Bang! 101 Songs about Nuclear War from the 1980s

Welcome to Episode 9 of Season 2. The UK punk scene was far from over in the early 80s. But the songs had moved on from general nihilism and frustration to a heavier tone, with more urban political and anti-war sentiments.

We start by going through our own Top 20 of UK 80s punk nuclear songs. Thanks to our long-time listener and future guest Dave (aka Steel City Vegan) for his wonderful input. We have put all 20 into a separate playlist (linked below) for you.

We then focus on 5 of the best. We start with Trowbridge’s punk heroes Subhumans, with their caustic “Human Error” – we switch off the bad news to make us feel better while there’s an arms race going on.

We then move on to “Last Rockers” by Bristol heroes Vice Squad, fronted by the fantastic Beki Bondage – one of the great female vocalists of the era.

At 1.22, “One Nation Under the Bomb” by Conflict. The late Colin Jerwood crams furious verses into a few short seconds. It’s fantastic.

Our 4th song is “No Doves Fly Here” by The Mob (from Yeovil). What an epic, slow burner of a track, full of ominous threat.

We finish our discussion with the extraordinary “Nagasaki Nightmare” by Crass – a Penny Rimbaud masterpiece in numerous parts, with Japanese tones, a koto and high speed drums and guitars.

The playlists are updated on Apple and Spotify and we have a special playlist of the punk top 20:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/376cRLM0lUCDMt6ZVeP3gC?si=nmRnF4u7SUSeNGIBbCurkA&pi=XPKRxf0NQfCIJ
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 via socials and emails:

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 8 of Season 2, and we have a very special guest, Stephen Baker, lead singer of Finnish art metal band Frozen Factory. Their album Apocalypse Inc came out in January 2026 and included the fantastic Petrov’s Light, a tribute to “The Man Who Saved the World” in 1983: Stanislav Petrov. We discuss Petrov’s amazing story and almost unimaginable legacy, as well as finding out more about Frozen Factory – the band, their history and 80’s influences.

We then discuss 5 great songs by the biggest names in rock music. Thematically, they are all linked by the notion of false alarms, warnings and threats….

We start with “I’ve Known No War” from The Who’s 1982 album “It’s Hard”. It was John Entwistle’s last studio album with the band (and, indeed, Kenny Jones’) and they sound on fine form, despite Roger Daltrey’s later regrets about the album.

The next song we discuss is “War Games” by Crosby, Stills and Nash, which is a surprisingly upbeat number that accompanied the Matthew Broderick nuclear war movie of the same name.

We then move on to “Four Minutes” from Roger Waters’ themed album “Radio Kaos” which sees him re-join forces with vocalist Clare Torry. It does, perhaps, offer some small message of optimism in an otherwise bleak landscape.

Supertramp’s 16 minute epic “Brother, Where You Bound?” is our next point of discussion. Complete with accompanying feature length video (although it wasn’t a single), the song has an array of styles and moods. It’s fantastic.

Our final song is “Distant Early Warning” by Rush. Its lyrics were written by the great Neil Peart, who so sadly passed away in 2020, and the song is a wonderful mix of high-powered drums, synths and guitar behind Geddy Lee’s distinctive vocal.

All of our song are on our playlists – check them out on Spotify and Apple.
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 – we love to hear from you:
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 7 of Season 2. It’s time for us to look at albums, rather than songs, with a specific focus on two of our favourite artists.

Electric Café came from Kraftwerk’s 1986 album of the same name, although in later iterations it was renamed “Techno Pop”. But it really gives us the excuse to delve deep into one of our favourite albums – Radioaktivitat from 1975. We look at the how the song “Radioactivity” evolved from 1975 to a proper anti-nuke tune in 1991 when it was re-released. We explore further our love for the band although, as you will hear, it is not shared by everyone.

Paul Hardcastle is one of the best known producers and musicians. And he’s from our area of London too. His album “No Winners” encapsulates our podcast in 2 perfect sides of vinyl, although side 1 is particularly apt as it contains a number of parts, including the excellent dance track “40 Years”. We look at Paul’s motivations and fears when the album was made, and wonder why it is often overlooked in the world of 80s nuclear music.

Once again, all of our songs are on our ever-updating playlists.
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 – we love your messages and voicenotes:
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.

Episode 6 of Season 2 sees us abandon our usual chin-rubbing over lyrics as we consider instrumental pieces only.

Marvin Gaye’s “Nuclear Juice” is, without doubt, the funkiest piece of music we have ever discussed, and is from the “In Our Lifetime” album. You wouldn’t know that it was recorded at a time of emotional and financial turmoil but the brilliant Matt Broughton gives us further insight into this difficult time.
We then move on to the wholly under-celebrated but brilliant Doris Norton and her electro-synth track “War Mania Analysis”. Much more needs to be send about Doris Norton. She is inspirational.
We then move on to a classical piece: “Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima” by the composer Krystof Penderecki. This is a 1988 version by the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra and, to help us navigate its atonal complexity is musician and listener Stuart.
It would be remiss of us not to include some work by Ryuichi Sakamoto: “End of Europe” is from the hugely important and influential album “B-2 Unit”. Sakamoto’s contribution to world music is far-reaching and never forgotten.
The highly hummable “Moscow Olympics” by Orange Juice is next… it was the B-side to their debut single “Falling and Laughing”.
We end with “Moon Over Moscow” by British 80s’ favourites, Visage, from their first self-titled album. It is a complete piece of instrumental joy.
All of these pieces appear on the updated playlists on Apple and Spotify for you to enjoy.
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 – your voicenotes and messages are wonderful:
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 5 of Season 2.

In this episode we delve into the world of the cover version. There are a million covers out there – and in this episode we discuss 80s (except one) covers of well known nuclear/war/protest songs.

Last year we discussed Talking Heads’ classic “Life During Wartime”. This time we explore the Staple Singers 80s version, which takes the funk in another direction. We then move on to “I Come and Stand at Every Door” by This Mortal Coil. Originally, a Turkish poem that has been covered many times, this version is haunting and beautiful (oh, and it’s 1991).

Our next song is “Eve Ov Destruction”, a B-side released by Psychic TV. Whilst we still don’t get the “Ov”, we certainly love this reworked extended version of Barry Maguire’s 60s protest classic that went to number 1 in the UK and USA.

“Morning Dew” is a folk melody covered by many, from the Byrds to Robert Plant (via Lulu). We really enjoy this version by DEVO – as it abandons the slow folk guitars in favour of solild 80s synth action.

“Mushroom” as covered by The Jesus and Mary Chain (Dave’s favourite band) comes next. Originally by German pioneers Can, this version is sparse and cold, and we love it. There are hardly any lyrics, but they do pack a punch.

Finally, we explore a very curious cover of Wanda Jackson’s 1958 song “Fujiyama Mama”. This version is by Japanese New Wave act The Frank Chickens, and appears only on a John Peel radio session. Again, something new for our listeners to sample.

But before any of this, following the success of our reggae episode, we have a fabulous voice note from Dr Vicky McMahon and a listener-inspired top 20 reggae nuclear tunes from the 80s that didn’t make our original list.

We love your contributions and voice notes. Keep them coming.

As ever, our playlists are 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: [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.