All I want to do is talk about Madonna

Mark and Kenny celebrate the reunion of Nikki Finn and Madonna on this polarizing obscurity from I’m Breathless – and Mark makes (yet another) case for the casting brilliance of Dick Tracy. Will Kenny ever watch this movie again? Other topics include musical story arcs, musical outliers, post-breakups, and a moment when Madonna herself has cried. Sensitive Men to the front of the line!

Madonna gives us a musical 180 while Kenny and Mark continue to conceive the Breathless Mahoney downtown cabaret act and discuss Madonna’s need for creative release, working outside of her comfort zone, the brilliance of Andy Paley, and the legacy (and influence) of Carmen Miranda.

Mark and Kenny treat Her like a bad girl (and not for the last time) while breaking down the brassy second single from I’m Breathless.  Topics include: Madonna’s relish of pastiche writing, Kenny’s summer job commute, Breathless Mahoney’s lost cabaret setlist, the Bare Bottom 12” Remix, the Collected Lyrics of Cole Porter, and the song’s doorway to the singer-song ladies of the past.

Kenny and Mark discuss the Oscar-winning torch song from Dick Tracy (and its many guises) by the musical theatre master Stephen Sondheim.  Topics include the challenges of properly learning Sondheim, being chummy with Jeremy Irons, Michael Jackson, the lost movie musical Singing Out Loud, the humane foibles of live performances, and how Madonna gave Broadway a hip moment.

Kenny and Mark BREATHLESSly dive into the beloved 1990 film soundtrack to the blockbuster Dick Tracy – as well as the musical psyche of certain gangster moll.  Topics include the friends of Warren Beatty, Danny Elfman, the impact of Batman on the summer blockbuster, The Damned Don’t Die, musical “noir”, Lilith Fair, the strangest of Al Pacino’s Oscar nominated performances, and the crucial vocal contributions of N’Dea Davenport.  Oh, and more guns.

The Eighties are officially over as Mark and Kenny come full circle while wrapping up Like a Prayer – and pay a visit to a (semi) intoxicating oddity.

Kenny and Mark close out their conversations about Like a Prayer (and the 80s) with the final track – a ground-breaking (and one of the strangest) moment of Madonna’s canon.  Topics include Catholic imagery, the upcoming onslaught of tell-all biographies, Prince’s guitar solos, and Madonna’s first “I Don’t Give A ****” moment.

Mark makes a passionate case for the closing ballad (and official song) on Like a Prayer while Kenny comes around to see the light from that candle.  Is this song about AIDS?  About gang violence?  About war?  Is it about Marco Loya’s backing vocals?  All (or nothing) is revealed!

Kenny and Mark sway along with the oft-forgotten fifth single from Like a Prayer.  Topics include: turning Detroit beats into stadium anthems, magnets and the legendary Madonna cheese, Joe Henry, fedoras, the troublesome British accent, safe havens and sleeping on the floor, the fabulous maxi-single remixes for this song, and the complicated sibling rivalries that impact all of us – while Mark outs himself as a potential Madonna back-up singer!  “Keep people together!”

Kenny and Mark continue exploring Madonna’s (semi) autobiographical songwriting on this “shoulda been” classic Madonna power ballad.  Topics include: male authority figures, Simon & Garfunkel’s Concert in Central Park, Kenny’s love of acoustic gravitas, the return of David Fincher, threatening shadows, singing statues, Charlton Wilborn, and an ode to one of the greatest moments in Madonna Hair History.  Plus … another Special Guest (and longtime listener) joins Mark to discuss his experience performing the song … Dominic Yacobozzi!