Bang! 101 Songs about Nuclear War from the 1980s

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=81bce0c59ff2470dhttps://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-more-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-vxy6L76uzVzd8ZlKeep in touch – and let us know of even more 80s Cold War tunes, contact us via:Blue Sky:                        @bangpodcast.bsky.socialFacebook:                      Bang Nuclear PodcastReddit:                            r/bangnuclearpodcastEmail:                             bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.comOpening and closing music:              (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John LoveringArtwork:                          Rachel MalbonAssistant Producer:   Shivam PathakOpening words:           Richie Wheeler“Cold War”, “The Devil’s Dancers” and “New Mexico” appear with the kind permission of Andy Oppenheimer.

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.socialFacebook:                     Bang Nuclear PodcastReddit:                           r/bangnuclearpodcastEmail:                            bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.comOpening and closing music:              (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John LoveringArtwork:                         Rachel MalbonAssistant Producer:   Shivam PathakOpening words:           Richie Wheeler

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=e52c370433cc4dc0and on Apple athttps://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-more-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-vxy6L76uzVzd8ZlOur podcast is made all the more special by your interactions with us. Stay in touch as follows:Instagram:                     bangnuclearpodcastBlue Sky:                       @bangpodcast.bsky.socialFacebook:                     Bang Nuclear PodcastReddit:                           r/bangnuclearpodcastEmail:                             bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.comOpening and closing music: (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John LoveringArtwork:                          Rachel MalbonAssistant Producer:   Shivam PathakOpening words:           Richie Wheeler

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=4da04b17ed3347eahttps://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXlAnd 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:                     bangnuclearpodcastBlue Sky:                       @bangpodcast.bsky.socialFacebook:                     Bang Nuclear PodcastReddit:                           r/bangnuclearpodcastEmail:                              bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.comOpening and closing music:              (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John LoveringArtwork:                         Rachel MalbonAssistant Producer:   Shivam PathakOpening words:           Richie Wheeler

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=4da04b17ed3347eahttps://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXlMake 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:                     bangnuclearpodcastBlue Sky:                        @bangpodcast.bsky.socialFacebook:                     Bang Nuclear PodcastReddit:                             r/bangnuclearpodcastEmail:                              bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.comOpening and closing music:              (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John LoveringArtwork:                          Rachel MalbonAssistant Producer:  Shivam PathakOpening words:          Richie WheelerWith sincere thanks to NENA for her wonderful message.

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=4da04b17ed3347eahttps://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-101-songs-about-nuclear-war-from-the-1980s/pl.u-6mo4j9KFByBgKXlKeep in touch and connect:Instagram:                     bangnuclearpodcastBlue Sky:                       @bangpodcast.bsky.socialFacebook:                     Bang Nuclear PodcastReddit:                           r/bangnuclearpodcastEmail:                            bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.comOpening and closing music:              (Waiting for the) Heatwave – Fay Ray, appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John LoveringArtwork:                          Rachel MalbonAssistant Producer:   Shivam PathakOpening words:            Richie Wheeler