Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs

The Record Of The Year Showdown enters the second "bracket" section with winners from 1975-1990, which means a lot of flashbacks to our America's Damp 40 season; theories about Billy Joel and Rufus Wainwright; Eagles/color-blindness test metaphors; underappreciated dad-bod pop stars; how a cult implicated Steve Winwood; and the necessity of special categories to contain nuclear waste like "We Are The World." It all culminates in a FIVE-way tie amongst cheeses standing alone -- AND outtakes! We've got wind, we've got wings, YOU'VE got an all-new episode of MASTAS. Our intro is Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is Aimee Mann and your hosts losing their damn minds. For more information/to become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. SHOW NOTES Not sure what's going on? ROTYS Episode 1 America's Damp 40, Episode 04 (ONJ) Episode 158: Joni Mitchell, "Help Me" "This Masquerade" on The Lost Songs Project America's Damp 40, Episode 05 (William Joel) Episode 51: Billy Joel, "Sleeping With The Television On" America's Damp 40, Episode 02 (SDB's "Baker Street" whoop is at 5:13) America's Damp 40, Episode 08 (Barbra) Episode 106: Turnerdome! "'We Are The World': A Minute-by-Minute Breakdown" at Rolling Stone Episode 242: Tracy Chapman, "Fast Car" Episode 10: John Parr, "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to our Record Of The Year Showdown season! With listeners' help, we're going to find out which Grammy-winner for ROTY is the best of the 64 winners to date...or maybe just the least baffling and unconscionable. How are we doing this? It's sort of a bracket; we'll explain up top, and then we'll talk about cobwebby rocking chairs, how anyone managed to get laid during the Eisenhower presidency, rewarding artists who don't "take the pot," and songs we can't get all the way through. Grab a triple espresso for all those instrumentals: it's an all-new season of MASTAS! Our intro is Andrew Byrne, and our outro is Weird Al Yankovic. For more information/to become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. SHOW NOTES Episode 145: Bobby Darin, "Mack The Knife" Mark's interrogation of A Summer Place for Tomato Nation Episode 98: Two "Moon River"s Episode 62: "Ode To Billie Joe" and "Harper Valley PTA" Episode 6: Jesus Christ Superstar, "I Don't Know How To Love Him" Episode 220A: "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Ranked Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We're wrapping up our second "embarrassing radio hip-hop" ep with Marky Mark, Vanilla Ice, MC Hammer, and two by Young MC. Different Wahlbergs for different times in one's bunk, Myra Cormier truthering, rap conceived by dudes named Kev to sell plastic toys, the drums you find in the dumpster behind KMart, and cheekbones that could cut ham -- it's all here in the lucky (?) seventh episode of Beats Around The Bush. Our intro is the "Straight Up" PSA, and our outro is Tribe Called Quest. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. To buy our Madonna A to Z book, click here. SHOW NOTES Episode 64, "Three By '80s Starship" The Blotter Presents 149 on the tackiest sound design in true crime Our Patreon Single on Vanilla Ice's home-repair show The Again With This Visual Aids contemplate the ubiquity of Batman-iana The Reverend Hammer Myra Cormier Banks on Discogs Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We had so much to say about embarrassing radio hip-hop of the H.W. Bush era, we had to split our convo into two episodes! Here in the first one, we're confronting C+C Music Factory, the Fat/Beach Boys, Gerardo, Kris Kross, and the erstwhile Jesse Jaymes; we're wondering who's getting hit with a brick; we're asking who saw Disorderlies more times, and we're reminiscing about bosses who wear cycling tights to work. Justice for Arsenio, Gerardo's girlfriend's mom, and the corporate speaking circuit: it's time to talk cringe-hop on MASTAS. Our intro is Brian Austin "David Silver" Green via Beverly Hills, 90210, and our outro is MC 900 Ft Jesus. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. To buy our Madonna A to Z book, click here. SHOW NOTES WhoSampled.com Hire Jesse "Jaymes" Itzler for your next corporate retreat Okay, it was 6 years ago but we're still kind of mad at NRJ for this one Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tone Loc was everywhere; then, he wasn't -- or so it seemed. Did Anthony Terrell Smith really disappear, or did the nineties just make him less visible? What exactly is in a Fuzzy Navel? Why does his work keep stumbling into trans panic? And will MC Hammer ever see chart justice? With a little help from Robert Stack and LL Cool J, we're contemplating the mystery of Tone Loc. Our intro is Kris Kross for Sprite, and our outro is the Unsolved Mysteries Hammer remix. