Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs

By Mark Blankenship & Sarah D BuntingMusic

Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs episodes

September 28Billy Joel's "Storm Front," Ranked (with Dan Rogge!)
We're joined by the C-side by MASTAS's William Joel third chair Dan Rogge to rank "Storm Front," Joel's melodramatic 1989 paean to fish, weather, marriage to a model, and Boomer guilt. As we make our way through the ten tracks, we're also talking about the Eisenhower vaccine, capital-A Album Openers, covers that expose structural problems, SNL's '80s line-up, making the best of bad tattoos, and the alternate universe where B-minus pop songs are icons. Grab some water wings and have a listen!
Intro and outro by Andrew Byrne. Visit us on Patreon for more!
SHOW NOTES
Billy Joel's "Glass Houses," Ranked (with Dan Rogge!)

Billy Joel's "The Stranger," Ranked (with Dan Rogge!)

Billy Joel's "An Innocent Man," Ranked (with Dan Rogge!)

The Slow Roll on YouTube

Blankenship Projects

Tomato Nation

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1 hr 27 min
August 31Summer Of Soundtrack Episode 3: Almost Famous
The days are getting short, but we're wrapping up the Summer Of Soundtrack at MASTAS with the longest ep of the three -- on the 17 non-score soundtrack cuts of Almost Famous. Along the way, we talk about the lost America of dressing up for bus rides, liking The Who except when we hate them, if midcentury rock reviews said more about the reviewers than the rock, lyrically exhausting surf-band tracks, and the universal irresistibility of a Reg singalong. When you're done serenading room-service ketchup, we hope you'll have a listen.
Intro and outro by Andrew Byrne; for more information, visit patreon.com/mastas.
SHOW NOTES
Episode 220A: "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Ranked

An American Tune

America's Damp 40, Episode 02: The Next 5

Summer Of Soundtrack Episode 2: City Of Angels

Episode 18: Led Zeppelin/Dread Zeppelin/Dolly Parton, "Stairway To Heaven"

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1 hr 25 min
August 10Summer Of Soundtrack Episode 2: City Of Angels
The MASTAS Summer Of Soundtrack swelters on with a look at the soundtrack for City Of Angels, a reimagining of Wings Of Desire that did fairly well at the box office, and even better at Tower Records...and then kind of disappeared? As we join our Patreon supporters in ranking the ten non-instrumental tracks, we're talking about the days when radio wielded power, the 1889 sound of 1969 Hendrix, and the right blues song for a bar-fight scene in a political thriller. Take a break from glazing your compunctions and join us!
Intro and outro by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli; for more information, visit patreon.com/mastas.
SHOW NOTES
Summer Of Soundtrack Episode 1: Hughes Highlights

SDB wrote about Wings Of Desire for Modern Vintage News, which you can sort of find here?

More on the leaking of "Uninvited" from Rhino

Episode 109: Def Leppard, "Pour Some Sugar On Me"

The Lilith Fair 40, Episode 08: The Final Ranking

Episode 97: Hit-Single TV Themes Of The '90s

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1 hr 6 min
July 13Summer Of Soundtrack Episode 1: Hughes Highlights
We're declaring 2026 the Summer Of Soundtrack, contemplating film soundtracks across the decades -- and we're starting with 10 selections from the 1980s John Hughes teen oeuvre, some you'll remember and some you'll forget...or regret. As we contemplate the definitive Hughes tunes (or, for one of us, speak truth to Thompson-Twins power), we're also discussing NuRo wallpaper, post-prom fire hazards, keyboardist video indicating, and the Nirvana-Clash pipeline. Grab that Sport Walkman, folks: it's a very hot! very hot! new episode of MASTAS.
Intro and outro by David Gregory Byrne; for more information, visit patreon.com/mastas.
SHOW NOTES
Jonathan Bernstein's Pretty In Pink: The Golden Age of Teenage Movies

Kevin Smokler's Brat Pack America: A Love Letter to '80s Teen Movies

The Lost Songs Project

March MASTAS Single 01: Welcome To The '80s British Band Bracket!

