Root Boy Slim, doing the Meltdown....
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Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh recommended that pregnant women and young children evacuate the area near Three Mile Island in March 1979. Maybe he should have included musicians too....
(Potter County Was Made By the Hand of God, But the Devil Made) Three Mile Island - Al Shade & Jean Romaine (Potter County PA 1979)
by Tom Quinn (Lancaster-24 miles away) & Sean Kilcoyne (Hummelstown-8 miles away)
TQ: I was 10 years old on that day when we got news that something was happening at some place called Three Mile Island. I never heard of it at the time, but it was only about 24 miles northwest of our suburban Lancaster home. We were supposed to stay indoors with the windows closed. My parents remained calm, but I could tell my mom was really worried and there was a lot of talk about which way the wind would blow. When she dropped us off at my friend Corey's house, we ran from the car to the front door.
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| 5 and 25 mile radii from TMI-2 |
SK: Three Mile Island had been spitting radioactive filth around central Pennsylvania for more than 48 hours when the governor issued his recommendation that pregnant women and preschool-age children evacuate. It was a Friday afternoon and I was in the first grade. My elementary school was slightly outside the five-mile evacuation radius, a measurement which provided little comfort when emergency sirens began screaming out in the late March air. My six-year-old ears heard one teacher tell another that we would all probably die.
TQ: Until that day, I had never heard of radiation. I don't think I knew what nuclear power was. I just knew about the Bomb. We spent the day playing in the basement while my parents were at work, entertaining ourselves for a little while by running up to the little window by the ceiling and screaming RADIATION! I'm Meeeeltinnnng!
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| photo by Lose Kibler |
SK: Within the space of an hour or two, most parents had collected their offspring, leaving the school eerily depopulated. My own family was missing in action and naturally I began to panic. Fortunately, a non-catastrophic explanation prevailed: we owned a single car and my father had been detained at work. Sometime later – the wait seemed interminable but was probably an hour or so – our red VW Beetle was wobbling through the Allegheny Mountains toward Altoona.
TQ: The next day, we headed for the hills with my cousins and spent the weekend at their grandfather's trailer in the Poconos. I was worried about my dad, who stayed behind, but we picked blueberries, ran around the woods, and had a great time. If only all disasters could be this much fun.
SK: I distinctly remember the tension of the ensuing days, my group of adults nervously monitoring media transmissions for evidence of the situation back home. It was unthinkable that something called a hydrogen bubble could cause an explosion large enough to destroy our home and kill everybody that stayed behind....
*denotes songs yet to be found or salvaged.
1979: Immediate AftermathRadiation Funk / Meltdown - Maxwell (Columbia PA)
Radiation Sickness - Cinecyde (Detroit)
Three Mile Island - The Tyme-Aires (Etters PA)
It's a Meltdown - The Citizen Kafka Singers (NYC)
27.3 - Ice 9 (Portland OR)
Three Mile Smile - Aerosmith (Boston)
Three Mile Island - Jorge Santana
Three Mile Island Interlude - J.P. and the Reactors (Harrisburg)
Plutonium is Forever/Power - John Hall (NY)
Three Mile Island - Jorge Santana
Three Mile Island Interlude - J.P. and the Reactors (Harrisburg)Plutonium is Forever/Power - John Hall (NY)
No More Nukes - Joy Ryder & Avis Davis (NYC)
Shut 'Em Down / We Almost Lost Detroit at the No Nukes Concert - Gil Scott Heron (NYC)
Melt Down Boogie - Buzzards (Chicago)
No More Nukes / Bleecker Street Visions - Roger Matura & the Niss Puk Band (Germany)
Three Mile Island - Sisto Rossi (FL)
Three Mile Island - Mostly Other People Do the Killing (NYC)
Three Mile Island - Remains of Silence
Three Mile Island - Lord M&M, Ft. Gino the Dino, Dan the Menace
Unknown Dates:
*Christmas On Three Mile Island - Leon Redbone parody by Old Man Ribber (no known recording)
No Nukes - George Robson (AZ)
Fukushima Harrisburg Chernobyl Hiroshima - KK Slider and Co
Harrisburg Blues - Uninvited (West Germany)3 Mile Island Blues and Other Hummable Ditties for the 80's - Charles “Rick” Kelly
TQ: I survived Three Mile Island and the latter Cold War, went to college in Philly without much of a plan, and grew out of my sense of impending doom. But the impact of TMI was much bigger than I ever realized, certainly as little kids in our own worlds, but even as adults, for me anyway. The only lyrical references I was aware of at the time were on The Clash's London Calling.
