Bang! 101 Songs about Nuclear War from the 1980s

Dave Malbon and Pank Pathak
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A podcast delving into 101 more amazing songs from the 1980s that dealt with the threats posed by nuclear war. You'll hear us discuss the biggest hits of the decade (did you even know they were about nuclear war?), songs that you might have forgotten and that need to be heard again, and songs that you may never heard. In season 1 we discussed many of the 80s biggest songs and lesser known songs from around the world. We were joined by very special guests from the world of music and writing. In season 2, we carry on with the hits and explore some deeper cuts from some brilliant artists. Every genre of 80s music gets a look-in: punk, new wave, funk, soul, rock, heavy rock, indie, reggae, disco. We have already covered music from Japan, Chile, South Africa, Nigeria, Europe. Who knows what lies in store this year? We will be discussing the songs from a musical and cultural perspective. What else was happening in the world of television and literature to help paint this nuclear landscape? With every podcast, we will update our Spotify and Apple playlist with the songs we are going to discuss. Have a listen to the tunes, and then the chat, or the chat. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=05f85de012a84bfb Presenters: Dave and Pank Opening and end music:(Waiting for the) Heatwave by Fay Ray , appears courtesy of Fay Ray, written by John Lovering. With thanks to Richie for voice, Rachel for art and Shivam for tech Do email us at bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com Message us at @bangpodcast.bsky.social Instagram - bangnuclearpodcast Reddit - r/bangnuclearpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. "Go Nuclear," the Cowboy Told Us

    FEB 23

    "Go Nuclear," the Cowboy Told Us

    Welcome to Season 2 Episode 4. It’s been one year and 10,000 downloads since we started. So what better time to move our focus to the Wonderful World and Beautiful People of Reggae.  We discuss the Rastafarian themes of Armagideon and how reggae musicians brought nuclear war under the same umbrella of other social injustices. We start with one of the greatest of them all – “Redemption Song” by Bob Marley and the Wailers resonates with people around the world.  “Have no fear for atomic energy” he sings – it will not be nuclear conflict that brings about the end of days. Peter Tosh’s “No Nuclear War” comes from the Grammy-winning album of the same name. We discuss the lyrics and his awful demise. Our third song is “Nuclear Soldier” from London perennial favourites, Aswad. Massive hits followed their journey through the Saxon sound-systems.  We then move on to another British favourite – Smiley Culture, whose “Nuclear Weapon” came from his appropriately named “Tongue in Cheek” album. His fast paced, humorous style of rap over reggae beats belied the seriousness of his messages. We end with one of our favourite songs: “The Lunatics have Taken Over the Asylum” by Fun Boy Three. It’s our second song from Terry Hall and we make no apology for it. This is bleak but beautiful. As ever – the playlists are updated so you can hear all the songs from the season in one place: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4aHCNYfoQ2gtko5z6pwS9O?si=81bce0c59ff2470d https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-more-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-vxy6L76uzVzd8Zl Keep in touch with us always… Blue Sky:                         @bangpodcast.bsky.social Facebook:                      Bang Nuclear Podcast Reddit:                              r/bangnuclearpodcast Email:                               bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com Opening and closing music:  (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John Lovering Artwork:                           Rachel Malbon Assistant Producer:   Shivam Pathak Opening words:           Richie Wheeler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    40 min
  2. Andy Oppenheimer does things that go Bang!

    FEB 9

    Andy Oppenheimer does things that go Bang!

