Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs

Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" gets us chair-dancing like unleashed beasts, and then it gets us talking about narrators we can relate to, hooks we can savor, and vocals we can love and hate at the same time. Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by Howard Jones. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/ma...

The esteemed John Ramos returns to help us rank Prince covers, which means we're discussing everyone from Cyndi Lauper to Chaka Khan to [ checks notes ] Tevin Campbell. We're also confronting strong feelings about Martika and parsing the fashions of Vanity 6. Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Prince. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs...

Dua Lipa's "Levitating" makes it look easy to fill a song with killer hooks, and she's got us talking about words invented by pop stars, the surprising depth of dance anthems, and the way, inevitably, that Madonna is always there. Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by Gramatik. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of the show, visit...

We wanna rock right now, so naturally we're talking about "It Takes Two," the timeless jam by Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock. We're also talking about the beauty of last-minute inspiration and who can or can't stand sex. Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by Run-DMC. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com...

As we talk about the power pop of Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know," we also dig into American Idol , emotional British bands, and songs that are required to soundtrack a montage. Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Everything But the Girl. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas...

As we talk about "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by The Monkees, we also talk about the long road to authenticity, the secret excellence of Micky Dolenz, and the various ways you could exist in the '60s. Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by The Soup Dragons. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas . SHOW...

Our Teen Idol Tournament reaches its legally binding conclusion as we discuss the championship match-up between The Monkees and Britney Spears. This live episode features analysis, predictions, and our wistful thoughts on NKOTB. Go vote at patreon.com/mastas . (You just need a free Patreon account to vote.) Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by Barenaked Ladies. To contact us or buy ou...

It's getting REAL as we reach the Final Four in our March MASTAS tournament to choose the all-time best teen idol. This live episode features analysis, predictions, Intro to Max Martin Theory, and the Monkees. Go vote at patreon.com/mastas. (You just need a free Patreon account to vote.) Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by Katy Perry. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSara...

It's the Elite 8 in our March MASTAS tournament to choose the all-time best teen idol. This live episode features analysis, predictions, and various ways to root for Boston bands. Go vote at patreon.com/mastas . (You just need a free Patreon account to vote.) Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by Britney Spears. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To...

It's the Sweet 16 in our March MASTAS tournament to choose the all-time best teen idol. This live episode features analysis, predictions, and dancing to New Edition. Go vote at patreon.com/mastas . (You only need a free Patreon account to vote.) Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by The Partridge Family. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a...

It's the Round of 32 in our March MASTAS tournament to determine the all-time best teen idol. This live episode features our analysis and predictions for every match-up, plus impassioned comments from our patrons. Go vote at patreon.com/mastas . (You just need a free Patreon account to vote.) Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by the Spice Girls. To contact us or buy our books, visit M...

It's the Round of 64 in our March MASTAS tournament to determine the all-time best teen idol! Listen for our analysis and predictions for every match-up, and then go vote at patreon.com/mastas . (You can vote even if you aren't a patron!) Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by Rick Springfield. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of...

In Part 2 of our two-part ranking of Simon and Garfunkel's album "Bridge Over Troubled Water," we're discussing the mysteries of "The Boxer," tidal waves of tears, and the great relief of the occasional uptempo song. Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by Simon & Garfunkel. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of the show, visit patre...

In Part 1 of our two-part ranking of Simon and Garfunkel's album "Bridge Over Troubled Water," we're discussing songs of friendship, tales of traveling salesmen, and the music you can make at a Staples. Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by Paul Simon. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas . See P...

Alicia Keys' mega-hit "No One" has us talking about distracting beauty, essential hype men, and the music you need when you're at an outdoor party. Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by Dusty Springfield. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privac...

The aggressive "okay-ness" of Charley Pride's "Kiss An Angel Good Mornin'" sends us down weird byways involving Twitty City, the Apple Music algorithm, and the way bland hits obscure better songs. Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Elton John. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/ma...

Mark and Sarah don't agree about Fiona Apple's "Heavy Balloon," but the reasons they disagree may delight you! Stick around for talk of overabundant metaphors, wild musical experiments, and the sweaters worn by phantoms. Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by The Sundays. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of the show, visit...

We aren't IN a cult -- that's another Mark and Sarah -- but we are LISTENING to The Cult! Their song "She Sells Sanctuary" has us talking about glam rockers in alt-rock drag, good songs we struggle to remember, and the preponderance of Jennifers. Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by The Verve. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of...

We're ranking songs of self-pleasure, which means that along with making terrible onanism puns, we're (ahem) giving a hand to songs by Cyndi Lauper, Billy Idol, the Divinyls, and more. Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by De La Soul. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas . See Privacy Policy at h...

We're celebrating 2021 by sharing the Patreon-only Single of the same number! Back in October of 2018, we talked about and ranked the #1 videos from Total Request Live 's first year, 1998 -- "the first year the show was on the air. This means we are professionally obligated to describe *NSYNC's Christmas video to you in exacting detail." Enjoy our thoughts on JT, Carson, and geometric facial hair....

Thanks to a listener request, we're talking about "Enter Sandman," Metallica's hard rock hall-of-famer. And because it's RIGHT THERE in the song, we're also talking about Snow White, Tori Amos, and the wendigo. Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Queens of the Stone Age. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of the...

Mark has finally selected a song from a musical -- "Ring of Keys" from Fun Home -- and it's got us talking about child actors, the adults we want to become, and the reason Sarah's books are color-coded. Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by Booker T. To contact us or buy our pop music books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com...

We're confronting the fact that Leonard Nimoy covered "Proud Mary," and it's got us talking about blithe confidence, celebrity side projects, and the profound confusion caused by terrible art. Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking. To contact us or buy our pop music books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of the show, visit patreo...

In this MASTAS Single, we’re riffing on the K chapter of our Madonna book and picking the artists we think should cover Madonna’s hits, misses, and overlooked gems. We draft Alison Krauss, of course, and we also make room for Beyoncé, Dolly, and Harry Styles! For more Madge, you can read our new book, Madonna: A to Z . It’s available at MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . See Privacy Policy at https:...

Because we wrote a Madonna book (available now!), we're talking about Madonna's first single ("Everybody") and one of her most recent ("Medellin"). Get ready for a wild ride through almost 40 years of dance music! Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by Madonna. To contact us or buy our pop music books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com . To become a patron of the show, visit patreon....