Once I started looking, I was surprised to find so many TMI songs. I figure any song about "radiation" in '79-81 had to be part of the reaction. The '79 tracks tend to be very literal, anti-nuke, some good black humor, and sometimes hyperbolic and some would say silly fear mongering. There are lots of people glowing in the dark, mutant fish, and nuclear explosions. The 80s tracks began to use nuclear accident lingo as metaphor in the best tradition of atomic bomb songs from the 50s and 60s with "radioactive" coming to mean "hot love" more often than not. Reesa's You melt my heart like TMI is my favorite, and Syn's Radioactive Nights is the hands-down mathematical winner (15 distinct metaphors!). I held most of the later tracks to a higher standard. Most had to make direct reference to TMI to make the cut. There are at least 21 songs titled Three Mile Island or TMI from the 2000-2012 period, though interestingly, outside the US, "Harrisburg" seems to be the word most closely associated with the accident. Sean and I salvaged many of these tracks from the analog abyss, digitizing and archiving them for the first time, and I hope people can find an interest in their collective effect, weirdness, fear, and humor.
SK: As far as the impact goes, yeah, I would agree, it's hard to overestimate. It even informed how we discussed such events. Following from your point about the word "radiation", I bet "reactor", "control rod" and "meltdown" weren't even in some adult vocabularies before 1979. And for those that wrote all the earnest, politically engaged protest songs throughout the 70s in opposition to new nuclear plants, all of a sudden their worst fears are confirmed.
I appreciate that these songs and other assorted cultural detritus (even crassly commercial cash-in stuff) tell a story about how humans of different cultures and belief systems respond to complex, traumatic events. It really becomes a sort of unofficial "people's history." There are some scholarly articles I came across about Chernobyl describing how school kids were responding with these morbid nursery rhymes while skipping rope! Children talking matter-of-factly about leukemia or calling one another "dirty radioactive pigs" as a form of insult. It's amazing how deeply these terrors filter down to the individual level, shaping private experience. This would also indicate to me that whatever official explanation may prevail, whenever you've lived through a nuclear accident, radiation exposure is a nebulous, gnawing sort of psychic burden.
There are surely more TMI songs that haven't been salvaged yet, and if you have any ideas about how we can permanently archive this collection, let us know.
Thanks to:
Links:
Arcade:
Comic Material:
Shut 'Em Down / We Almost Lost Detroit at the No Nukes Concert - Gil Scott Heron (NYC)
Melt Down Boogie - Buzzards (Chicago)
No More Nukes / Bleecker Street Visions - Roger Matura & the Niss Puk Band (Germany)
Three Mile Island - Joseph Aronesty aka Aaron Este (NJ)
Roulette (demo) - Bruce Springsteen (NJ)
Face the Fire - Dan Fogelberg (Nashville)
Radiation - Richie Gerber (ME)
The Beatles at Three Mile Island - Russell Hoffman (on Dr. Demento)
London Calling / Clampdown - The Clash (UK) video
Three Mile Island - Jethro Jive & the Genetic Rejection
Microwave Radiation - Xterminators (San Diego)
Volcano - Jimmy Buffet
Radiation Nation on a Three Mile Isle - Mark Levy aka LEV (CA)
Overexposed - Rick Kirby and the Vigilantes (CA)
Is Your Radio Active? - Times 5 (San Francisco)
Atomic - Blondie (NYC) video
On the Beach - The Rattlers (w/Joey Ramone)
Take the Children and Run - Don Lange
Radiation Level - Sun (Dayton OH)
Nuclear Madness - Joseph Lee Hooker (DC or NJ?)
