Bang! 101 Songs about Nuclear War from the 1980s

Welcome to Episode 8 – with our very special guest, Sylvia Patterson, influential music journalist who was at Smash Hits Magazine when it was at the peak of its popularity. She has written for the biggest publications in music and interviewed and toured with the biggest names in pop and rock music and has written two wonderful memoirs: “I’m Not With the Band” (2016) and “Same Old Girl” (2023)...

It’s Episode 7 and, to coincide with the recent Eurovision Song Contest, we look at artists who have either been in Eurovision or have some indirect links with it…. We start with UK champions Bucks Fizz and their forlorn nostalgia in “I Used to Love the Radio”  before moving on to Swedish winners and pop pioneers ABBA – 2 songs form part of our discussion :“Soldiers” and “The Visitors”. Germa...

It's Episode 6, and this time the theme is "Angry Young Britain". We explore songs from bands who raged against the injustices of the day and welcome a very special guest. Four of them hail from the Midlands - The Specials, UB40, The Beat and The Au Pairs and Swindon's finest, XTC. The Au Pairs' lead singer is the great Lesley Woods and she spoke to us about the song "America" - a damning indictme...

Welcome to Episode 5 and thanks for being part of our ever growing nuclear family. There’s not a male vocalist in sight, as we discuss 5 entirely different but outstanding female vocalists of the age.  We start with Blondie’s Atomic – paying tribute to the fabulous drummer, Clem Burke; then Hazel O’Connor’s anthemic Eighth Day from the soundtrack to “Breaking Glass”.  We t...

Welcome to Episode 4 of Bang! (Number 1 in Goodpods Rock and Pop charts for March 2025) We discuss one of the biggest and best loved songs of the 80s… “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears….. Over 2 billion streams on Spotify alone! We then move on to the wistful protest of Billy Bragg’s “Between the Wars”; then Kate Bush’s haunting and fearful “Breathing”. We then move on to...

In this episode, we are delighted to welcome Tony Travis of Fay Ray for an interview, in which we discuss his band, the album and the song that is the title of this episode and our regular intro and outro music. Thanks to Tony for joining us. We then move on to Deacon Blue's beautifully descriptive and evocative "He Looks Like Spencer Tracy Now"; Young Marble Giants' short but stoically beautiful...

In our 2nd episode, we start by paying tribute to the great Rick Buckler and discuss The Jam's 1980 classic "Going Underground"; then we move on to the calm and reflective "Glad It's All Over" by Captain Sensible; a lesser known but vibrant 80's tune "Fall Out" by Data; then Tom Robinson's beautiful but melancholic "War Baby". Our final tune is the unforgettable Prince classic "1999" - who even kn...

Welcome to Episode 1 of Bang! 101 Songs about Nuclear War from the 1980s. In our first episode, "Welcome to the Red Skies...", we discuss the perennial classic, "Enola Gay" by OMD; Hot Chocolate's lesser known but super-cool "Mindless Boogie"; two wonderful songs that should have been much bigger hits in the UK - "Red Skies" by The Fixx and "Forever Young" by Alphaville; and Ultravox's darkly anth...

In this trailer, Dave and Pank tell you what to expect when, on 17th February 2025, we launch the first episode of our podcast. (Waiting for the) Heatwave appears courtesy of Fay Ray. Written by John Lovering. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.