Bang! 101 Songs about Nuclear War from the 1980s23 Helmi

"Go Nuclear," the Cowboy Told Us

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 4.

It’s been one year and 10,000 downloads since we started. So what better time to move our focus to the Wonderful World and Beautiful People of Reggae. We discuss the Rastafarian themes of Armagideon and how reggae musicians brought nuclear war under the same umbrella of other social injustices.

We start with one of the greatest of them all – “Redemption Song” by Bob Marley and the Wailers resonates with people around the world. “Have no fear for atomic energy” he sings – it will not be nuclear conflict that brings about the end of days. Peter Tosh’s “No Nuclear War” comes from the Grammy-winning album of the same name. We discuss the lyrics and his awful demise.

Our third song is “Nuclear Soldier” from London perennial favourites, Aswad. Massive hits followed their journey through the Saxon sound-systems. We then move on to another British favourite – Smiley Culture, whose “Nuclear Weapon” came from his appropriately named “Tongue in Cheek” album. His fast paced, humorous style of rap over reggae beats belied the seriousness of his messages.

We end with one of our favourite songs: “The Lunatics have Taken Over the Asylum” by Fun Boy Three. It’s our second song from Terry Hall and we make no apology for it. This is bleak but beautiful.

As ever – the playlists are updated so you can hear all the songs from the season in one place:

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 with us always…

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

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