    It’s Episode 3 of Season 2 and our absolute pleasure to welcome Andy Oppenheimer as our special guest. Together with his late, great friend and colleague Martin Lloyd, the synth-wave duo Oppenheimer Analysis released the wonderful album “New Mexico” in 1982 which includes the songs “Cold War”, “The Devil’s Dancers” and the title track.  That’s only a part of the story, though, as he then embarked on a hugely successful career as a consultant and writer on all things explosive.  He is our ideal guest. And the music carries on. Andy talks to us about all aspects of his career, songwriting, live performances and his latest album. The minimal synth-wave theme continues as we discuss 6 more tracks. If you didn’t know them before, then explore our playlists. They are great tunes. Check out “Fireside Favourite” by Fad Gadget – Frank Tovey was a remarkable performer.  “Protect and Survive” by German outfit Final Program; “Dancing on the Berlin Wall” by Rational Youth; “Atomic War” by New Scientists;  “Nagasaki’s Children” by They Must Be Russians and “Power Plant” by Art Fact. Keep an eye on our playlists – they are regularly updated to accompany our episodes. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4aHCNYfoQ2gtko5z6pwS9O?si=81bce0c59ff2470d https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-more-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-vxy6L76uzVzd8Zl Keep in touch – and let us know of even more 80s Cold War tunes, contact us via: Blue Sky:                        @bangpodcast.bsky.social Facebook:                      Bang Nuclear Podcast Reddit:                            r/bangnuclearpodcast Email:                             bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com Opening and closing music:              (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John Lovering Artwork:                          Rachel Malbon Assistant Producer:   Shivam Pathak Opening words:           Richie Wheeler “Cold War”, “The Devil’s Dancers” and “New Mexico” appear with the kind permission of Andy Oppenheimer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 6m
  3. We Didn't Light It, But We Tried to Fight It

    JAN 26

    We Didn't Light It, But We Tried to Fight It

    Welcome to season 2 Episode 2 and it is our pleasure to join forces with Michael and Jack, the voices behind the wonderful, long-running Billy Joel podcast “Glass Houses”. They tell us everything they know (and they know a lot) about the classic post-WWII history lesson “We Didn’t Start the Fire”.  While Billy Joel may have not rated the song as one of his own favourites, we certainly love it. If you’re not already familiar with “Glass Houses”, it’s a podcast well worth subscribing to. As ever, we have plenty of other songs to discuss. Canadian rock-band The Box released the upbeat and catchy “Ordinary People” with a fun accompanying video. Whatever the differences between the leaders of America and Russia, the people are just the same. A similar theme emerges in our next song, “American-Soviets” by German synth minimalists CCCP – which has a chess-game between Reagan and Gorbachev as the metaphoric backdrop.  One of our heroes of funk and soul, Curtis Mayfield, is next, with his plaintive call for peace in “What You Gawn Do?” We end the episode with 10,000 Maniacs – Natalie Merchant’s beautiful folk-tinged vocal tells the nuclear story in the excellent “Grey Victory” (it’s one of our listener recommendations, and we’re very glad to include it). Keep an eye on our playlists – they are regularly updated to accompany our episodes. Have you got an 80s nuclear war song that we haven’t thought of yet? If so, contact us via: Blue Sky:                       @bangpodcast.bsky.social Facebook:                     Bang Nuclear Podcast Reddit:                           r/bangnuclearpodcast Email:                            bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com Opening and closing music:              (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John Lovering Artwork:                         Rachel Malbon Assistant Producer:   Shivam Pathak Opening words:           Richie Wheeler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    56 min
  4. Bienvenue, L'Âge Atomique

