Fifty Years in the Shadow of the Bomb with Fraser McCallum

Welcome to Episode 16 of Season 2. We have a very special guest, Fraser McCallum, author of the excellent “Cold War Britain – Fifty Years in the Shadow of the Bomb”. The book does not just deal with the important historical aspect of the post WW2 period, but also places Britain’s cultural landscape firmly in the foreground – its music, films and television. Huge thanks to Fraser for joining us.

As always, there’s music to discuss. All 5 are British songs, and fit in well with Fraser’s interview. We start with Red Box’s “Billy’s Line” (the playlist says “Lane” – that’s wrong!), a typically anthemic but sad story of a young man from Scotland during the Cold War.

The next song is the fantastic Tomahawk Cruise by TV Smith, formerly of The Adverts. We think it’s the only song which speaks from the viewpoint of the British missile itself.

Everything But the Girl’s beautiful “The Night I Heard Caruso Sing” is our next song. A piano-based lament, which deals with the horror of discovering nuclear devices during the peace of a family holiday in Scotland.

Bowie’s favourite band (of the time) was Screaming Blue Messiahs, whose allegorical guitar-driven “Bikini Red” deals with nuclear testing on that Pacific atoll.

We finish with Thomas Dolby’s “One of Our Submarines”. The big synth sound, along with his own family references, make this an irresistible addition to our list.

We also pay our respects to Dolly Parton, Frank Beard, Tim Curry, William Orbit and Barry Mitchell.

We are up to 90 songs in our latest playlist, which is updated here….

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

Here are our links for you to stay in touch:

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

“Why Don’t You?” Fay Ray, written by John Lovering. With thanks to Tony Travis.

Artwork: Rachel Malbon

Assistant Producer: Shivam Pathak

Opening words: Richie Wheeler

With thanks to Fraser McCallum.

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