All I want to do is talk about Madonna

Mark and Kenny resume the conversation with this deep dive into the troublesome Rupert Everett/Madonna movie from 2000 as Season Four: American Woman kicks off! Topics include Kirstie Alley, Don McLean, Neil Patrick Harris, Charlie Rose, John Schlesinger, Michael Vartan, Cher & Mark Steines, Benjamin Bratt, Malcolm Stumpf, Ileana Douglas, … and Lynn Redgrave. Kenny is fascinated by footwear, Mark reveals an alternative casting choice for TNBT, and a lost Madonna power ballad finally gets its due. Plus, stay tuned for a dramatic, 11th hour twist that feels both contrived, yet inevitable (and VERY The Next Best Thing)! Julia Roberts, we’re coming for that Oscar!

Kenny and Mark launch into the 2000s with a bold and wide-reaching of Madonna’s HUGE hit first single from the seminal Music. Welcome to the dance floor, Mirwais Ahmadzai! Welcome back, Niki Haris and Donna DeLory! Keep your eyes on the road, DaBaby! And thanks for those remixes, Tracy Young and Stevie Nicks! It’s a non-stop party this season and it all starts HERE. Kenny almost moves to London and Mark acquiesces to the term “Icon”. Rev up that limo engine, Ali G - we are going out tonight!

Mark and Kenny swoon over the swooping second song (say that ten times fast!) on Music. Changing of the Guard at Warner Brothers! Cher’s hit song “Believe”! Cock-blocking a fourth single! Celebrating the stellar Peter Rauhofer! Kenny builds a narrative arc around “like a bird on a wingy-wingy-wingy”, Mark focuses on hygiene, and Madonna rips up the rulebook AGAIN! I don’t even know your name, but we’re coming for you anyway!

Kenny and Mark break apart the charging third song on Music and what it truly means to be a “runaway lover.” Willam Orbit is back and stepping up his game, Mark cashes in all of those IOUs, and Kenny’s narrative takes a downward twist. Karma is a nasty mistress y’all, but we have that live version from the Brixton Academy to help us lick our wounds. “Come on London!"

Mark and Kenny contemplate earning the yearning and Madonna’s early time with Guy Ritchie while discussing the soulful and stirring first ballad on Music. Topics include spiritual growth, message tank tops, christening interlopers, and more photo ops with Quentin Tarantino. Does Mirwais dream about these squiggle sounds?

Kenny and Mark discover much to both admire and tweak about the frothy (repetitive?) second Orbit-Madonna collaboration on Music as well as take an indulgent dip into some lost tracks (“Liquid Love” and “Run”). PLUS, a deep fall down the rabbit hole of the “When Guy Met Madonna” epic. Wanna grab a pint down at the Perky Ginger before getting sushi?

Mark and Kenny contemplate how all past and future Madonna songs’ DNA connects to this PERFECTLY moody second folk ballad (and emotional centerpiece?) on Music. Topics include an altercation near Gramercy Park, Madonna’s glorious off-center instincts and troubadour ways, and just how seminal the 2016 Tears of a Clown performances were. Plus - All I Want to Do is Talk About Madonna finally gets a true blue mascot - welcome to the dance, Jack the Cat!

Kenny and Mark deep (if not entirely concentrated!) dive into what has become an anthem and a credo for Madonna’s career with a discussion of the brilliant singer-songwriter (and familial relation) Joe Henry alongside an potpourri of topics: black crows and Joni Mitchell, David Letterman, strings on a pop hit, Melanie Ciccone, Sweet Relief and Vic Chesnutt (RIP, dear one), Tracy Young, Jamie King, and the arrival of the essential Monte Pittman. Mark grapples with his tortured relationship with the term “iconic” and Kenny takes a harrowing road trip through the mountains of Colorado. Plus, the b-side “Cyber-Raga”, Talvin Singh, and a direction the Music project COULD have taken. Is it time for that “Macarena” dance break yet??

Mark and Kenny open up the conversation to discuss Madonna’s haunting and pivotal collaboration with Guy Sigsworth (not to mention Guy Ritchie!) on Music. Topics include Charlotte Gainsbourg, Ol Kuntz Guest House, Caresse Henry, Tony McGuiness and the Above & Beyond remix, and special guests Gia Balmaceda, Jennifer James (G’DAY AUSTRALIA!), Charlotte Salmon, and Amy Stevens (and best friend Stu!) share their singular perspectives on what the song (and being a girl!) means to them. Pamela Louise will live to drive another day!

Kenny and Mark delve into the mysterious and shattering first collaboration between Mirwais and Madonna, discussing the power of transformation, death and rebirth, and the impact of a swelling of strings. Can’t we all have permission to be a little freaky?

