| Description |
viii, 355 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Introduction: Cold War History in Music and Lyrics -- Folk: From Paul Robeson to Bob Dylan -- Folk: Women's Voices -- Country: The Conservative Stance -- Novelty and Comedy Songs: The Cold War as a Big Joke -- Early Rock and Other Styles: Rocking the Bomb -- Mainstream Rock: Bowie, U2, Sting, Billy Joel, and Springsteen -- Hard Rock and Heavy Metal: The Electric Guitar as the Bomb -- Punk Rock: Three Chords and the Apocalypse -- Electronic and New Wave: The Cold War in a Synthesizer -- Wind of Change: The Fall of the Wall and the End of the Cold War. |
| Summary |
"What is the soundtrack for a nuclear war? During the Cold War, over 500 songs were written about nuclear weapons, fear of the Soviet Union, civil defense, bomb shelters, uranium mining, the space race, espionage, the Berlin Wall, and glasnost. This music uncovers aspects of the world-changing events that documentaries and history books cannot. In Atomic Tunes, Tim and Joanna Smolko explore everything from the serious to the comical, the morbid to the crude, showing the widespread concern among musicians who were trying to cope with the effect of communism on American society and the consequences of a potential nuclear conflict of global proportions. Atomic Tunes presents a musical history of the Cold War, offering insight into the songs that capture the fear of those who lived under the shadow of Stalin, Sputnik, mushroom clouds, and missiles"-- Back cover. |
| Subject |
Popular music -- United States -- History and criticism.
|
|
Popular music. |
|
United States. |
|
Popular music -- Great Britain -- History and criticism.
|
|
Great Britain. |
|
Cold War -- Music and the war.
|
|
Cold War (1945-1989) |
|
Popular music -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
|
|
Popular music -- Political aspects. |
|
History. |
| Chronological Term |
20th century |
| Subject |
Popular music -- Political aspects -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century.
|
| Chronological Term |
1900-1999 |
| Genre/Form |
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
|
|
History.
|
| Added Author |
Smolko, Joanna R., author.
|
| Other Form: |
Online version: Smolko, Tim, Atomic tunes Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 2021. 9780253056177 (DLC) 2020042419 |
| ISBN |
9780253056160 hardcover |
|
0253056160 hardcover |
|
9780253024466 paperback |
|
0253024463 paperback |
|
9780253056177 electronic book |
|
