It’s Episode 7 and, to coincide with the recent Eurovision Song Contest, we look at artists who have either been in Eurovision or have some indirect links with it….

We start with UK champions Bucks Fizz and their forlorn nostalgia in “I Used to Love the Radio”  before moving on to Swedish winners and pop pioneers ABBA – 2 songs form part of our discussion :“Soldiers” and “The Visitors”.

German megastar (and the voice of Enigma) Sandra Lauer’s cover of Wishful Thinking’s “Hiroshima” is next, followed by the mesmeric performance of Klaus Nomi on “Total Eclipse”. The Eurovision link there is pretty tenuous as is the next song's – the dark but sunny “Vamos a la Playa” by Italian duo Righeira.

We end with a genuine Eurovision nuclear war song – “Nuku Pommiin” by Finland’s Kojo. It scored nul points in 1982 but we give it douze every day….

Our playlist is updated on Spotify and Apple! Give it a listen:

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

Once again, our thanks to you all for keeping in touch via our socials:

Instagram:bangnuclearpodcast

Blue Sky:@bangpodcast.bsky.social

Facebook:   Bang Nuclear Podcast

Reddit:r/bangnuclearpodcast

Email:[email protected]

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.

It's Episode 6, and this time the theme is "Angry Young Britain". We explore songs from bands who raged against the injustices of the day and welcome a very special guest. Four of them hail from the Midlands - The Specials, UB40, The Beat and The Au Pairs and Swindon's finest, XTC.

The Au Pairs' lead singer is the great Lesley Woods and she spoke to us about the song "America" - a damning indictment of American foreign policy - and of the pervading nuclear threat - of that era. She also breaks some very exciting news.... the title of this episode is drawn from the lyrics.

Our discussion begins with The Specials' dark but danceable "Man at C and A". We then move on to UB40's bleak "The Earth Dies Screaming"... a 4 minute intro before a word is sung. After our interview with Lesley, we then move on to "Dream House in NZ" - again, its dark lyrics make you want to move your feet. We then finish with XTC's wonderful "Living Through Another Cuba" - another up-tempo ska-infused tune that reminds us of a time when the world was on the brink....

Thank you to all who have been loyally following and enjoying our podcast. Our playlist of all songs discussed is updated with each podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=55356228bc354821

https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXl

Keep in touch – we love your feedback and your song suggestions that have resulted in us extending beyond the 21 shows that we had planned!

Instagram -  bangnuclearpodcast

Blue Sky - @bangpodcast.bsky.social

Reddit – r/bangnuclearpodcast

Email – [email protected]

Opening and closing music – (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray. Appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John Lovering

Opening words - Richie Wheeler

Artwork – Rachel Malbon

Assistant Producer – Shivam Pathak

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Episode 5 and thanks for being part of our ever growing nuclear family.

There’s not a male vocalist in sight, as we discuss 5 entirely different but outstanding female vocalists of the age.  We start with Blondie’s Atomic – paying tribute to the fabulous drummer, Clem Burke; then Hazel O’Connor’s anthemic Eighth Day from the soundtrack to “Breaking Glass”.  We then move on to Anne Clark’s bleak but gripping “Poem for a Nuclear Romance”, and then a complete change of mood as we do the Neutron Dance along with the Pointer Sisters. To end with, we discuss one of the most remarkable songs of the 80s – O Superman (For Massenet) by Laurie Anderson. Sorry but we sing a tiny bit of opera…

Our playlist of all songs discussed is updated with each podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=55356228bc354821

https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXl

Keep in touch – we love your feedback and your song suggestions

Instagram -  bangnuclearpodcast

Blue Sky - @bangpodcast.bsky.social

Reddit – r/bangnuclearpodcast

Email – [email protected]

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Episode 4 of Bang! (Number 1 in Goodpods Rock and Pop charts for March 2025)

We discuss one of the biggest and best loved songs of the 80s… “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears….. Over 2 billion streams on Spotify alone! We then move on to the wistful protest of Billy Bragg’s “Between the Wars”; then Kate Bush’s haunting and fearful “Breathing”.

We then move on to with the wonderful, drily ironic (but jolly) “How I Learned to Love the Bomb” by Dan Treacy’s influential (ask MGMT) band, Television Personalities (with a nod to the Young Ones “Bomb” episode). We finish with the jazz-funk groove of The Stanley Clarke Band’s “Don’t Turn The Lights Out”. You will want to dance to this one.

We are really enjoying the listener feedback – so keep it coming….

Our playlist of all songs is updated with each podcast....

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=2d5f3c48a0b6424c

https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXl

Instagram – bangnuclearpodcast

Blue Sky - @bangpodcast.bsky.social

Email – [email protected]

Reddit – r/bangnuclearpodcast

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we are delighted to welcome Tony Travis of Fay Ray for an interview, in which we discuss his band, the album and the song that is the title of this episode and our regular intro and outro music. Thanks to Tony for joining us.

We then move on to Deacon Blue's beautifully descriptive and evocative "He Looks Like Spencer Tracy Now"; Young Marble Giants' short but stoically beautiful "Final Day" and The Jacksons' plaintive nuclear lullaby "Be Not Always".

The podcast ends with our discussion of the 80s behemoth "Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (Annihilation Mix). Is there a greater nuclear war song?

Our accompanying playlist is updated!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=f40fdf0f2d204115

https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXl

Keep in touch - we love to hear from you.

Instagram - bangnuclearpodcast

Blue Sky - @bangpodcast.bsky.social

Email - [email protected]

Reddit - r/bangnuclearpodcast

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our 2nd episode, we start by paying tribute to the great Rick Buckler and discuss The Jam's 1980 classic "Going Underground"; then we move on to the calm and reflective "Glad It's All Over" by Captain Sensible; a lesser known but vibrant 80's tune "Fall Out" by Data; then Tom Robinson's beautiful but melancholic "War Baby". Our final tune is the unforgettable Prince classic "1999" - who even knew it was a nuclear war song?

Thanks to all who have listened to and subscribed to Episode 1. Do keep in touch with us. We love to read your comments, feedback and excellent suggestions.

Keep up with the playlist on:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=de3812871fb2425e

https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXl

Instagram - bangnuclearpodcast

Blue Sky - @bangpodcast.bsky.social

Email - [email protected]

Reddit - r/bangnuclearpodcast

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Episode 1 of Bang! 101 Songs about Nuclear War from the 1980s.

In our first episode, "Welcome to the Red Skies...", we discuss the perennial classic, "Enola Gay" by OMD; Hot Chocolate's lesser known but super-cool "Mindless Boogie"; two wonderful songs that should have been much bigger hits in the UK - "Red Skies" by The Fixx and "Forever Young" by Alphaville; and Ultravox's darkly anthemic "Dancing with Tears in Our Eyes". Dave tell us why he made the list in the first place and Pank recalls, with fondness, "Not the 9 O'Clock News".

We hope you enjoy our first podcast. Do get in touch:

Follow the list as it builds up on https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=e334bd71aae4411a

Instagram - bangnuclearpodcast

Blue Sky - @bangpodcast.bsky.social

Email - [email protected]

Opening and closing music - (Waiting for the) Heatwave - Fay Ray. Appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John Lovering.

Intro voice - Ritchie

Artwork - Rachel Malbon

Assistant Producer - Shivam Pathak

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this trailer, Dave and Pank tell you what to expect when, on 17th February 2025, we launch the first episode of our podcast.

(Waiting for the) Heatwave appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John Lovering.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.