Bang! 101 Songs about Nuclear War from the 1980s1 Sep 2025

Have You Ever Seen this Kind of World?

Welcome to Episode 14. This time Dave and Pank travel around the world to hear what other countries were singing about nuclear war.

We start in Nigeria, with the inspirational and innovative William Onyeabor (and an acknowledgment of the great Fela Kuti). William’s song “This Kind of World” captures, ialwith joyful synth abandon, the fears he had about the way the planet was going.

We then move to South Africa, and progressive punk band Dog Detachment’s fiery and fearful “Third World War”. We then discuss one of South America’s most outspoken and important bands – Los Prisioneros, whose wistful “Pa Pa Pa” pleads for a better world.

The Japanese heavy metal scene in the 80s was huge, and nothing blasted louder than Loudness with their commentary on the American Star Wars policy, “SDI”.

We then look at the influential Russian band Kino and much lamented singer Victor Tsoi, who proclaimed “I Declare my Home” to be a nuclear-free zone.

We end by asking our listeners to help identify a mystery 80s band with their unknown track. Listen to find out…

We have put together an extra playlist to cover a whole section of nuclear war songs from around the globe. Give it a listen at:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/43QBqIr32rnu28lRXfrl1P?si=atRU76eLS0-pRXEDrAWRmw

and on Apple music

https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/bang-world-music/pl.u-PDb4oqgILlLYypP

And, of course, our main playlists are always updated.

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

Stay in touch!

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.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(38)

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 t...

31 Aug 1h 14min

By the Time this Record's Finished, Everybody Will Be....

This is Episode 15 of Season 2 and we continue to shine the spotlight on Legends – lesser known tracks by the biggest artists.To start with, though, we are delighted that our dear friend Tony Travis o...

10 Aug 53min

London Calling to the Faraway Towns

Welcome to Episode 14 of Season 2. Legends are the focus. We discuss some lesser known songs by the biggest artists. We start with Bruce Springsteen’s “Roulette”. Recorded almost immediately after t...

27 Juli 36min

A Cold War Conversation with Ian Sanders

Season 13 of Episode 2 is devoted to Cold War espionage, and we welcome a very special guest. Ian Sanders is the creator, host, and inspiration behind the magnificent “Cold War Conversations” podcast...

13 Juli 1h 11min

The Property Stays, but the People are Gone

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 12. We have discussed so many different genres of music over all our episodes, and now we enter the world of folk and country music from both sides of the Atlantic, and we ...

29 Juni 1h 1min

Rolling Along Through a Rose Coloured Glow

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 11. After the extremely focussed and niche topics of the last 2 episodes, we go mainstream again with some of the biggest British artists of that era and beyond…. We start...

15 Juni 54min

We Don't Even Have to Win This...

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 Juni 1h 7min

Flash, Blinding Flash, then there's Nothing to See

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 a...

18 Maj 40min