Nuclear Power - Angletrax (UK)
The Meltdown - Root Boy Slim & the Sex Change Band (DC)
Reactor No. 2 - Nash the Slash (Toronto)
Radiation - Digital Dance (Belgium)
Nuclear Night - Crystal Disco Band
Atoms on the Loose Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 - Seals and Clubs (LA)
Goodbye T.M.I. - Gary & the Outriders (Hershey/Middletown PA)
Radiation / Jimmy Carter - Styphnoids (Portland OR)
My Radiation / King of the Hill / We Are the Nukes - The Nukes (Bloomington IN)
Nukes Make Me Puke - Oz (Wilmington DE)
Living In the Cancer Zone - Lisa & the Escorts (Wilmington DE)
Three Mile Island - Andrew R. McGhie (Wilmington DE)
Nuclear Boy - Killing Joke (UK)
Three Mile Island - Frank Canna (NJ)
Nuke Update - Fluke and O'Neal
Three Mile Island - Jim Bob Graves (VA)
Black Gold - Sam Church, Jr.
General Boy Visits Apocalypse Now - Devo
The Middletown Meltdown - Larry McCollough (PA)
Nuclear Blues - Kevin Minchin (Australia)
*TMI (after Sex Pistols EMI) - The Pleasure Dotz (York PA)
Three Mile Island Blues - Alan Fox (see 1981 recording)
*Radiationmasturbation - The Fall of Christianity (CA)
Harrisburg Radiation Blues - Ernie Hawkins (Pittsburgh)
*No Nuke Blues - Vic Sadot & the Crazy Planet Band (Newark DE)
*Three Mile Island - Thomas Keegan (MI)
Three Mile Island Blues - Barry Hyman
*Three Mile Island - Robert Schlipf
*Three Mile Island Shakedown - Jon Fonville (San Diego?)
*TMI - Julia Goldensohn (Philadelphia)
*Three Mile Island - Jeff Kalmar
*Now We All Live in Pennsylvania - Jesse P. Slocum (Bloomington IN)
*The Phantom Atom - Thomas J. Mantle & Julia F. Kooken (CA)
*TMI Blues - Debra M. Goodson
*Three Mile Island - Joe Wagner
*3 M.I. (it's what you need) - John Alan Connerly
*Radiation for Free - Rockylox (New Zealand)
3 Mile Island - The Howard County Dump (MD, see Les Alstat 2011)
Three Mile Island - Bill Romansky (Philadelphia)
Ballade á Chooz - GAM Groupe d'Action Musicale (Belgium)
*The Ballad of Three Mile Island - Red River Dave McEnery (TX)
*Don't Melt Down on My Baby / Nuclear Waste / Plutonium - Tru Fax & the Insaniacs (DC - see 2014)
Meltdown - El Pifco (Australia)
Nuclear Man - The Doodads (CO)
Headin’ for Armageddon - The Gospel Blenders (Philadelphia)
Niagra Baby - Rejex (Australia)
1980
Who Will Close Pandora's Box - Fred & the Jupiter Gypsies (Harrisburg)
Radioactive Nights - Syn (Philadelphia)
Nuclear Infected - Alice Cooper (Detroit)
Atomic Love - The Late Teens (Harrisburg)
Critical Mass / System Failure / We are the NRC - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (TN)
Radioactive - Scott Wilk & the Walls (Chicago)
Radiation - Suicide (NYC)
Radioactivity - The Zips (Glasgow)
Meltdown (at Madame Toussaud's) - Steve Taylor (Denver)
I'm a Reactor - The Reactors (CT & NYC)
Radioactive Love - Wreck'n Crew (NY)
TMI - Reesa & the Rooters (Philadelphia) video
Nuclear Toy - Hawkwind (UK)
All Clear in Harrisburg - Tom Paxton (NYC)
Harrisburg / Your Money and Your Life / Tell ‘Em No - The Fourth Wall (NYC from We Are the Guinea Pigs documentary)
Janitor - Suburban Lawns (LA)
TMI - Locksmith (Pasadena)
Give Me Nuclear Power - Mykel Board’s Art (NYC)
The Whole World Causes Cancer - The Ralphs (TX)
Nuclear Blues - Blood, Sweat and Tears (CA)