Mark and Kenny wrap up their conversation about Music with this soulful and (what has proven to be a) prescient ballad in the Madonna canon and how the song’s sentiment (written by Damian Le Gassick and Nik Young) has served as a guiding star throughout the next twenty (!!) years of Madonna’s career. What a record and what a time. Thank you for listening.

Kenny and Mark return to Detroit - The Palace at Auburn Hills, specifically - and August 2001 to begin a four-part discussion on Madonna’s first concert tour in over 8 years. She’s back, she’s jacked, and she’s not singing any old songs! Topics include Tina Turner, video screens, kilts, all-seeing eyes, punk rock personas, competing choreographers, Rock God t-shirts, the mysterious character choices of Miss Donna DeLory, profane guitar straps, Monte Pitman’s show-day schedule, weird transitions involving Mike Myers, the photography career of Rosie O’Donnell, and learning the lessons from the 1998 MTV Music Awards - all the while singing completely live! Hilda has arrived and she’s ready to fight!

Kenny and Mark float into the second-part of the Drowned World discussion with the first-ever Madonna “concert films” and a return to the “appropriation or appreciation” debate. Madonna’s geisha character returns to release her warrior self in a new narrative, Kenny shares the thrilling experience of the live version of “Frozen,” and the September 11th attack (and its aftermath) casts the remaining shows in a whole new light. Strap your aerial wires on and let’s go!

Mark and Kenny kick up some dust on the third-part (and, um, the narratively loosest) section of the Drowned World to discuss bull-riding, a fateful trip to Austin, Texas, icing out Donna again, and the dreaded mini-return of the Finkle Concert Rating System. Plus, Mark nurses a grudge against Stuart Price, Kenny reminisces about the glory of the live experience of “Don’t Tell Me”, and we all weather awkward transitions - both in life and in the concert. YEEHAW!

Kenny and Mark wrap up their four-part conversation of the Drowned World Tour with the return of both the Familiar and the Forward. Topics include a return to EVITA, the musings of Elizabeth Gilbert, the triumph of Jean-Paul Gaultier, feminist tango, a FAN-FICTION potential romance, the gorgeous Jull Weber and the thrilling dancing of Anthony Rodriguez, punching fists, Niki Haris as rapper, and Kenny’s emotional catharsis during the final moments of this benchmark live performance. RELEASE YOURSELF! We are taking a little break and will return mid January! We both needed to lie down…

Mark and Kenny take a break from the concert ticket queue to dive deep the game-changing and page-turning theme to Pierce Brosnan’s final outing as Bond … James Bond and Madonna’s menagerie of troubled women she portrays: Amber in SWEPT AWAY, Loren in UP FOR GRABS, and the mysterious Verity in DIE ANOTHER DAY, all the while eyeing another famous lady living in London and finally allowing her Kabbalah studies to color (and enflame) her art. Topics include Guy Ritchie, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Toby Stephens, Judi Dench, Rosamund Pike, Sheena Easton, Duran Duran, Adele, Miss Carly Simon, Grace Jones (as ultimate villain May Day), Michel Colombier, Traktor, and those remixes (Deepsky!!!!). Will Odd Job get his hat back? What will Madonna say to Camilla at the high tea?

Kenny and Mark take the stage at the Omnibus Theatre in the gorgeous Clapham for a LIVE conversation about the disruptive and polarizing lead single from Madonna’s eleventh album. Topics include: dinner parties, treasure trails, Prince’s Parade album, Napster, Morgan Webb, Kraftwerk and Taxi Girl, isotopes, Sixth Bodyguard Barry, Johnathan Ross, Kenny’s philosophical wrestle match with Kabbalah, Karen Walker’s roommate Liz, Patty Hearst, Lynette Holloway, the Dixie Chicks, Missy Elliott, Room 5, Felix Da Housecat, and all those versions of the videos. Plus, a game is played and Special Guest Becky boldly takes on The Rap! WE LOVE YOU, LONDON - Live and In Front of You Tour 2023 Has Begun!! Sound recording by Adam Zmith.

Mark and Kenny share their dabblings with Los Angeles, including bungalows, storage units, and random star sightings while discussing the cautionary second song (and second single!) from American Life. Topics include Lisa Cholodenko, Hole, Velvet Underground, the influence of film noir on Madonna, Oscar parties, Debra Winger, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Guy Bourdin, David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive and Naomi Watts, Michael Haneke, performance doubles, Debbie Harry and BLOW-UP, and that notorious MTV Music Awards performance with Missy Elliott, Christina Aguilera, and Miss Britney Spears. And a meeting of pop icons on “Me Against the Music” and Madonna’s back to hitch-hiking. Plus, REMIXES (released and unreleased) FOR DAYS, Kenny chases Britney to Vegas, and Mark gets to share a long-gestating riff on Rosanna Arquette. Stretch out, kids, and trip the station, change the channel!

