Mark and Kenny celebrate the end of Season Seven with a wide-ranging conversation about the Rebel Heart Tour - and it’s Heart Rebel companion, Tears of a Clown.  Topics include Q-Tips, thumb ailments, the comment flurry, Saturday Night Online, bathrooms, Grimes, ART, Billions, Bar Six, diehard fan finances, Kyle Richards, Kevin Antunes, Semtex Films, Michael Jackson, cages, union rope pullers, distancing vocals, Shogun, the Monte mullet, postulants and prophets, the power of red, leather caps and chiseled abs, pretzels, ukuleles, reuniting with Sean Penn, One Battle After Another, John Mulaney, the delight (and danger) in revisiting the hits, spiral staircases and subway escalators, casseroles, Cirque du Soleil and ABBA, cape nods, cafeteria politics, the MEDLEY, boxing in Detroit, David Bowie, Let’s Dance, Labyrinth, Mick Jagger, Annie Lennox, detours, Paris, clowns, cast albums, Jerry Lewis, Grace Jones, deep cuts, cosmopolitans, Charlie Chaplin, thinking about Mirwais, raising money in Miami, covering Britney Spears, disrespectful fans, sandwiches, Valencia Gamble, flappers and scene work, slides, Edith Piaf, suffeRING, special guest bitches, flags, a special visit to Minneapolis, and how Madonna uses her speech at the Billboard Women in Music awards to begin to define her future.  PLUS – the grading system returns, Kenny has a brand-new podcast idea, Mark brings back the Tribal Talking Stick, and Madonna takes to the streets with her guitar.  “Joan of Arc said I could do it ALL!”

Special Thank You to Simon Delaney for his Tears of a Clown memories.

Dedicated to the memory of the brilliant and life-changing David Bowie.

Rebel Heart Tour video directed by Semtex Films (2016)

Rebel Heart Tour video directed by Billy “BigasBilly” Riegelmann

Mark and Kenny travel way back to 1982 and revisit their 2019 conversation from the FIRST season of ALL I WANT TO DO IS TALK ABOUT MADONNA - LIVE in front of a very sexy SOLD OUT audience at Soho’s stunning Iron | Feather.  Topics include: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gwen Gutherie, Stephanie Mills, Seymour Stein, Michael Rosenblatt, Martin Burgoyne, Christopher Ciccone, Erica “Bags” Bell, James Mtume, and a celebration of songwriter and producer Reggie Lucas.  Plus, Kenny explores the deliciousness of pheromones and Mark delivers musical justice for one of the oft-debated Madonna tracks!  Special Thank You to Jeff Vicente, DJ Chauncey, and Christine Holt for their essential assistance with this episode.

Kenny and Mark bust out the spray cans to celebrate the wrapping up of their conversations about the Rebel Heart album.  Topics include Basquiat, the legality of graffiti, backup vocals, misleading choirs, Lizzo, Keith Haring’s POP! Shop, Brad Gooch, Martin Burgoyne, downtown realities, the Smithsonian, The History of Sound and folk songs, Michelle Shocked, and a wrap-up discussion of the album.  Plus, Kenny finds a gift card, Mark takes some advice from Judge Judy, and some lost diaries are uncovered.  

Mark and Kenny thrash their heads through a great lost bonus track from Rebel Heart.  Topics include Avicii, femme fatales, Janet Jackson, deadlifting on Instagram, kiwis and plums, psychic pain, the value of time, yoga, Notes on a Scandal, remix maxi-singles, and candid confessions about addiction and the thrill of obsession

Kenny and Mark piece together a fresh working theory about the Rebel Heart recording sessions with this true “fork in the road” lost album track.  Topics include Avicii and country music voices, Julia Roberts, Malawi, sonic links, spiritual time management, Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, destinies, the power of love as a uniting force, and Madonna’s top priorities in 2015.  “We’re only here to love."

Kenny and Mark frolic through this fizzy and sentimental favorite bonus track from Rebel Heart.  Topics include triptychs, AM/FM radio, New Wave synths, Rick Nowels, DJ Dahi, Blood Diamond, dancing through the streets in Lisbon, talismans, Super Deluxe Editions, and the meaning of “beautiful.”  Plus, a history of personal scars and the freedom in imperfection - and the dawn of Virgo Season!

Mark and Kenny boil the baby bottle and the burping blanket to discuss this wild and weird bonus track from Rebel Heart.  Topics include joking with Mike Dean & Kanye West in the studio, friends with benefits, chemistry graduate students, gym buddies, wedding invitations, paprika and potato salad, lighting designers, growling, Amy Schumer, SNL, and Cher.  Plus an in-depth conversation about Madonna’s stand-up sets, the darkness and rage in comedy, crowd work, the value of a tight ten, and what makes for a brilliant comedian.  

S7, E20: REBEL HEART (w/ Special Guest Nick Rufca)

Kenny and Mark embark on the home stretch of Season Seven (!!) with a deep dive discussion of the title track from Rebel Heart.  Plus, a late Christmas gift arrives for super-fan Nick Rufca, who picks up up the phone to talk about SUPER deluxe editions, emotional honesty, lyrical affirmations, tempting fate, Peter, Paul & Mary, narcissists, hot takes, Tom Ford, Joanna Gleason, the sitcom Bette, Hard Candy fandom, middle school rebels at the Blonde Ambition tour, finding your tribe, Julia Roberts, West Hollywood, campfire counselors, the Avicii demo, the ultimate tribute to fandom, the most memorable Madonna television performances, Melanie Griffith and Mike Nichols, Leigh Bowery at the Tate Museum, tuna casserole, and the musical milestones that define a decade.  Plus Kenny spring another pop quiz and Mark proposes using Rebel Heart for commercials.  Get your tissues out!

“Rebel Heart” Live on the REBEL HEART TOUR (2016)

Mark and Kenny rejoice over this beautiful surprise at the tail end of the deluxe edition of Rebel Heart with acclaimed actor Tony Corrales, who picks up the phone to discuss his particular devotion to this album and who precisely IS the “Messiah.”  Topics include Mercy James’ piano scales, candlelight mysticism, lyrical previews, the balance of vulnerability and power, Madonna as sorcerer, higher conscious study, managing heartbreak, coming out for a second time, and the clarifying narrative of the entire album.  Plus, Mark unearths cut lyrics, Kenny digs back into the Kabbalah principles, and Tony discusses “Demons at Dawn” (written and directed by Julian Hernandez) and the special nods to Madonna in the film.  AND making a case for Something to Remember … Volume 2. 

Demons at Dawn film trailer (2024)

Demons at Dawn on Apple TV+

Mark and Kenny are taking a breather this week to recover from PHYSICAL ATTRACTION: LIVE @ IRON | FEATHER (were you there?) with a small request and assignment for the listening fans Down Under and in Miami.  Can you guess?  See you next week.