Reactor - Painterband (Chicago)
Strontium 90 - Six Minute War (UK)
Low Level Radiation - The Cardboards (Pittsburgh)
Radioactivity - The Aircuts (Vancouver)
Harrisburg Half Life - Ray Anderson (US)
Harrisburg - Søren Sidevinds Spillemænd (Denmark)
R-Love (is Approaching Critical Mass) - Transistors (CO)
Atomreggae Harrisburg - KSMB (Sweden)
Harrisburg / Metallo Electtico - Kaos Rock (Italy)
Tmi - Elliott Sharp (NYC)
Radiation Man - Fault 151 (UK)
I Wanna Have a Nuclear Reaction - R-F (Atlanta)
Half Life - Humans from Earth (NJ)
City of Fear - Rondos (Netherlands)
Mutant - K.T.H. Kill The Hostages (FL)
Radioactive Feelings - Outrageous (France)
Nuclear Love - Exits (LA)
Radiation Polka - Chicago City Limits (NYC)
Reactor #2 - D.C. LaRue
Meltdown / To the Core - The Reactors (San Bernadino)
She Glows In the Dark - The Bagazoid Brothers (Cincinnati)
Pennsylvania Rain - Frigos (Italy)
Song from Harrisburg - Nightwatch (NYC)
No Nukes For Me - Judy Gorman-Jacobs (NYC)
Nukes Till We Puke - The Fleshapoids (ME) On our seeking list
Nuclear sí - Aviador Dro (Spain) video
Atomic Crusader - DuChamp (Kansas City)
Gamma Ray Blues - John Gill (Coatesville PA)
1981
Nuclear Power - Fallout (UK)
Three Mile Island - Fred Small (MA)
Stop the Nukes - Joey Skidmore & the Cellmates (MO)
Nuclear Meltdown - ?
Three Isle My Land / Meltdown Requiem - Heads in the Sky (Canada)
Radiation Baby - The Form (Boston)
Radioactive Love - Nathan-Coates (Chicago)
Harrisburg - De Fabriek (Netherlands)
Radio Active (Fun, Fun, Fun) - Deborah Galli
Harrisburg Today - Tim Craven (PA)
Strontium 90 - Kreegah! (Norway)
Radiation - The Mistakes (UK)
Nuclear Song - Craig Carothers (Portland OR)
Radioactive Love / Radiation - Gotham City (Australia)
Three Mile Island - Steve Allen
Meltdown Situation - The 012 (UK)
Shades - Poly Styrene (UK)
Radiation - Bell & James (Philadelphia)
Radiation - The Tom and Marty Band (VA)
*Susquehanna Meltdown - Fly By Night (central PA)
Meltdown - The Chameleons (Portland OR)
Radiation - Passport (West Germany)
No More - Charlie Murphy (Seattle)
Plutonium - Al Millan and the Robots (San Luis Obispo)
The Man With X-Ray Eyes - Bauhaus
Another Harrisburg - Nomadic Dissident
Ground Zero / No Need To Worry - L.E. McCullough (Pittsburgh)
Radioactive Kid - The Meteors (UK)
Leland Scott - Why Don’t You Trust Us? (VA)
Free Three Mile Island - Obrador (WA)
Meltdown - Day 5 (UK, see elMasher’s 2010 version)
Radioactive Baby Food - Random Speed (NY)
Radiation Song - Dogman and the Shepherds (TX)
Meltdown - David Hines (Los Angeles)
Radioactive - Rocking Horse (Minneapolis)
Fall Out Dust - Asha Puthli (India/NY)
Atomic Kid - Agents Provocateurs (Amherst)
Nuclear Therapy - Laboratory Adults (NYC)
Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman - The Tubes - (Los Angeles)
Meltdown - Wood Brothers (NC)
One Little Thing the Atom Can’t Do - Bluestein Family - (CA)
Bright Morning Star (New England)
Three Mile Island Blues - Alan Fox with Steve Portman (Philadelphia 1979 song recorded in 1981 on Swarthmore College Radio)
Meltdown - Watchtower (TX)
No Filthy Nuclear Power - Oi Polloi (UK)
Only One Mile from Three Mile Island - Libby HaLevy
Harrisburg - The Beliers (Sweden)
Harrisburg - Ur (West Germany)
