern, the return of Prince, unpacking in hotels, Tony Ward, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, “The Beast Within” Remix, SNL, Wayne & Garth, Jeanne Moreau, W...

Kenny and Mark return to August 5, 1990 – when HBO broadcast Madonna’s final performance of the legendary and career-defining BA Tour.  Topics include: Madonna’s hair, Madonna’s costumes, Madonna’s dancing, Madonna’s troop of back-up singers & dancers (and the comforts of the road), Madonna’s tour band, Madonna’s setlist negotiations, Madonna’s brother Christopher Ciccone, and the emergin...

Mark and Kenny attempt to discuss and explore THE ground-breaking classic. Period.

Kenny and Mark double-dip on this charming 180 turn from  I’m Breathless .  Topics include Warren Beatty warbling, kudos from Beach Boy Brian Wilson, wisdom from Socrates, Picasso channeling, and the expansive (and eclectic!) career of Mr. Andy Paley.

Mark and Kenny fall into a musical theatre wormhole while discussing Mandy Patinkin and his cameo role as 88 Keys in  Dick Tracy  – AND only the second male duet partner (after Prince) on a Madonna record for this gorgeous ballad – as well as Breathless Mahoney’s back story and a deep take on how her film career functions in the entire Madonna universe.

Kenny and Mark start a Sondheim submerge with the sassy showtune ode to excess. Topics include anatomy insurance policies, the definition of true artistry, screechy chorines, and Kenny launches a telethon to track down the lost video of footage of Mark performing this song … IN 1990.

Mark and Kenny celebrate the second side of  I’m Breathless  with the “other” song about Business from  Dick Tracy .  Topics include the timing of musical sequences, Jon Bon Jovi and  Young Guns II , a long-awaited distinction about the term “iconic”, Madonna being “fun”, Jeff Clayton’s saxophone solo and how all roads lead back to Breathless Mahoney herself.  PLUS …...

Kenny and Mark clash while discussing the “other” torch song on  I’m Breathless.   Topics include Mark’s version of a synopsis of  Dick Tracy , Kenny’s editing suggestions, and the Musical Impact of Pathos.  Dick Van Dyke Shout-Out!

Mark and Kenny celebrate the reunion of Nikki Finn and Madonna on this polarizing obscurity from I’m Breathless – and Mark makes (yet another) case for the casting brilliance of Dick Tracy . Will Kenny ever watch this movie again? Other topics include musical story arcs, musical outliers, post-breakups, and a moment when Madonna herself has cried. Sensitive Men to the front of the line!

Madonna gives us a musical 180 while Kenny and Mark continue to conceive the Breathless Mahoney downtown cabaret act and discuss Madonna’s need for creative release, working outside of her comfort zone, the brilliance of Andy Paley, and the legacy (and influence) of Carmen Miranda.

Mark and Kenny treat Her like a bad girl (and not for the last time) while breaking down the brassy second single from  I’m Breathless .  Topics include: Madonna’s relish of pastiche writing, Kenny’s summer job commute, Breathless Mahoney’s lost cabaret setlist, the Bare Bottom 12” Remix, the Collected Lyrics of Cole Porter, and the song’s doorway to the singer-song ladies of the past.

Kenny and Mark discuss the Oscar-winning torch song from  Dick Tracy  (and its many guises) by the musical theatre master Stephen Sondheim.  Topics include the challenges of properly learning Sondheim, being chummy with Jeremy Irons, Michael Jackson, the lost movie musical  Singing Out Loud,  the humane foibles of live performances, and how Madonna gave Broadway...

Kenny and Mark BREATHLESSly dive into the beloved 1990 film soundtrack to the blockbuster  Dick Tracy  – as well as the musical psyche of certain gangster moll.  Topics include the friends of Warren Beatty, Danny Elfman, the impact of  Batman  on the summer blockbuster,  The Damned Don’t Die , musical “noir”, Lilith Fair, the strangest of Al Pacino’s Oscar nominated p...