    JAN 12

    Bienvenue, L'Âge Atomique

    Happy New Year to all our listeners. Welcome back to Bang! 101 More Songs About Nuclear War from the 1980s.  Thanks to your brilliant suggestions, we have had plenty more to talk about. Enough for another season, in fact. Season 2 starts with REM’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know it”. But we also went on a field trip to investigate a certain rumour that had been spread about the possibility of REM reforming…. We then pay tribute to Jeff Aaron Brown of the Pasadenas who died before Christmas and discuss their plea for peace “Justice for the World”. Our next song is the gorgeously hummable “Russians and Americans” by Al Stewart, the prolific Scots-born folk singer with a nuclear birthright. We then have our first song in the French language – duo’s Elli et Jacno’s brilliant “L’ âge atomique”. Another duo, this time from Boston, Jane and Jeff Hudson released the wonderfully dark post-punk “Los Alamos”. We have a brand new playlist to accompany season 2. It can be found on Spotify at: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4aHCNYfoQ2gtko5z6pwS9O?si=e52c370433cc4dc0 and on Apple at https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-more-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-vxy6L76uzVzd8Zl Our podcast is made all the more special by your interactions with us. Stay in touch as follows: Instagram:                     bangnuclearpodcast Blue Sky:                       @bangpodcast.bsky.social Facebook:                     Bang Nuclear Podcast Reddit:                           r/bangnuclearpodcast Email:                             bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com Opening and closing music: (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John Lovering Artwork:                          Rachel Malbon Assistant Producer:   Shivam Pathak Opening words:           Richie Wheeler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    43 min
  5. The (Nuclear) Family Xmas Get Together

    12/15/2025

    The (Nuclear) Family Xmas Get Together

    It’s Episode 21 – and we say a warm goodbye to 2025 and our first season of podcasts. It has been an absolute delight to engage with listeners from around the world and we though that – at this festive time of year – they should have the last say on our 101 songs. Thank you to the listeners, artists, fellow podcasters and family who have contributed to this episode. Don’t forget – our full playlist is available at: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=4da04b17ed3347ea https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXl And all 21 episodes are available for you to enjoy. Thank you for being part of our nuclear family. See you in January for Season 2 – Bang! 101 (more) Songs about Nuclear War from the 1980s-ish. Compliments of the season to you all. Instagram:                     bangnuclearpodcast Blue Sky:                       @bangpodcast.bsky.social Facebook:                     Bang Nuclear Podcast Reddit:                           r/bangnuclearpodcast Email:                              bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com Opening and closing music:              (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John Lovering Artwork:                         Rachel Malbon Assistant Producer:   Shivam Pathak Opening words:           Richie Wheeler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr
  6. This is What We've Waited For

    12/01/2025

    This is What We've Waited For

    A warm winter’s welcome to Episode 20.   Our countdown is finally complete and in this episode we discuss tracks 98 to 101 ending with arguably the greatest nuclear song of the 80s or any other era. We start with “Nuclear War” by Jimmy Cliff; we weren’t originally planning to include it in this episode but the sad passing of Jimmy Cliff last week made it’s inclusion a necessity (and it’s a great tune too). Our next track is the  Christmas pastiche “Christmas at Ground Zero” by Weird Al Yankovic. The song takes on a much darker mood when watched in conjunction with the video which uses American “Duck and Cover” film – all of which serves to demonstrate the futility of it all. Perennial Christmas favourite “Stop the Cavalry” by Jona Lewie is up next. A song that surely needs no introduction to our UK listeners but it may come as a surprise to find out that it was never intended to be a Christmas song. Finally, what else could we finish our list of 101 songs with apart from “99 Red Balloons” by the mighty Nena? She was also kind enough to introduce this episode for us. We discuss this great song along with other great highlights from her extensive back catalogue. Our playlist is updated to show all 101 songs and now we are asking listeners to contribute to our next episode in a fortnight’s time which will be a review of the first series. We’d love a voice note giving us your favourite tune from the list and, as it’s that time of year, your favourite Christmas song as well. Use our email address as below. Thanks for staying with us and don’t forget our 19 previous episodes. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=4da04b17ed3347ea https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXl Make sure you contact us before 10th December 2025 if you want to get a voice note in for our final episode of the season: Instagram:                     bangnuclearpodcast Blue Sky:                        @bangpodcast.bsky.social Facebook:                     Bang Nuclear Podcast Reddit:                             r/bangnuclearpodcast Email:                              bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com Opening and closing music:              (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John Lovering Artwork:                          Rachel Malbon Assistant Producer:  Shivam Pathak Opening words:          Richie Wheeler With sincere thanks to NENA for her wonderful message. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    35 min
  7. Come, Armageddon, Come.