Kenny and Mark welcome Special Guest Khary Simon (Creative Director and co-editor/publisher of CRUSHfanzine) to discuss the great lost punk track of American Life. Topics include … well, just listen. This is seriously one of our favorite conversations. Thank you, Khary. CRUSHfanzine website

Madonna asks some questions (and settles on some answers) in the shimmering fourth single from American Life. Mark and Kenny discuss Fresca soda, husband engagement, campfire singing, Kenosha, Wisconsin, Regina Spektor, aborted singer-songwriter musical projects, Kenny’s coffee with Holly Knight, Cole Porter and the inaugural Red, Hot + Blue compilation, music industry shenanigans, Sting’s “Desert Rose”, the big city of Montreal, gifts for Oprah, a drive-by hug with Mrs. Fellows, The English Roses, Paris fashion, the lost “I’m in Love with Love”, Ralph Rosario, BLOW-UP (yes, again), and the expanded tale of Mark’s Chicago encounter with Rufus Wainwright (and the fate of his maroon pants). Plus - Madonna takes her team on a rural retreat! LOOK AT HER!

Kenny and Mark chart the rise and heavy cost social media has demanded from society while discussing one of the most hauntingly prescient songs from American Life. Plus, they dive into the careers of Mark “Spike” Stent and Mount Sims (and his magnificent Ultrasex album), celebrate Bjork’s Dancer from the Dance and Cher’s Burlesque, answer a listener question, and discuss the current human rights issue that we CANNOT look away from. Don’t forget to update your MySpace page!

Mark makes a case for the lost third single from American Life as a forgotten classic and Kenny celebrates the enduring contributions of the talented Peter Rauhofer. Topics include Jem Griffiths, Guy Sigsworth, traveling with a choir, acoustic guitars, religious institutions as albatrosses for true faith, and the moment on a Madonna record where the whole thing “pivots.” Wherever she is, we hope Jackie B took that person HOME with her from the Club! We love you, Peter Rauhofer.

Kenny and Mark share secrets (and theories) about this haunting ballad tucked away on the home stretch of American Life. Topics include child rearing, emotional vulnerability, addiction, the limits of providing aid, and dealing with Australians who want to sing along. Plus, Kenny shuffles his track listing and “American Life” continues to haunt us all!

Kenny and Mark break apart a stunner of a song - and Stuart Price makes his co-writing debut! A new era is percolating … Topics include behaving in church, struggling against the patriarchy, Swing Out Sister, baroque organs, PJ Harvey, Angelene, lost songs “Miss You” and “The Game”, fantastical set-list musings for the Celebration Tour, Steven Klein, Madonna as installation, Jimmy DeSana, Zelda Rubinstein, and Mark struggles to name the band who sang “Catch Me (I’m Falling)” (it was Pretty Poison, y’all). BREAK OUT!

Mark and Kenny salvage through the wreckage that is the much-needed final uptempo song on American Life. Topics include Kylie Minogue, Matt Lauer, swinging nosy neighbors, album fatigue, the pros and cons of lyrical specificity, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fun Home, childhood morals and lessons, the English Roses children’s book series, and Mark finally gets to talk about Joan Gustafson Ciccone. Plus, Kenny outs himself as a child pianist. “I’ve got to give it up” indeed!

S4, E 26 - Easy Ride 25 APR · ALL I WANT TO DO IS TALK ABOUT MADONNA 01:06:24 Kenny and Mark welcome Special Guest Ted Kerr for a deep conversation about the epic final track (and life credo) from American Life. Topics include mortality, Macy Rodman, Monte Pittman’s royalty checks, Alanis Morissette, co-op board letters, Patti Rothberg, the crossroads of ambition, Lauryn Hill’s “MTV Unplugged”, Madonna’s arc as a trend-setter, reinvigorating the tour cycle, Judy Blume, combative Canadian roommates situation, Tracy Young, Kronos Quartet, the dance between intimate and epic, Kenny’s 8-track Ricky Tucker, and Madonna’s thoughts on Standing Rock. Plus, some (long-awaited) answers to the question “American Life is …”.

Mark and Kenny do some yoga stretching out for a long and all-encompassing conversation about Madonna’s 2004 summer tour and the accompanying (and much-delayed) documentary. Topics include John Lennon, Guy Ritchie, Steven Klein and the tour book, Donna DeLory, Monte Pittman, the Ciccone winery, Stuart Price, random tour hats, Lainie Kazan, the battle over weather, Siedah Garrett, acoustic music magic, true tour star Angela Becker, Caresse Henry, violating paparazzi, the greatness of skanky tour hair, and the lifetime search for true inner peace. Plus, a much-deserved tribute to diva dresser Tony Villanueva, a long-awaited visit to Rachel’s tomb in Israel, and a triumphant appearance at Live Aid 2005 in Hyde Park to close out this topsy turvy season.