Three Mile Island - Suzanne Pasternak (Canada)
Nuclear Power - Silence (central PA)
Future Shock - EvilDead (Los Angeles)
Nucalypso - Dave Guard (US)
Time To Fight - H-Blockx (Germany)
We're the Kids of the Three Mile Island - The Vitamen (NYC)
3 Mile Island - Klike (UK)
1979/ The Happening at Three Mile Island * Pennsylvania, U.S.A - Cloudwarmer (NYC)
Three Mile Island - Ethan Walters (Australia)
Three Mile Island - Dove Project
From Three Mile Island with Love - Ghosts and Leviathans (Dublin)
Way Down Upon the Susquehanna - Rich Stewart aka Barroom Ramber (Lancaster PA)
All U Can Hate - Three Mile Island - Scuderia (Italy)
Melted Roses (Three Mile Island Mix) - Manipulant (Lancaster PA)
Three Mile Island - Alien Keyes (Harrisburg)
Three Mile Island - Dumb Drugs
Three Mile Island - Alien Keyes (Harrisburg)
Turning A Potential Chernobyl Into A Mere Three Mile Island - HOORS (Ireland)Aiko - Desolate (NY)
Risks - Moonrover (Portugal)
Chernobyl, F*ck You Shima! and Three Mile Island - Gregory Vanderlaan (CA)
2021
Three Mile Island - Main Theme - Paul Caveworks (Greece)The Same Mistake - Salem Trials (UK)
Roulette (demo) - Bruce Springsteen (NJ)
Face the Fire - Dan Fogelberg (Nashville)
Radiation - Richie Gerber (ME)
The Beatles at Three Mile Island - Russell Hoffman (on Dr. Demento)
London Calling / Clampdown - The Clash (UK) videoThree Mile Island - Jethro Jive & the Genetic Rejection
Microwave Radiation - Xterminators (San Diego)
Volcano - Jimmy Buffet
Radiation Nation on a Three Mile Isle - Mark Levy aka LEV (CA)
Overexposed - Rick Kirby and the Vigilantes (CA)
Is Your Radio Active? - Times 5 (San Francisco)
Atomic - Blondie (NYC) video
On the Beach - The Rattlers (w/Joey Ramone)
Take the Children and Run - Don Lange
Radiation Level - Sun (Dayton OH)
Nuclear Madness - Joseph Lee Hooker (DC or NJ?)
Nuclear Power - Angletrax (UK)
The Meltdown - Root Boy Slim & the Sex Change Band (DC)
Reactor No. 2 - Nash the Slash (Toronto)Radiation - Digital Dance (Belgium)
Nuclear Night - Crystal Disco Band
Atoms on the Loose Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 - Seals and Clubs (LA)
Goodbye T.M.I. - Gary & the Outriders (Hershey/Middletown PA)
Radiation / Jimmy Carter - Styphnoids (Portland OR)
My Radiation / King of the Hill / We Are the Nukes - The Nukes (Bloomington IN)
Nukes Make Me Puke - Oz (Wilmington DE)
Living In the Cancer Zone - Lisa & the Escorts (Wilmington DE)
Three Mile Island - Andrew R. McGhie (Wilmington DE)
Nuclear Boy - Killing Joke (UK)
Three Mile Island - Frank Canna (NJ)
Nuke Update - Fluke and O'Neal
Three Mile Island - Jim Bob Graves (VA)
Black Gold - Sam Church, Jr.
General Boy Visits Apocalypse Now - Devo
The Middletown Meltdown - Larry McCollough (PA)
Nuclear Blues - Kevin Minchin (Australia)
*TMI (after Sex Pistols EMI) - The Pleasure Dotz (York PA)Three Mile Island Blues - Alan Fox (see 1981 recording)
*Radiationmasturbation - The Fall of Christianity (CA)
Harrisburg Radiation Blues - Ernie Hawkins (Pittsburgh)
*No Nuke Blues - Vic Sadot & the Crazy Planet Band (Newark DE)
*Three Mile Island - Thomas Keegan (MI)
Three Mile Island Blues - Barry Hyman
*Three Mile Island - Robert Schlipf
*Three Mile Island Shakedown - Jon Fonville (San Diego?)
