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Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs — Music
Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs

Mark Blankenship and Sarah D. Bunting are journalists, friends, and music fans who love talking about pop music of all stripes.

Latest Episodes:

The Lilith Fair 40, Episode 03: 15 To Life Aug 08, 2022

Show notes

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

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The Lilith Fair 40, Episode 02: The Next 5 Aug 01, 2022

Show notes

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

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The Lilith Fair 40, Episode 01: The First 5 Jul 25, 2022

Show notes

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

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The Lilith Fair 40, Episode 00: An Introduction Jul 18, 2022

Show notes

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

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Eleven #11 Hits, Ranked Jun 20, 2022

Show notes

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

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America's Damp 40, Episode 08: The Final Ranking May 23, 2022

Show notes

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

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

America's Damp 40, Episode 07: The Penultimate 35 May 16, 2022

Show notes

There was a "35 moisture-units per hour" joke here but Sarah just couldn't get it to go. YOU should go listen to the second-to-last episode of our America's Damp 40 countdown, as America, Dan Hill, Seals & Crofts, Kenny Loggins, and Foreigner all slosh onto the chart. How did George Martin get in here? Did one of the legion of Dans solve toxic masculinity -- from Canada? Why did the users disagree with us about the dampness of partnered sex on a hot day? And who won the battle for Kenny Loggins's soul, feelings and underpants or triumph and uniforms? Fill a 200-lb bag with tapioca and draw a Sharpie beard on the side of it: it's Episode 07.

Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by the Primitives. Interstitial music provided by Aimee Mann. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

America's Damp 40, Episode 06: The Dirty 30 May 09, 2022

Show notes

Three quarters of the way through the America's Damp 40 countdown! Wading into the swamp this week are Nicolette Larson, Bread, Barry Manilow, Jim Croce, and the Garden State's own Dr. Hook, and as Mark fondly remembers a bank vestibule and conjures a mating dance involving a drink with grenadine in it, Sarah wonders if the titular Mandy has called the police. Foundational texts of moisture, dramaturgical research on pay phones, the Beverly Hills, 90210 Spring Dance, and the many sins of Shel Silverstein all come up for discussion during the ongoing reign of Dan terror we're calling Episode 06.

Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by Karen Carpenter. Interstitial music provided by Lola Rico LLC. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

America's Damp 40, Episode 05: 25 For Fighting May 02, 2022

Show notes

It's getting real -- real soggy, that is -- as we wrestle with the next five songs in the America's Damp 40 countdown. William Joel, Kenny Rogers, Randy Vanwarmer, Bertie Higgins, and yet another Dan (Fogelberg) have us talking about emotional-labor issues, when vulnerability is actually wimpiness, songs that sound like karaoke stock videos look, whether the poor man's Jimmy Buffett is in fact Jimmy Buffett, and how to get fired from Hallmark for dysfunctional metaphorizing. How did these songs change the landscape of our Top 10? And could someone please find Randy Vanwarmer's ex-girlfriend's cat? Hang a bag of DampRid: it's Episode 05.

Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by Donovan. Interstitial music provided by John Sebastian and the Sweathogs. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

America's Damp 40, Episode 04: The Roaring 20 Apr 25, 2022

Show notes

We've reached the halfway point in our America's Damp 40 countdown, and with Steely Dan, Ambrosia, England Dan and John Ford Coley, Olivia Newton-John, and 10cc entering the chart, it's getting dark AND damp in here. The condescension of older boyfriends, saying the quiet part out loud, sexual grift, calling the Seals family onto the (shag) carpet, vicarious embarrassment, and that time Sandy from Grease had too much tempranillo at the Christmas party and awked out big-time. We're chipping away at the layers of Casio that form an emotional carapace for Seventies Man, so grab an avocado-colored hard hat and join us: it's Episode 04.

Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by Sir Elton John. Interstitial music provided by ONJ. To contact us or buy our books, visit MarkAndSarahTalkAboutSongs.com. To become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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