Bang! 101 Songs about Nuclear War from the 1980s

• Run Around in the Radiation

  Don’t be afraid - it’s Episode 18. And with Halloween just done, it’s time to unleash some Goth heroes on you all, as well as our very special guest, Kirsty Harris.We start with “Black Planet”, Sisters of Mercy’s dark, foreboding warning of a post-nuclear world. Check out the video that features the original Monkeemobile. Our next song is “A Strange Day” – Robert Smith standing on a beach (unsurprisingly) ruing the last day on earth. “Cities in Dust” is one of the greats by Siouxsie and the Banshees. The song was inspired by Siouxsie’s trip to Pompeii but it is obviously symbolic of the fragility of our planet in the flash of an explosion.We move on to the precursors of the mighty Cult – Southern Death Cult and their wonderful polemic “Moya”, which draws powerful comparisons between nuclear annihilation and the ravaging of Native American lands.We end with a lesser-known gem. Bauhaus’ bassist David Jay released “Can’t This Shadow of Fear” as a solo single. It’s well worth checking out.Kirsty Harris is a remarkable artist whose main theme is nuclear tests and the resulting mushroom clouds. Her stunning work depicts detonation on an enormous scale, but captures the beauty of the brutality. Dave and Pank visited her exhibition in South London and were lucky to interview her. She talks about her involvement with nuclear campaigning with her parents and her love of 80s music.Visit her website and check out the works for yourself: kirstyharris.comOur playlist now stands at 92 songs! Just 9 left. Our previous episodes are all here for you to enjoy too.https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=4da04b17ed3347eahttps://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXlDon’t forget our socials:Instagram: bangnuclearpodcastBlue Sky: @bangpodcast.bsky.socialFacebook: Bang Nuclear PodcastReddit: r/bangnuclearpodcastEmail: [email protected] and closing music: (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John LoveringArtwork: Rachel MalbonAssistant Producer: Shivam PathakOpening words: Richie WheelerBrief snippet of Robert Smith from Roskilde Festival 2017 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• This Ain't No Party. This Ain't No Disco.

  It’s Episode 17. With the recent news that MTV is to cease broadcasting in large parts of Europe and South America, we thought we might try and find songs by artists who appeared on MTV on its very first day…. And we were not disappointed, as 5 songs we had planned to discuss anyway all fell into that category.Buggles opened up MTV’s account, and we remember their catchy wartime hit “Clean, Clean”, complete with arcade game tank video. Trevor Horn has already featured in our podcasts as a producer so it’s a pleasure to include one of his own compositions.Fischer-Z, fronted by the legendary John Watts, released the album Red Skies over Paradise from which the amazing, fearful and brooding “Cruise Missiles” was a memorable album track.Next, comes the anti-world leader hit from Genesis – “Land of Confusion”, which was all the more memorable for its Spitting Image based video featuring the band, US and UK leaders in warmongering mood, and a cast of a hundred well known puppets.We then discuss the excellent song “Bunkers” by British post-punk band The Vapors. Again, their album “New Clear Days” had (unsurprisingly) a Cold War theme, and this was the one we chose.We conclude the episode with one of the greatest songs by one of the greatest bands – “Life During Wartime” by Talking Heads. Despite not being a hit at all, there are few music fans who wouldn’t recognise the album and live versions as being hugely influential.All 5 artists had at least one song played on MTV’s opening day of pop-videos.Our playlist now stands at 87 songs! Only 14 to go…. Our previous episodes are all here for you to enjoy too.https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=4da04b17ed3347eahttps://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXlDon’t forget our socials:Instagram: bangnuclearpodcastBlue Sky: @bangpodcast.bsky.socialFacebook: Bang Nuclear PodcastReddit: r/bangnuclearpodcastEmail: [email protected] and closing music: (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John LoveringArtwork: Rachel MalbonAssistant Producer: Shivam PathakOpening words: Richie WheelerIdent intro from MTV. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• People Say It Could Never Happen Here.