Ira Newborn's NYU-faculty page

Episode 80: Pat Benatar's Greatest Hits, Ranked

Our esteemed colleague Danny Elfm-- uh, Adam Sternbergh

A 2019 oral history of Some Kind Of Wonderful that suggests Sarah isn't completely off-base about Watts

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1 hr 10 min
June 08Billy Joel's "An Innocent Man," Ranked (with Dan Rogge!)
Dan Rogge returns -- with our new friends L.V. Beethoven and Phyllis Domain -- to discuss his least favorite William Joel album, 1983's "An Innocent Man." The recurring Diane character, elegant internal rhymes, car-tape-deck privilege, protecting the children from doo-wop, wedding-band improv exercises, and how big a pop star you have to be to get away with pairing Uggs and a tux: keep the faith that we're talking about all of that and much more. Grab a harmonica and join us!
Intro and outro by Andrew Byrne. Visit us on Patreon for more!
SHOW NOTES
Billy Joel's "Glass Houses," Ranked (with Dan Rogge!)

Billy Joel's "The Stranger," Ranked (with Dan Rogge!)

The Easy Money trailer

America's Damp 40, Episode 00: An Introduction

Adam Blau

Episode 125: ABBA-sode!

The Best Evidence newsletter

Give Dan a job!

The Lady Doth Protest

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1 hr 16 min
April 27The Dolly 64 E10: The Championship
The moment has arrived: the selection of the Dolliest Dolly Parton song of them all. As we investigate whether all Parton-narration roads pass through "Jolene," we're also discussing insightful user comments, the perils of a glass and a half of Chablis, the ugly weakness of love, audition songs, and The Aeneid. Pause that Starsky & Hutch rerun and listen now!
Intro and outro by Andrew Byrne. Visit us on Patreon for more!
SHOW NOTES
Where it all began with the Dolly 64

The Dolly 64 E09: The Final 4

Episode 33: Beyoncé, "Countdown"

Episode 125: ABBA-sode!

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28 min
April 20The Dolly 64 E09: Final 4
And you think about it, don't you? ...As much as we'd like every one of these Dolly Parton songs to get a participation tiara, we will forge ahead with choosing the championship pair. Along the way, we hear medleys of two of the finalists, contemplate the difference between a "bad" song and a "correct" one, and speculate on Mr. Jolene's double album.
Intro and outro by David Gregory Byrne. Visit us on Patreon for more!
SHOW NOTES
Where it all began with the Dolly 64

Episode 5: Cam, "Mayday"

"Dolly Parton Says New 'Jolene' Rendition 'Son of Jolene' Is 'Clever.' Belles Agrees: 'I Can Die Happy Now' (Exclusive)"

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28 min
April 13The Dolly 64 E08: Elite 8
Today we select our Final 4 in the Dolly 64, after struggling with self-imposed rules that don't serve us, identifying the Dolly songs that won't end up in a commercial for floor polish, and speculating on that waterboy's future coot prospects. Why did it take us this long to come up with the phrase "the Fortress of Dollitude"? Maybe because we inhaled too much pink Partonclave smoke...you'll have to listen to find out.
Intro and outro by Andrew Byrne. Visit us on Patreon for more!
SHOW NOTES
Where it all began with the Dolly 64

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35 min
April 06The Dolly 64 E07: Sweet 16
It's the hardest round in every bracket season in some ways, and the Dolly 64's Sweet 16 ep is no different. How many different lists did Sarah have? Is Mark's "Dolly didn't write it" rule going to last? These questions and many more -- which one old coot shall rule them all; whether every "typical" Dolly is good; how to embody "kuntree" without making it a moral position -- as we rest our boobs on the points scale for our latest episode. Find out whether we ended up with an Elite Eleven and listen now!
Intro and outro by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli. Visit us on Patreon for more!
SHOW NOTES
Billy Joel's "Glass Houses," Ranked (with Dan Rogge!)

Episode 62: "Ode To Billie Joe" And "Harper Valley PTA"

Episode 91: 2018 Oscars Best Song Nominees, Ranked (With Joe Reid!)

Episode 135: Shakira, "She Wolf"

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58 min
March 30The Dolly 64 E06: Round Of 32
The second half of our Dolly 64 Round Of 32 is still confronting the question of which Dolly Parton narrative voice is the most typical and/or dominant. It's also confronting hashtag coot songs, clarified Miracle Whip, the fine gradations of Tennessee mountain-home ownership, and identifying as kuntree without defensiveness. How many aprons does feminism wear? Listen and find out!
Intro and outro by David Gregory Byrne. Visit us on Patreon for more!
SHOW NOTES
Episode 18: Led Zeppelin/Dread Zeppelin/Dolly Parton, "Stairway To Heaven"

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49 min