 The music on Dare to Be Stupid is built around parodies and pastiches of pop and rock music of the mid @-@ 1980s , featuring jabs at Madonna , Cyndi Lauper , Huey Lewis and the News , and The Kinks . The album also features many " style parodies " , or musical imitations that come close to , but do not copy , existing artists . These style parodies include imitations of specific artists like Devo and Elvis , as well as imitations of various musical genres like doo @-@ wop , sci @-@ fi soundtracks , and music from the 1920s and 1930s . 