  Welcome to Episode 16 – in which we discuss 5 songs by artists who were hugely successful in the 70s but kept their legacies alive with their 80s output. The Cold War provided sufficient ammunition for many - who might have been driven to obscurity by punk and post-punk – to make innovative new music and find even more fans. The artists couldn’t be bigger.Pink Floyd’s “Two Suns in the Sunset” is our first song. From “The Final Cut” album, it sees Roger Waters in both quietly contemplative and searingly powerful form.There now follow three “frontiers”:Peter Gabriel’s “Games Without Frontiers” is one of the greatest and best known 80s songs – enigmatic but catchy (and also the source of a few misheard lyrics).It’s time for some Queen – or rather solo – as we look at Roger Taylor’s “Strange Frontier”. Taken from the 1984 album of the same name, it is one of his best solo tracks.“New Frontier” is from Donald Fagan’s “The Night Fly” album. Steely Dan produced some of the finest albums of the 70s and the quality did not fall when Fagan released this wonderfully upbeat and retrospective track.Our final song is “Sick of You” by Lou Reed. It is a stream of invective against just about everything and everyone in 1980s New York. Our playlist is now a whopping 82 songs – enjoy them all. Our previous episodes are all here for you to enjoy too.https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=4da04b17ed3347eahttps://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXlWe love to hear from you via:Instagram: bangnuclearpodcastBlue Sky: @bangpodcast.bsky.socialFacebook: Bang Nuclear PodcastReddit: r/bangnuclearpodcastEmail: [email protected] and closing music: (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John LoveringArtwork: Rachel MalbonAssistant Producer: Shivam PathakOpening words: Richie Wheeler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• "They've done it. They've done it."

  It’s Episode 15, and we are delighted to welcome writer and journalist Chas Newkey-Burden. Chas has written eye-opening articles about life under a nuclear threat for The Spectator magazine and Metro newspaper. But his real obsession is the 1984 British film “Threads”, about the lives of the people of Sheffield in the run-up to, during and after a nuclear attack. It is truly horrifying and contributed a huge amount to the cultural landscape of Britain in the 80s. Chas discusses the film with us, his recent trip to sites in Sheffield that appeared in the film, and his future “Threads” related plans. It’s quite a listen.As ever, there is music to discuss – and in the spirit of “Threads” we look at songs that deal with life after a nuclear attack. We start with 80s indie favourites Modern English and their wistful “I Melt With You”; we move on to the brilliant duet between Eurythmics and Elvis Costello called “Adrian”. Next is Billy Idol who finds himself in surprisingly restrained mood with “The Dead Next Door”. The under-celebrated – but brilliant – Microdisney are our next band with their wonderful “Town to Town” (thanks to one of our listeners for this suggestion). Chas himself chooses our last song – “Protect and Survive” by the Dubliners – it’s satirical and uplifting.Our playlist is now bursting at the seams with 77 songs….https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=4da04b17ed3347eahttps://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXlStay in touch!Instagram: bangnuclearpodcastBlue Sky: @bangpodcast.bsky.socialFacebook: Bang Nuclear PodcastReddit: r/bangnuclearpodcastEmail: [email protected] & closing music:(Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John LoveringArtwork: Rachel MalbonAssistant Producer: Shivam PathakOpening words: Richie WheelerIntroduction to the film "Threads" taken from BBC 1984. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Have You Ever Seen this Kind of World?

  Welcome to Episode 14. This time Dave and Pank travel around the world to hear what other countries were singing about nuclear war.We start in Nigeria, with the inspirational and innovative William Onyeabor (and an acknowledgment of the great Fela Kuti). William’s song “This Kind of World” captures, ialwith joyful synth abandon, the fears he had about the way the planet was going.We then move to South Africa, and progressive punk band Dog Detachment’s fiery and fearful “Third World War”. We then discuss one of South America’s most outspoken and important bands – Los Prisioneros, whose wistful “Pa Pa Pa” pleads for a better world.The Japanese heavy metal scene in the 80s was huge, and nothing blasted louder than Loudness with their commentary on the American Star Wars policy, “SDI”. We then look at the influential Russian band Kino and much lamented singer Victor Tsoi, who proclaimed “I Declare my Home” to be a nuclear-free zone.We end by asking our listeners to help identify a mystery 80s band with their unknown track. Listen to find out…We have put together an extra playlist to cover a whole section of nuclear war songs from around the globe. Give it a listen at:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/43QBqIr32rnu28lRXfrl1P?si=atRU76eLS0-pRXEDrAWRmwand on Apple musichttps://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-world-music/pl.u-PDb4oqgILlLYypPAnd, of course, our main playlists are always updated.https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=4da04b17ed3347eahttps://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXlStay in touch!Instagram: bangnuclearpodcastBlue Sky: @bangpodcast.bsky.socialFacebook: Bang Nuclear PodcastReddit: r/bangnuclearpodcastEmail: [email protected] and closing music: (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John LoveringArtwork: Rachel MalbonAssistant Producer: Shivam PathakOpening words: Richie Wheeler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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