Bang! 101 Songs about Nuclear War from the 1980s3 Nov 2025

Run Around in the Radiation

Don’t be afraid - it’s Episode 18. And with Halloween just done, it’s time to unleash some Goth heroes on you all, as well as our very special guest, Kirsty Harris.

We start with “Black Planet”, Sisters of Mercy’s dark, foreboding warning of a post-nuclear world. Check out the video that features the original Monkeemobile. Our next song is “A Strange Day” – Robert Smith standing on a beach (unsurprisingly) ruing the last day on earth.

“Cities in Dust” is one of the greats by Siouxsie and the Banshees. The song was inspired by Siouxsie’s trip to Pompeii but it is obviously symbolic of the fragility of our planet in the flash of an explosion.

We move on to the precursors of the mighty Cult – Southern Death Cult and their wonderful polemic “Moya”, which draws powerful comparisons between nuclear annihilation and the ravaging of Native American lands.

We end with a lesser-known gem. Bauhaus’ bassist David Jay released “Can’t This Shadow of Fear” as a solo single. It’s well worth checking out.

Kirsty Harris is a remarkable artist whose main theme is nuclear tests and the resulting mushroom clouds. Her stunning work depicts detonation on an enormous scale, but captures the beauty of the brutality. Dave and Pank visited her exhibition in South London and were lucky to interview her. She talks about her involvement with nuclear campaigning with her parents and her love of 80s music.

Visit her website and check out the works for yourself: kirstyharris.com

Our playlist now stands at 92 songs! Just 9 left.

Our previous episodes are all here for you to enjoy too.

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

Don’t forget our socials:

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

Brief snippet of Robert Smith from Roskilde Festival 2017

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