"Blurred Lines," the sound of the summer of 2013, is compared (unfavorably) with a cold sore in today's episode, which pits Robin Thicke, TI, and Pharrell against Weird Al's screed against bad grammar and usage errors. Despairing of Shazam, continuing to die on the hill of "irregardless," and the tyranny of younger siblings over the #oldladywalk playlist...we're working through all of it, AND figuring out who's going to "win" the season. It would be a Class-Y felony to miss it, so listen now.

Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by Aimee Mann. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

• "What...is this thing?" Start at the beginning!
• ThickeCorp's "Blurred Lines" video
• Weird Al's "Word Crimes" video
• More on the copyright/royalties battle
• Whose side are you on, NPR??
• Slate breaks down all the aforementioned crimes

Thirty years after the death of frontman Kurt Cobain, Nirvana and their music still feel very close. Does that have anything to do with Weird Al's equally "defining" parody, a track that let Al "sell out" again after the disastrous UHF experience...with a band at the bleeding edge of the sell-out conversation? The shroud of tragedy, the performance of self, rebellious chaos, and ballerina tutus: better get to the gym, y'all! It's an all-new MASTAS.

Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Hole. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

• "What...is this thing?" Start at the beginning!
• Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video
• Weird Al's "Smells Like Nirvana," which...will probably look familiar
• WAvE Episode 20: "The Saga Begins"

It's an all-time training-montage banger vs. Weird Al's vision for Rocky XIII in today's episode, as we drop Wiki factoids, contemplate an all-depressing-follow-up-hits season, digress at length on Live's legal battles, and wonder when in Reagan's presidency the Me Decade became sentient. Greetings from the Sly Stallone industrial complex; get that sammich to go and listen to an all-new episode!

Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by the Waitresses. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

• "What...is this thing?" Start at the beginning!
• The "Eye Of The Tiger" video
• The secret history of "Eye Of The Tiger"
• "Rye Or The Kaiser" on Weird Al's YT channel
• Collector's Call
• Live's unseemly death
• Weird Al vs. Everybody, Episode 14: "King Of Suede"

You can't always control what people do with your art once it's out in the world -- something Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits may have learned the hard way with both the original "Money For Nothing" AND Weird Al's re-imagining of the song via a dream sequence in UHF. Essential references versus essential songs, 20th-century TV's preoccupation with yokels, and resting Don Henley face...they're all in this episode, so finish up that microwave-oven install and listen.

Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by the Allman Brothers Band. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

• "What...is this thing?" Start at the beginning!
• The "Money For Nothing" video
• Weird Al vs. Everybody Episode 9: "I Lost On Jeopardy"
• George's Beverly Hillbillies dream
• Knopfler and Harris in concert

It's that Airbnb pasta-taxonomy poster in pop-song form: "Lasagna," Weird Al's take on Los Lobos's take on Ritchie Valens's take on the Mexican folk song Sarah and her classmates dutifully droned during first-period Spanish. Before we cast our votes (and yours!), we talk about the restaurant from Big, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Dr. Melfi's ex-husband, Sophia Petrillo, forgetting the word "benefit," and Polish jokes. Are we putting the "no" back in "buongiorno"? Listen and see!

Our intro is by Laura Barger and Giacomo Baldelli, and our outro is by Claudio Villa for the Big Night soundtrack. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

• "What...is this thing?" Start at the beginning!
• The "La Bamba" video
• The "Lasagna" "video"
• bamba-bamba.html-1">One somewhat prosaic but accurate translation of the lyrics
• Angelique Kidjo's website
• The Asti restaurant (RIP)
• Episode 150: 10,000 Maniacs' "In My Tribe," Ranked
• Pop Chart's "Permutations of Pasta" poster
• Sophia Sicily-stories supercut
• SDB's Quiet on Set review
• "Fact Check: Did Rudy Giuliani Marry His Cousin?"

Late-sixties melodrama meets early-nineties blockbuster in today's episode, as we contemplate who left the Barney cake out in the rain while comparing Richard Harris's "MacArthur Park" and Weird Al's "Jurassic Park." Claymation, foiled cantatae, The Odyssey, Godspell, and songs for when the coffee's kickin' in, plus the YouTube-comments bingo card and an "un-preciation" of a popular novel, all factor into our discussion. Listen and enjoy unironically!

Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by the Association. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

• "What...is this thing?" Start at the beginning!
• Please to enjoy Richard Harris's ridic sideburns while listening to "MacArthur Park"
• The "Jurassic Park" video
• Bless your heart, Delia Owens

The unique legacy of Tommy James and the Shondells adds another chapter today, as Weird Al contends with Tiffany's smash cover of "I Think We're Alone Now." We're discussing Jersey-girl aspirational fashion, budge sound that's a feature and not a bug, and that person you could know becoming that person everyone does know. Take a break from sewing patches on your jean jacket and have a listen!

Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by the Ramones. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

• "What...is this thing?" Start at the beginning!
• The "I Think We're Alone Now" video
• "I Think I'm A Clone Now" fan vid with lyrics
• Episode 100: Surprise Party
• March MASTAS's Teen Idol Bracket
• "'A very sinister and dark story': How the mob helped Tommy James become a hit machine"

Can Weird Al inch ahead in the season standings with "I Lost On Jeopardy," his parody of the Greg Kihn Band's "Jeopardy"? We're talking early adopters, terrible album-title puns we admire, second careers, cheap-but-creepy videos, and how MB's personal Jeopardy! journey deepens his appreciation of this Yankovic joint. Tell 'em what they've won, Don Pardo! (It's either an all-new WAvE episode or some Rice-a-Roni.)

Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by the Waitresses. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

• "What...is this thing?" Start at the beginning!
• The Greg Kihn Band's "Jeopardy" video
• Weird Al's "I Lost On Jeopardy" video
• Horror Show on Goodreads
• WAvE Episode 04: "Eat It"

This week's match-up pits The Presidents of the United States of America's "Lump" against Weird Al's "Gump"...but is it really a face-off if the original is two thirds of the way towards being the parody? What is the age of Al-wakening? What's the difference between "unserious" and "unpretentious"? Are butt-adjacent references the Yankovic equivalent of a Hitchcock cameo? And did Al have any choice when it came to his subject matter back then? Watch out for those shifting matrices; it's an all-new ep of MASTAS.

Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by the Offspring. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

• "What...is this thing?" Start at the beginning!
• The official video for PUSA's "Lump"
• And the video for "Gump"
• sentinel.com/1996-05-10/entertainment/9605080567_1_dune-buggy-spiders-string">Chris Ballew on his lyrical inspirations
• Episode 70: REM's "Out Of Time," Ranked
• Do Call It A Comeback, Episode 7: Footnotes and Odd Lots

"What if we just........didn't." That's one of the questions confronting us as WE confront an out-of-character entry in the Weird Al songbook: "Fat." The problems don't start there; there's the cheap-sounding and turgidly self-serious original, "Bad"; by problematic artist Michael Jackson; the risible video by MJ, and the shortcutsy cruelty from WA...there's even an ill-advised decision in a high-school talent show. Bass requests, Staying Alive references, and conscientious objections: it's an all-new MASTAS!

Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by the Stone Roses. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

• "What...is this thing?" Start at the beginning!
• Michael Jackson's "Bad" video
• We'll skip the link to the "Fat" video but here's some history on it
• The only three pop-culture minutes with more "hoooo!"s in it than "Bad"