It’s Episode 13…. And it’s lucky for us, as we welcome the two creators of “Scarred for Life”, Stephen Brotherstone and Dave Lawrence.

“Scarred for Life” have published 3 magnificent volumes that cover the dark side of 70s and 80s pop culture. Almost everything, from horror films, books, music, shows and video games are covered in detail. The books have then led to live shows and, in recent years, the hugely successful podcasts, in which celebrities have discussed their childhood scars and fears.

The 5 songs we discuss in this Episode all feature in Scarred for Life volume 3 as well as in our original list. We start with Nik Kershaw’s irresistible “I Won’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”. We are all fans. A more circumspect discussion follows about Sting’s “Russians” and its intentions. Ste then is given free rein to eulogise about Fishbone’s (one of his favourite bands) “Party at Ground Zero”. We then return to the Top 40 and discuss Elton John’s “Nikita”, that video and, believe it not, the “answer” song to it. We round off with a favourite of the 80s, Kim Wilde, whose “Suburbs of Moscow” was the better choice to our “Stone”.

The boys go on to tell us about how it all started, and what’s next. Thanks to them both for joining us.

Once again, our playlists are updated:

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

Stay in touch!

Instagram:                     bangnuclearpodcast

Blue Sky:                      @bangpodcast.bsky.social

Facebook:                     Bang Nuclear Podcast

Reddit:                          r/bangnuclearpodcast

Email:                           [email protected]

Opening & 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.

Let there be rock! It's our heavy metal episode. Fuelled by listener demands, we've been exploring 80s nuclear war metal songs. In addition to our usual 5, we run down 20 of the best metal nuclear songs, from Maiden to Megadeth, Saxon to Sepultura. And we pay a special tribute to the beloved Ozzy Osbourne.

We are lucky to have brilliant contributions from metal fans and podcaster. Metal Bill gives us this thoughts on Metallica’s epic “Fight Fire with Fire”. His regular podcast “Music from a Lifetime” covers a variety of rock albums in great depth. Paul Moody, long time Queen podcaster and now hosting “Weirdies”, horror movie podcast, gives us his thoughts on the metal genre and nuclear war generally, before delving into Judas Priest’s fabulous “Some Heads are Gonna Roll”.  Long-time listeners join us too.  Andrew Holloway shares his memories of “Nuclear Attack” by Gary Moore and Greg Lake of ELP; Maiden superfan Walt Romney tells us his recollections of “2 Minutes to Midnight” and David Wilson gives us great insight into Megadeth’s “Set the World Afire”.

In addition to our usual playlists, we have compiled a special heavy metal playlist with all 20 of the songs in this podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rt1dxPQ33Zjx4lC5gtKWk?si=618cbb00a1e64a30

https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/heavy-metal-bang/pl.u-6mo4E8WtByBgKXl

Our main playlists:

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

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

Credits to “Scarred for Life” and Tim and Joanna Smolko’s fine work “Atomic Tunes”.

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

It’s 12 noon in London, 7am in Philadelphia and around the world, people are getting ready for Episode 11.  July 13th 1985 saw one of the greatest concerts of all time, as the world of rock and pop united to raise money and awareness for famine in Africa.

The very greatest artists performed their greatest hits, and we discuss 5 of those artists now. Of course, there were controversies about the event, which are put into even sharper focus as we look back 40 years. But, as a spectacle and as a means of raising awareness for generations to follow, it remains unforgettable.

We start (naturally) with Hammer to Fall by Queen. Freddie’s performance was stunning that day and this (we think) is the only Nuclear song performed that day. We then move on to Time Will Crawl by David Bowie. His performance of “Heroes” at Live Aid was simply unbeatable. We then cross the pond to Philadelphia. Tina Turner performed with Mick Jagger in the American leg of the concert and we discuss her post-nuclear anthem “We Don’t Need Another Hero” from “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.   Our next song is “P.O.E.” by Adam Ant. His one song at Live Aid came from the same album. While he now regrets performing at Live Aid, we are glad he did. Finally, U2’s “Seconds” is one of their many Cold War songs. Their performance of “Bad” lives long in the memory.

As ever, our playlist is updated on Spotify and Apple! Give it a listen – 59 songs to enjoy.

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

If anything we say interests you then do get 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

Guitar lick:                     Shivam Pathak

Opening words:          Richie Wheeler

Opening words of Live Aid –  Richard Skinner.

