Bang! 101 Songs about Nuclear War from the 1980s13 Heinä 2025

In the Shadow of the Mushroom Cloud

It’s 12 noon in London, 7am in Philadelphia and around the world, people are getting ready for Episode 11. July 13th 1985 saw one of the greatest concerts of all time, as the world of rock and pop united to raise money and awareness for famine in Africa.

The very greatest artists performed their greatest hits, and we discuss 5 of those artists now. Of course, there were controversies about the event, which are put into even sharper focus as we look back 40 years. But, as a spectacle and as a means of raising awareness for generations to follow, it remains unforgettable.

We start (naturally) with Hammer to Fall by Queen. Freddie’s performance was stunning that day and this (we think) is the only Nuclear song performed that day. We then move on to Time Will Crawl by David Bowie. His performance of “Heroes” at Live Aid was simply unbeatable. We then cross the pond to Philadelphia. Tina Turner performed with Mick Jagger in the American leg of the concert and we discuss her post-nuclear anthem “We Don’t Need Another Hero” from “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Our next song is “P.O.E.” by Adam Ant. His one song at Live Aid came from the same album. While he now regrets performing at Live Aid, we are glad he did. Finally, U2’s “Seconds” is one of their many Cold War songs. Their performance of “Bad” lives long in the memory.

As ever, our playlist is updated on Spotify and Apple! Give it a listen – 59 songs to enjoy.

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

If anything we say interests you then do get in touch via 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

Guitar lick: Shivam Pathak

Opening words: Richie Wheeler

Opening words of Live Aid – Richard Skinner.

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

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(39)

If it's Not Love, it's the Bomb that Will Bring Us Together.

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 17 of our 80s Cold War podcast. In this episode we discuss tracks 91 to 95 of our second list of 101 songs.But first, we introduce a special guest – Aidan Woods of Lightbri...

21 Syys 55min

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 Elo 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 Elo 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 Heinä 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 Heinä 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 Kesä 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 Kesä 54min