*TMI - Julia Goldensohn (Philadelphia)
*Three Mile Island - Jeff Kalmar
*Now We All Live in Pennsylvania - Jesse P. Slocum (Bloomington IN)
*The Phantom Atom - Thomas J. Mantle & Julia F. Kooken (CA)
*TMI Blues - Debra M. Goodson
*Three Mile Island - Joe Wagner
*3 M.I. (it's what you need) - John Alan Connerly
*Radiation for Free - Rockylox (New Zealand)
3 Mile Island - The Howard County Dump (MD, see Les Alstat 2011)
Three Mile Island - Bill Romansky (Philadelphia)
Ballade á Chooz - GAM Groupe d'Action Musicale (Belgium)
*The Ballad of Three Mile Island - Red River Dave McEnery (TX)
*Don't Melt Down on My Baby / Nuclear Waste / Plutonium - Tru Fax & the Insaniacs (DC - see 2014)
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| 40th anniversary reissue by Sean KilKoyne's Metallic Rainforest Records on Bandcamp! |
Nuclear Man - The Doodads (CO)
Radiation Nuclear Machine - Don and Handbone (San Francisco 1979, recorded 1987)
Chain Reaction - Jesse Colin Young (NYC)
Headin' for Armageddon - Willis Meyers (Souderton PA)Headin’ for Armageddon - The Gospel Blenders (Philadelphia)
Niagra Baby - Rejex (Australia)
Three Mile Island - April 3, 1979 - "B.O.M.B" (Baltimore Oblivion Marching Band) film
(My Home Town Is A) Nuclear Meltdown - Extroverts (Canada)
Contaminational Power - Crass (UK)
Dixy Lee Raydiation - Geff Ratcheson (WA)
No Nukes (is Good Nukes) - Wet Paint (Canada)
Ain't Nowhere You Can Run - Holly Near (CA)
Next Ice Age - Eric & the Erotics (NYC)
Radiation - T.C. Radation (sic) (Italy)
Meltdown - Derek Austin (UK)
Disco Meltdown - L.R. Murphy (NYC)
Meltdown - Chalawa (Canada)
In Harrisburg - Kabarett Dusche (Germany)
*Teenage Radiation - Tokyo Rose (Detroit)
Holiday Meltdown - Tod Dockstader
Countdown for Meltdown b/w After the Meltdown (blank b-side) - The Isotopes (FL)
Critical Mass - Chrome (San Francisco)
*Critical Mass - Pera & the Dogs (Spain)
*Critical Mass - Little Kenny & His Band of Renown (DC)
Atom-Alarm - d’Gift-Lobby (Switzerland)
The Dictators - Machiavel (Belgium)
Melt Down - Hans Edler (Sweden)
Susquehanna - Lynn Grasberg (CA)
Don't Trust the Nukes - Gargerelli (NJ)
Harrisburg - Mark Jones (VA)
Rondeau Atomique - Tòcabiòl (France)
Fiesta Atomika - Alain Markusfeld (France)
Leakin’ Like a Sieve - Lev (aka Mark Levy) (CA)
Shut Down - The Tennessee Farm Band (NRC) (TN)
Meltdown - Robert Hoke (AZ)
Let’s Glow - Craig Bevan and the Tourists (Wilkes Barre PA)
Murder in the Gas Line - Randy Pump & the Gasolettes (US)
Im Laufe Der Woche - Cochise (Germany)
Heart Core Meltdown - Dean Rainey (TX/NM)
It Takes a Worried Man - DEVO (OH) video
Acres of Clams - Andrea Knopf (Harrisburg)
Traumurlaub in Zwentendorf - Akkord Arbeiter (Austria)
Na Harrisburg - Alkmaars Straat Orkest, George Janzsen (Netherlands)
Harrisburgballade - Wektuig (Netherlands)
Kernengergie - Jules de Corte (Netherlands)