The Eighties are officially over as Mark and Kenny come full circle while wrapping up  Like a Prayer  – and pay a visit to a (semi) intoxicating oddity.

Kenny and Mark close out their conversations about  Like a Prayer  (and the 80s) with the final track – a ground-breaking (and one of the strangest) moment of Madonna’s canon.  Topics include Catholic imagery, the upcoming onslaught of tell-all biographies, Prince’s guitar solos, and Madonna’s first “I Don’t Give A ****” moment.

Mark makes a passionate case for the closing ballad (and official song) on  Like a Prayer  while Kenny comes around to see the light from that candle.  Is this song about AIDS?  About gang violence?  About war?  Is it about Marco Loya’s backing vocals?  All (or nothing) is revealed!

Kenny and Mark sway along with the oft-forgotten fifth single from  Like a Prayer .  Topics include: turning Detroit beats into stadium anthems, magnets and the legendary Madonna cheese, Joe Henry, fedoras, the troublesome British accent, safe havens and sleeping on the floor, the fabulous maxi-single remixes for this song, and the complicated sibling rivalries that impact all of us – wh...

Kenny and Mark continue exploring Madonna’s (semi) autobiographical songwriting on this “shoulda been” classic Madonna power ballad.  Topics include: male authority figures, Simon & Garfunkel’s  Concert in Central Park , Kenny’s love of acoustic gravitas, the return of David Fincher, threatening shadows, singing statues, Charlton Wilborn, and an ode to one of the greatest moments in...

Mark rescues this off-beat gem from  Like a Prayer  while not even candy kisses and a sunny day can keep Kenny from hijacking the episode with a dreadful reminder of what a difference a decade makes.  It’s not ALWAYS a holiday (or a love parade) around here, kids.

Kenny and Mark dive into Side Two of  Like a Prayer  with one of the most romantic songs in the whole canon.  Topics include Herb Ritts, shooting mermen in black & white, Tony Ward, the importance of reading plays to write sincere lyrics, and Mark’s dream Shakespeare casting for Madonna.  Plus … a Very Special Guest joins Mark to discuss her long and quite personal relation...

Kenny and Mark close Side One of  Like a Prayer  with this gorgeous and aching Pat Leonard ballad.  Topics include Madonna’s recording style, the power of long creative relationships, shifting narrative perspectives in songs, and the impact therapy can have on the creative process as well as Madonna’s spide-y sense about the changing landscapes in pop music.

Kenny and Mark deep dive into the true lost gem from side one of Like a Prayer . Topics include Sean Penn, Sean Penn, Sean Penn, and … oh yeah … Sean Penn Version.2016 as well as autobiographical songwriting, Madonna’s brand of artistic revenge, the frustrations and merits of working hard, and lots of armchair psychology over the nature of relationships, time, and the need for vulnerability. Stuff...

The music universe explodes (implodes?) as Madonna and Prince team up in the studio at last … to create this experimental, slightly bizarre pop oddity.  Topics include Minneapolis and Paisley Park,  Batdance  and  Sign O’ The Times , Daisy Miller, Kenny’s favorite Prince duet, gender, and the long-lost Royal Tour.  The first true “duet” in the Madonna canon begs the questi...

And the hits keep coming!  Kenny and Mark dive deep into the anthemic, brash, and second track (and single) from  Like a Prayer .  Topics include DAVID FINCHER (welcome to MadonnaUniverse, David!), Metropolis, the return of Stephen Bray, the intriguing beauty of Cameron Alborzian, and the polarizing Shep Pettibone remixes of (yet another) classic Madonna song.

Mark kicks off the conversation about Madonna’s masterpiece fourth album with a testimony to Kenny about the personal power and passion of  Like a Prayer.   Topics include Prince, Mary Lambert, Sean Penn, Pepsi-Cola, Niki Harris, the Andre Crouch Choir, and the narrative hiccups in the ground-breaking video of this classic Madonna song.