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. To buy our Madonna A to Z book, click here. SHOW NOTES WhoSampled.com The Lost Songs Project Episode 73: Jamie Foxx feat. Guru and Common, "Any Given Sunday" Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sarah is obsessed with late-'80s Bronx/Central Islip outfit JVC Force! Mark...is also on this podcast! ...But seriously, folks: we're unpacking a handful of tracks from "Doin' Damage," peering into the 1990 divide, and pouring one out for our shortest episode. Wheel that seafood tower on over to our table and listen in. Our intro is J.V.C. F.O.R.C.E., and our outro is the Commodores. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. To buy our book, click here. SHOW NOTES The Blotter Presents 024 Strong Island on Netflix Episode 22: Tinie Tempah, "Written In The Stars" Episode 121: Travis Tritt, "Foolish Pride"   Episode 42: Tim McGraw, "I Got Friends That Do" Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Salt-N-Pepa's here and they came to out-rap you -- but not in a mean way! Today we're talking about six Salt-N-Pepa hits across a handful of albums, the difference between '80s and '90s SNP, when #smarternotharder comes to hip-hop, and how talking "About Sex" sounded 30 years ago. Nobody's getting on OUR nerves in the third Beats Around The Bush ep of MASTAS... Our intro is the Yo! MTV Raps credits break, and our outro is 702. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. SHOW NOTES Episode 25: "I'll Take Your Man" and "If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" "Salt-N-Pepa: Our Life in 15 Songs" at Rolling Stone Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In our second Beats Around The Bush-isode, we're (re-?)introducing the world to the joyous, winking, horny turn-of-the-nineties sound of Jeffrey Fortson, aka Def Jef. We're also remembering Def Leppard, early Law & Order: Mothership, regrettable t-shirts of freshman year, and Gowanus Bob. Grab a lemon-lime bev and prepare to have your vision corrected with an all-new episode of MASTAS! Our intro is Messrs. Kid 'N Play, and our outro is Shaquille O'Neal featuring Def Jef. ("...Psych!!") (...jk, it is in fact Shaq.) To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. SHOW NOTES The Def Jef wiki Fortson on Discogs.com Law & Order ripped-from-the-headlines eps from the first season The West Coast Rap All-Stars Episode 223: Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock, "It Takes Two" Episode 109: Def Leppard, "Pour Some Sugar On Me" Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to our Beats Around The Bush season, in which we investigate the rap and hip-hop that brought us joy during/near the first Bush presidency, 1988-1993ish. After we try to explain our construction of this framework, we dig into our first BATB topic: "hippie hop," the relaxed/baked grooves of the time from artists like De La Soul, PM Dawn, Us3, Digable Planets, and Arrested Development. Who has the sexiest flow? Which group's album sent Sarah tumbling off her dorm futon? Does Mark have middle-school poetry sins to atone for? How ya doin', Al(s): it's a brand-new season of MASTAS. Our intro is the late George H.W. Bush, and our outro is Gramatik. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. SHOW NOTES This journey really began with our very first ep, about 1991's "Now That We've Found Love" A look back at the PM Dawn/KRS-One beef An oral history of "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" Destabilize yourselves with nineties-osity The "Rec Ex" Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Who is the Lilith Fairest of them all? At last, our answer -- but first, we look at last-comers Heather Nova, Jewel, Paula Cole, Des'ree, and Natalie Merchant. And we ask a few more questions, like which sophomore year lyrics belong to, high school or college; whether we feel truly confident in our Lilithosity metrics; who's our favorite liberal scold; and when someone's going to form a lit-mag EIC union. All this, plus a surprise 40th-place finish, a Mark-rage epilogue, and a potato gun loaded with C-minus Dylan lyrics in the Lilith Fair 40 season finale. Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Janis Joplin. Interstitial music provided by the Sundays. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas. SHOW NOTES The Lilith Fair 40 homepage Episode 97: Hit-Single TV Themes Of The '90s Episode 8: Jewel-erdome! "You Were Meant For Me" vs. "Hands" Episode 150: 10,000 Maniacs' "In My Tribe," Ranked Episode 100: Surprise Party! Visit our sponsor, BetterHelp Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.