

Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs
Mark Blankenship & Sarah D Bunting
Mark Blankenship and Sarah D. Bunting are journalists, friends, and music fans who love talking about pop music of all stripes.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 5, 2022 • 54min
The Lilith Fair 40, Episode 07: The Penultimate 35
The second-to-last set of 5 songs joins the Lilith fray by zig-zagging all over the map: Ani DiFranco, India.Arie, Natalie Imbruglia, Aimee Mann, and Chantal Kreviazuk take us from a soggy subbasement of the Brill Building, to the desert, to the diner for a celery soda, to the valley of the shadow of WTF. That's where the doctors with butterfly nets found us; where did the Top 35 rankings find YOU? Grab a copy of the CanCon statute and a vegan crunch wrap, because we're almost done with the Lilith Fair 40.
Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Peggy Lee. Interstitial music provided by Cat Power. 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 29: Dan Bern, "Marilyn"
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Aug 29, 2022 • 56min
The Lilith Fair 40, Episode 06: The Hurty 30
The murderers' row of artists joining us for our Top 30 episode -- Joan Osborne, Tracy Chapman, Fiona Apple, Shawn Colvin, and Lisa Loeb & 9 Stories -- might actually literally kill us? Primitivism without authenticity, dorm-room BS, a plea to send all the puppies, and the unexpected pleasures of representative democracy all have a moment this week, so while we figure out how the Hooters got in here, grab a pair of tiresome spectacles and listen to our latest ep!
Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Pat Benatar. Interstitial music provided by Agnes Obel. 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 242: Tracy Chapman, "Fast Car"
Episode 39: Fiona Apple, "Criminal"
Episode 210: Fiona Apple, "Heavy Balloon"
Episode 68: "Stay" Title Bout
Visit our sponsor, BetterHelp
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Aug 22, 2022 • 1h 2min
The Lilith Fair 40, Episode 05: 25 Up Top
We're in the #LilithFair40 homestretch now with our top 25, joined by Bif Naked, The Juliana Hatfield 3, Jill Scott, Patty Griffin, and the Cardigans. Discovering Toni Morrison, the sophomore-pox that ravaged college radio, commercials for shampoo that contains absinthe, and Wednesday Addams's private moment with Christian Slater -- you won't want to miss this ep, so kick off one shoe and have a listen.
Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Bettie Serveert. Interstitial music provided by Holly & the Italians. 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 197: Patty Griffin, "Making Pies"
Revelation Chapter 3 (you really get the full range in these show notes, eh what)
Episode 102: Olivia Newton-John, "Magic"
America's Damp 40, Episode 04
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Aug 15, 2022 • 46min
The Lilith Fair 40, Episode 04: The Fairing 20
The Lilith Fair 40 reaches the halfway mark -- what better time to confront the contribution of festival founder Sarah McLachlan, along with Macy Gray, Dionne Farris, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Dido? We also remember childhood soundtracks, acknowledge "listen boo-boo" energy, blank on Shiri Appleby's name (sorry, lady!), spread German mustard on car singing, and play hacky-sack at the center of the Lilith/WB Venn. Help us separate love and Lilithosity in our Top 20 episode!
Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by I'm With Her. Interstitial music provided by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. 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
Famous original Dido
Emily St. James for AV Club on "He Thinks He'll Keep Her"
TV Insider on the legacy of the WB
Visit our sponsor, BetterHelp
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Aug 8, 2022 • 52min
The Lilith Fair 40, Episode 03: 15 To Life
Mark gets emotional, Sarah gets confused, and the Lilith/WB Venn gets unpacked: it's the third #LilithFair40 episode, with the Indigo Girls, Letters to Cleo, Alanis, Liz Phair, and Michelle Branch rounding out the top 15. Secular hymns, hidden fists, zines, cool girls, and Dawson Leery (...again!): the quest for the Lilith Fairest of them all continues.
Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Dolly Parton. Interstitial music provided by Etta James. 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
Elle's oral history of "[Beep] and Run"
Episode 55: Four by Phair
Single 51: The Woodstock '99 documentary (not the new Netflix one; the other one)
Episode 170: "Jagged Little Pill," Ranked
About Cometbus
Director Susan Skoog remembers Whatever at Filmmaker Magazine
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Aug 1, 2022 • 44min
The Lilith Fair 40, Episode 02: The Next 5
The rankings get exponentially tougher in our second episode, with k.d. lang, Tori Amos, Sheryl Crow, The Cranberries, and Melissa Etheridge joining the countdown. Raisin girls, genre-defying voices, The Hall Of B-Plus, and when a window is just a window as we introduce the 10 Lilith Fairest songs on our chart.
Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by The Ladybugs. Interstitial music provided by k.d. lang via Joni Mitchell. 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 60: "Little Earthquakes," Ranked
Episode 190: "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got," Ranked
Visit our sponsor, BetterHelp
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Jul 25, 2022 • 38min
The Lilith Fair 40, Episode 01: The First 5
It's the first "real" episode of the Lilith Fair 40: Dar Williams, Meredith Brooks, Frente!, Suzanne Vega, and The Corrs inaugurate our chart, with help from the MCSL "listies" mixtape, greasy-haired sad boys, how to sing about a building collapse, incomplete subversion of the male gaze, and sibling bands to fall asleep to. All this, and Mark may have identified his overall #1 song -- in the first five minutes! Put on an extra layer of crystal deodorant, because we're on a journey here, people.
Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Carly Simon. 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 125: Abba-sode! with Adam Grosswirth
Episode 135: Shakira, "She-Wolf"
"[expletive deleted]"
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Jul 18, 2022 • 29min
The Lilith Fair 40, Episode 00: An Introduction
Welcome to The Lilith Fair 40, in which we put on broomstick-pleated skirts and Pride jewelry, light some Nag Champa, and set off on a journey of discovery: what is the Lilith Fairest song of all time? This season, we're looking at the woman-forward festival of the late '90s; our own musical attitudes from that time; and misogyny in pop music -- and in THIS episode, we're revealing the 40 songs under discussion, and explaining the process. We're very XXcited to get started, so grab a peasant blouse and join us!
Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Denise & Co. 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
Yes, Lilith Fair was a real thing
Vanity Fair's oral history of the festival
Check out our sponsor, BetterHelp
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Jun 20, 2022 • 1h 35min
Eleven #11 Hits, Ranked
We decided NOT to write a book about all the pop songs that "only" (or..."somehow") hit #11 on the Billboard charts...but you wouldn't know it from our voluminous notes on the 11 Number 11s we did decide to contemplate, including Stevie Nicks, Stephen Bishop, Dead or Alive, Heart, Digital Underground, T. Swift, the Thompson Twins, the KLF (with Tammy Wynette), Gloria Estefan, Crystal Waters, and the Beatles. Surprisingly bad vocals, appealing audacity, Citizen Kane, confused NuRo image systems, hangover takes, and stage names on the birth certificate -- come with us on a journey that ends juuuuuust short of the chart's promised land.
Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by I'm With Her. Interstitial music provided by The Go! Team. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas.
SHOW NOTES
Madonna A to Z
AmericanSongwriter.com's top 10 Heart tracks
Episode 92: Heart, "What About Love"
Episode 144: Fergie, "Fergalicious"
Episode 66: Stevie Nicks, "Stand Back"
Episode 131: The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," Ranked
The Mu Mu Land Chamber of Commerce
More on Tammy Wynette's "abduction"
Episode 166: Taylor Swift feat. The Chicks, "Soon You'll Get Better"
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May 23, 2022 • 1h 17min
America's Damp 40, Episode 08: The Final Ranking
It's the America's Damp 40 season finale! Dave Mason, Silver, Leo Sayer, Barbra Streisand, and Chicago file onto the big stage, and Shaddo and Peej discuss moist chord structures, running over cassettes in Grimsby parking lots, the return of the "DON'T TOUCH THAT!!" shriek, unmodulated Broadway belting, and the Jordan-almond schmaltz shell that is mid-'80s Peter Cetera. We talk about what we've learned; we share our top 10s, and yours; and we present the entire black-letter-law Damp 40 in all its frizzy glory. In WMST Moist FM station meetings, "perfect score" can mean a lot of things; find out what in Episode 08. (And for real, just...don't touch that.)
The Brothers Byrne share intro duties, and our outro is by Joe Jackson. Interstitial music provided by The Queers. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas.
SHOW NOTES
The Damp 40 homepage
J.Lo's determined approach to intimacy ("allegedly")
Check out our sponsor, Noom
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