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

Welcome to Episode 10!

Almost half way there. In the last episode we explored Cold War tunes of Australian and New Zealand. In this episode we look at the genuine funkatomic bombs that America produced in the world of jazz-funk and hip hop. There were so many examples to choose from, but we have settled on a list of 5 songs from artists with a huge impact on their genres, if not the chart positions of some of our other selections.

First, the prescient and stunning “B-Movie” by Gil Scott-Heron, a spoken word piece of poetry that covers all of the issues that people faced in 80’s America. At 12 minutes in length, it is an awesome piece of work.

An accidental microphone gaffe by President Reagan gave rise to Bonzo Goes to Washington’s (aka Bootsy Collins and Jerry Harrison together with producer Arthur Russell) amazing “5 Minutes”, an early example of sampling and looping that laid the foundation for what was to follow.

The world of jazz-funk owes an enormous debt to Sun Ra, and his angry, but very laid- back, jam entitled “Nuclear War” is our next song. Born in 1914, Sun Ra’s musical legacy is too long to mention here.

The Bus Boys “D-Day” is yet another example of a Cold War song that deals with the most unpleasant of issues, but with funky abandon. And we end with the wonderful “America” by Kurtis Blow, a wonderful hip-hop beat with rap is the background to this amazing history lesson. Watch the video for this too….

Our playlist is updated on Spotify and Apple! Now 4 hours long, you can find all of the tracks that we have discussed in the episodes so far. We’ve even chucked in a couple of bonus tracks…

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

Please keep in touch. We love to hear from you on socials and e-mail.

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 9!

Welcome – once again the guests come thick and fast as we explore the nuclear themed music of the 80s from two lands down under – Australia and New Zealand. Our special guests this episode are Vitabeats -  Lissa and Andrew Barnum. They released the magnificent “Spot the Spanner” album in 1985, which included their funkatomic beat “Boom Box”, together with outlandish video. We discuss their musical journey, from LA to the countryside in New South Wales via the studios and record shops of Sydney and London.

We then discuss Aussie favourites Icehouse and their wonderful “Sunrise”, full of poignant imagery.

“Soviet Snow” by Shona Laing” is next. Part-orchestral, part-pop, it deals with the issue of the nuclear winter.

Would it be possible to have an episode about Australian music without at least a mention of Men at Work or Midnight Oil? “It’s a Mistake” is a fondly remembered hit coming in the same year as “Down Under”, and the video has the same slapstick comedy as some of the other songs we’ve discussed in this series.

Finally, “US Forces”: Midnight Oil’s constant activism and music about critical Australian and world issues make them stand apart from many of their peers. And thanks to our friend Michael Smith (Lord of Adders Black podcast) for his excellent contribution to this discussion.

Our playlist is updated on Spotify and Apple! Give it a listen – it’s now 3 hours long. Something for everyone. A bonus track is included this week, “One Nation under the Bomb” by Conflict is added in tribute to their lead singer Colin Jerwood who died recently.

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

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.

Welcome to Episode 8 – with our very special guest, Sylvia Patterson, influential music journalist who was at Smash Hits Magazine when it was at the peak of its popularity. She has written for the biggest publications in music and interviewed and toured with the biggest names in pop and rock music and has written two wonderful memoirs: “I’m Not With the Band” (2016) and “Same Old Girl” (2023).

All of the songs discussed in this episode are by artists who were (either once or very many times) featured on the iconic covers of Smash Hits. We start with the Thompson Twins surprisingly rock-ish anthem “Bombers in the Sky”.  Then we move on to “White Train” by Bananarama, which was the B-side to the huge hit “Venus”. Scottish duo Strawberry Switchblade’s wistful “Since Yesterday” wasn’t even widely known to be a nuclear song until Rose McDowall’s revelation in 2015.

Our last two songs come from 2 of the biggest British bands of the 80s; Depeche Mode’s eery synth classic “Two Minute Warning” and Duran Duran’s era defining “Planet Earth.

Sylvia gives her insights and anecdotes about all our artists – they’re a joy to hear.

We discuss with Sylvia Smash Hits’ contribution to the nuclear debate and, more generally, how they dealt with the pressing issues of the day.

And – as if all that wasn’t enough – we launch our very own line of Bang Nuclear Podcast Tea Towels….

Our playlist is updated on Spotify and Apple! Give it a listen – it’s now 3 hours long. Something for everyone.

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 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.