Radio-Active - The Cheetahs (Edinburgh)
(My Home Town Is A) Nuclear Meltdown - Extroverts (Canada)
Contaminational Power - Crass (UK)
Dixy Lee Raydiation - Geff Ratcheson (WA)
No Nukes (is Good Nukes) - Wet Paint (Canada)
Ain't Nowhere You Can Run - Holly Near (CA)
Next Ice Age - Eric & the Erotics (NYC)
Radiation - T.C. Radation (sic) (Italy)
Meltdown - Derek Austin (UK)
Disco Meltdown - L.R. Murphy (NYC)
Meltdown - Chalawa (Canada)
In Harrisburg - Kabarett Dusche (Germany)
*Teenage Radiation - Tokyo Rose (Detroit)
Holiday Meltdown - Tod DockstaderCountdown for Meltdown b/w After the Meltdown (blank b-side) - The Isotopes (FL)
Critical Mass - Chrome (San Francisco)
*Critical Mass - Pera & the Dogs (Spain)
*Critical Mass - Little Kenny & His Band of Renown (DC)
Atom-Alarm - d’Gift-Lobby (Switzerland)
The Dictators - Machiavel (Belgium)
Melt Down - Hans Edler (Sweden)
Susquehanna - Lynn Grasberg (CA)
Don't Trust the Nukes - Gargerelli (NJ)
Harrisburg - Mark Jones (VA)
Rondeau Atomique - Tòcabiòl (France)
Fiesta Atomika - Alain Markusfeld (France)
Melt Down - Hans Elder
Three Mile Island Blues - Fritz Hassel (Jackson Center PA)
Give It Back (demo) - Death (Detroit)
Harrisburg, Oh Harrisburg - Ruvensky, Burt and Jeff Pekarek (San Diego)
Future Fear - Bahama Mama (Rochester)
Harrisburg Girls - Lucky Del Ray & the Raydells (NJ)
Pennsylvania - At Random (MI)
Harrisburg - Teach-In (Netherlands)
Atomic Lover - Borderline (CA)
Ydinvoimaa (Nuclear Energy) - Sensuuri (Finland)
Tighten Up - Kenny MilesThree Mile Island Blues - Fritz Hassel (Jackson Center PA)
Give It Back (demo) - Death (Detroit)
Harrisburg, Oh Harrisburg - Ruvensky, Burt and Jeff Pekarek (San Diego)
Future Fear - Bahama Mama (Rochester)
Harrisburg Girls - Lucky Del Ray & the Raydells (NJ)
Pennsylvania - At Random (MI)
Atomic Lover - Borderline (CA)
Ydinvoimaa (Nuclear Energy) - Sensuuri (Finland)
Leakin’ Like a Sieve - Lev (aka Mark Levy) (CA)
Shut Down - The Tennessee Farm Band (NRC) (TN)
Meltdown - Robert Hoke (AZ)
Let’s Glow - Craig Bevan and the Tourists (Wilkes Barre PA)
Murder in the Gas Line - Randy Pump & the Gasolettes (US)
Im Laufe Der Woche - Cochise (Germany)
Heart Core Meltdown - Dean Rainey (TX/NM)
It Takes a Worried Man - DEVO (OH) video
Acres of Clams - Andrea Knopf (Harrisburg)
Traumurlaub in Zwentendorf - Akkord Arbeiter (Austria)
Na Harrisburg - Alkmaars Straat Orkest, George Janzsen (Netherlands)
Harrisburgballade - Wektuig (Netherlands)
Kernengergie - Jules de Corte (Netherlands)
Radio-Active - The Cheetahs (Edinburgh)
Nuclear Babies - The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo (Los Angeles)
SK: When Harrisburg wasn’t blown off the map we came down from the mountains of western Pennsylvania. My family adhered to a powdered milk regimen despite assurances that radiation exposures were within “acceptable limits...."
