A podcast delving into 101 amazing songs from the 1980s that dealt with the threats posed by nuclear war.
You'll hear us discuss the biggest hits of the decade (did you even know they were about nuclear war?), songs that you might have forgotten and that need to be heard again, and songs that you may never heard.
Every fortnight, Dave and Pank will be exploring some of the best known hits from around the world, to lesser-known deeper cuts. Every genre of 80s music gets a look-in: punk, new wave, funk, soul, rock, heavy rock, indie, reggae, disco.
We will be discussing the songs from a musical and cultural perspective. What else was happening in the world of television and literature to help paint this nuclear landscape?
With every podcast, we will update our Spotify playlist with the songs we are going to discuss. Have a listen to the tunes, and then the chat, or the chat.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=05f85de012a84bfb
Presenters: Dave and Pank
Opening and end music:(Waiting for the) Heatwave by Fay Ray , appears courtesy of Fay Ray, written by John Lovering.
With thanks to Richie for voice, Rachel for art and Shivam for tech
Do email us at bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com
Message us at @bangpodcast.bsky.social
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A podcast delving into 101 amazing songs from the 1980s that dealt with the threats posed by nuclear war.
You'll hear us discuss the biggest hits of the decade (did you even know they were about nuclear war?), songs that you might have forgotten and that need to be heard again, and songs that you may never heard.
Every fortnight, Dave and Pank will be exploring some of the best known hits from around the world, to lesser-known deeper cuts. Every genre of 80s music gets a look-in: punk, new wave, funk, soul, rock, heavy rock, indie, reggae, disco.
We will be discussing the songs from a musical and cultural perspective. What else was happening in the world of television and literature to help paint this nuclear landscape?
With every podcast, we will update our Spotify playlist with the songs we are going to discuss. Have a listen to the tunes, and then the chat, or the chat.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=05f85de012a84bfb
Presenters: Dave and Pank
Opening and end music:(Waiting for the) Heatwave by Fay Ray , appears courtesy of Fay Ray, written by John Lovering.
With thanks to Richie for voice, Rachel for art and Shivam for tech
Do email us at bangnuclearpodcast@gmail.com
Message us at @bangpodcast.bsky.social
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome to Episode 10!
Almost half way there. In the last episode we explored Cold War tunes of Australian and New Zealand. In this episode we look at the genuine funkatomic bombs that America produced in the world of jazz-funk and hip hop. There were so many examples to choose from, but we have settled on a list of 5 songs from artists with a huge impact on their genres, if not the chart positions of some of our other selections.
First, the prescient and stunning “B-Movie” by Gil Scott-Heron, a spoken word piece of poetry that covers all of the issues that people faced in 80’s America. At 12 minutes in length, it is an awesome piece of work.
An accidental microphone gaffe by President Reagan gave rise to Bonzo Goes to Washington’s (aka Bootsy Collins and Jerry Harrison together with producer Arthur Russell) amazing “5 Minutes”, an early example of sampling and looping that laid the foundation for what was to follow.
The world of jazz-funk owes an enormous debt to Sun Ra, and his angry, but very laid- back, jam entitled “Nuclear War” is our next song. Born in 1914, Sun Ra’s musical legacy is too long to mention here.
The Bus Boys “D-Day” is yet another example of a Cold War song that deals with the most unpleasant of issues, but with funky abandon. And we end with the wonderful “America” by Kurtis Blow, a wonderful hip-hop beat with rap is the background to this amazing history lesson. Watch the video for this too….
Our playlist is updated on Spotify and Apple! Now 4 hours long, you can find all of the tracks that we have discussed in the episodes so far. We’ve even chucked in a couple of bonus tracks…
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vLjQBbJEhiDaFNOTz9snD?si=4da04b17ed3347ea
Please keep in touch. We love to hear from you on socials and e-mail.
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.