    11/17/2025

    Come, Armageddon, Come.

    Welcome to Episode 19.  Our countdown is almost complete and in this episode we discuss tracks 93 to 97. And they are all huge. We start with “Nuclear Device” by The Stranglers (1979, but who’s counting?); a very upbeat song about a particularly controversial Australian politician who was involved in the sale of uranium for nuclear weaponry.  Our next track is the wonderful “Let’s All Make a Bomb” by Heaven 17 – one of the most memorable bands of the 80s. The nuclear message is as clear as the capitalist one. There’s a rare video of this which is worth looking at, even though the song was not a single. Morrissey’s “Everyday is Like Sunday” is next. With the memorable lyric “Come Armageddon, Come”. Whatever emotions he conjures up now, his place in the list is assured. We then discuss “Missiles” by The Sound. We think this is a thoroughly under-appreciated song by an under-celebrated band. Their lead singer, Adrian Borland, died in tragic circumstances, but his legacy is huge. Perennial favourites Level 42 end this episode with their hugely memorable hit “The Sun Goes Down (Living it Up), a reflective but danceable tune about making the most of life in the face of impending doom. Our playlist is updated at 97 songs! What are the final 4….? To end the episode Dave and Pank become film critics to discuss the latest Kathryn Bigelow nuclear war thriller "A House of Dynamite". Don’t forget our 18 previous episodes. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=4da04b17ed3347ea https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXl Keep in touch and connect: Instagram:                     bangnuclearpodcast Blue Sky:                       @bangpodcast.bsky.social Facebook:                     Bang Nuclear Podcast Reddit:                           r/bangnuclearpodcast Email:                            bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com Opening and closing music:              (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John Lovering Artwork:                          Rachel Malbon Assistant Producer:   Shivam Pathak Opening words:            Richie Wheeler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    49 min
  8. Run Around in the Radiation

    11/03/2025

    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.com Our 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=4da04b17ed3347ea https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXl Don’t forget our socials: Instagram:                     bangnuclearpodcast Blue Sky:                        @bangpodcast.bsky.social Facebook:                     Bang Nuclear Podcast Reddit:                             r/bangnuclearpodcast Email:                              bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com Opening and closing music:              (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John Lovering Artwork:                          Rachel Malbon Assistant Producer:  Shivam Pathak Opening words:          Richie Wheeler Brief snippet of Robert Smith from Roskilde Festival 2017 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    53 min
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About

A podcast delving into 101 more amazing songs from the 1980s that dealt with the threats posed by nuclear war. You'll hear us discuss the biggest hits of the decade (did you even know they were about nuclear war?), songs that you might have forgotten and that need to be heard again, and songs that you may never heard. In season 1 we discussed many of the 80s biggest songs and lesser known songs from around the world. We were joined by very special guests from the world of music and writing. In season 2, we carry on with the hits and explore some deeper cuts from some brilliant artists. Every genre of 80s music gets a look-in: punk, new wave, funk, soul, rock, heavy rock, indie, reggae, disco. We have already covered music from Japan, Chile, South Africa, Nigeria, Europe. Who knows what lies in store this year? We will be discussing the songs from a musical and cultural perspective. What else was happening in the world of television and literature to help paint this nuclear landscape? With every podcast, we will update our Spotify and Apple playlist with the songs we are going to discuss. Have a listen to the tunes, and then the chat, or the chat. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=05f85de012a84bfb Presenters: Dave and Pank Opening and end music:(Waiting for the) Heatwave by Fay Ray , appears courtesy of Fay Ray, written by John Lovering. With thanks to Richie for voice, Rachel for art and Shivam for tech Do email us at bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com Message us at @bangpodcast.bsky.social Instagram - bangnuclearpodcast Reddit - r/bangnuclearpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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