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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 the show, visit patreon.com/mastas.

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 patreon.com/mastas.

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.

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.

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/mastas.

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 patreon.com/mastas.

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 the show, visit patreon.com/mastas.

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.

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...and for more exclusive content, join us at patreon.com/mastas! 

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 show, visit patreon.com/mastas.

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/mastas.

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 patreon.com/mastas. 

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.

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.com/mastas. 

We're thrilled 4 the opportunity 2 rank the songs on Purple Rain. As we choose our favorites from the album, we talk about everything from instrumental breaks to terrible movies we love to the best way to pleasure oneself with a magazine.Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne (with an assist from The Purple One), and our outro is by Luscious Jackson. You can email us at talkaboutsongs@gmail.com, tweet us at @talksongs, or Facebook us at facebook.com/mastas.podcast. To access bonus content (and vote in ranking episodes), become a patron at patreon.com/mastas.

Those high notes and those cheekbones clearly mean we're discussing "Take On Me," the swoon-inducer by a-ha. We're also talking about perfect riffs, the value of just doing your job, and the songs that Sarah thought were by Simple Minds. Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by Simple Minds (we double-checked). Want to leave us a voicemail? Just call 646-389-0767! You can email us at talkaboutsongs@gmail.com, tweet us at @talksongs, or Facebook us at facebook.com/mastas.podcast. To get access to bonus content (and vote in ranking episodes), become a patron at patreon.com/mastas.

Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man" gets us to consider the right time to holler, the best time to have a musical personality, and the perfect time to reference Project Runway.Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Etta James. Want to leave us a voicemail? Just call 646-389-0767! You can email us at talkaboutsongs@gmail.com, tweet us at @talksongs, or Facebook us at facebook.com/mastas.podcast. To get access to bonus content (and vote in ranking episodes), become a patron at patreon.com/mastas

Special guest Clinton Sparks joins us to talk about "Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us," an all-time breakdance classic. We also get around to stories about Michael Jackson, VHS tapes, and things that should be more dope.Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by Clinton (the band, not our guest!) Want to leave us a voicemail? Just call 646-389-0767! You can email us at talkaboutsongs@gmail.com, tweet us at @talksongs, or Facebook us at facebook.com/mastas.podcast. To get access to bonus content (and vote in ranking episodes), become a patron at patreon.com/mastas.SHOW NOTESGet Familiar with Clinton Sparks at ClintonSparks.com!

Listening to "Crash Into Me" by Dave Matthews Band gets us worked up, okay? And maybe we shout and curse and talk about Ted Hughes and reminisce about the mall. But it's the process we need to face these feelings. 

It's an all listener-request special! We're talking about seven songs that our listeners crave, so get ready for Missy Elliott, Sheila E, Weird Al, The Mountain Goats, The Pretenders, Bowie and Queen, and the Tootsie love theme.