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: 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.

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: 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.

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: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.

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 – bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com

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 – 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

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 – bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com

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 - bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com

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 - bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com

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.