1980
Who Will Close Pandora's Box - Fred & the Jupiter Gypsies (Harrisburg)
Radioactive Nights - Syn (Philadelphia)
Nuclear Infected - Alice Cooper (Detroit)
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| photo by Donna Jean |
Critical Mass / System Failure / We are the NRC - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (TN)
Radioactive - Scott Wilk & the Walls (Chicago)
Radiation - Suicide (NYC)
Meltdown (at Madame Toussaud's) - Steve Taylor (Denver)
I'm a Reactor - The Reactors (CT & NYC)
Radioactive Love - Wreck'n Crew (NY)
TMI - Reesa & the Rooters (Philadelphia) video
Nuclear Toy - Hawkwind (UK)
All Clear in Harrisburg - Tom Paxton (NYC)
Radiation Squirm - The Judy’s (TX)
Three Mile Island - Larry Coryell (NYC)
Radioactive - Terminal Mind - (Texas)
Rotten to the Core - Missing Persons (UK)
Nuclear Twist - The Hipsters (State College PA)
Anti-Nuclear Blues - Louisiana Red
Three Mile Island - Larry Coryell (NYC)
Radioactive - Terminal Mind - (Texas)
Rotten to the Core - Missing Persons (UK)
Nuclear Twist - The Hipsters (State College PA)
Anti-Nuclear Blues - Louisiana Red
Harrisburg / Your Money and Your Life / Tell ‘Em No - The Fourth Wall (NYC from We Are the Guinea Pigs documentary)Janitor - Suburban Lawns (LA)
TMI - Locksmith (Pasadena)
Give Me Nuclear Power - Mykel Board’s Art (NYC)
The Whole World Causes Cancer - The Ralphs (TX)
Nuclear Blues - Blood, Sweat and Tears (CA)
Reactor - Painterband (Chicago)
Strontium 90 - Six Minute War (UK)
Low Level Radiation - The Cardboards (Pittsburgh)Radioactivity - The Aircuts (Vancouver)
Harrisburg Half Life - Ray Anderson (US)
Harrisburg - Søren Sidevinds Spillemænd (Denmark)
R-Love (is Approaching Critical Mass) - Transistors (CO)
Atomreggae Harrisburg - KSMB (Sweden)
Harrisburg / Metallo Electtico - Kaos Rock (Italy)
Tmi - Elliott Sharp (NYC)
Radiation Man - Fault 151 (UK)
I Wanna Have a Nuclear Reaction - R-F (Atlanta)
Half Life - Humans from Earth (NJ)
City of Fear - Rondos (Netherlands)
Mutant - K.T.H. Kill The Hostages (FL)
Radioactive Feelings - Outrageous (France)
Nuclear Love - Exits (LA)
Radiation Polka - Chicago City Limits (NYC)
Reactor #2 - D.C. LaRue
Meltdown / To the Core - The Reactors (San Bernadino)
She Glows In the Dark - The Bagazoid Brothers (Cincinnati)
Atom-Most-Fear - Eric Burdon (UK)
Radio-Active - Russell Morris & The Rubes (Australia)
Radiation Dance - Tirez Tirez (UK)
Nuclear Cop - Redgum (Australia)
Reactor / Atomic Waste - Walt Rockman (West Germany)
Three Mile Island - Images
The Plutonium Factor - Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger (Scotland & US)
Hard Luck Story - Johnny Van Zant
The Flames - Contaminated (Vancouver)
Radiation - The Visitor (Netherlands)
Three Mile Island Pt. 1 / Three Mile Island Pt. 2 - Arcade (York PA)
*Need You - Presence (central PA)
*Three Mile Island Blues - Larry Downey and Teddy Felix
*The Harrisburg Syndrome - Michael P. Wright (OK)
Harrisburg Syndrom Oder Störfall In Stade - Gerd Schinkel (Switzerland)
Atomic Waste - Peter Alsop
Radiation - Tony Gradadi (Louisiana)
Harrisburg Rag - The Racquette River Rounders (NY)
Radiation - The Radiators (Australia)
Radiation Baby - Executive Slacks (Philadelphia)
Radiation - Fingerprintz (UK)
3 Miles High - Scott Hot Band (Allentown)
*Meltdown - Sleazy Pieces (OR)
Gone Fission - Pickers (WV)
Nuclear Waste - Inner City Unit (UK)
Atom Most Fear - Eric Burdon (UK)
No Harmful Effects/Mentality Meltdown - The Parasites of the Western World (OR)
Meltdown - Steve McDonald (New Zealand)
Prompt Critical - Insinuations (VA)
Call Home - The Scientific Americans (MA)
Radioactive Blues - Knut Kiesewetter (Germany)
Down Town Reactor - Jezz Woodroffe (UK)
My Girl’s Radioactive - Pink Steel (Canada)
Atomic Harvest - Main Street (Switzerland)
Gamma Rock - Rolls Rock (CA)
Nuclear Holiday - Credo (Bethlehem PA)
The Neutron Bomb Song - Watz Bros. (IL)
Three Mile Island - Images
The Plutonium Factor - Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger (Scotland & US)
Hard Luck Story - Johnny Van Zant
The Flames - Contaminated (Vancouver)
Radiation - The Visitor (Netherlands)Three Mile Island Pt. 1 / Three Mile Island Pt. 2 - Arcade (York PA)
*Need You - Presence (central PA)
*Three Mile Island Blues - Larry Downey and Teddy Felix
*The Harrisburg Syndrome - Michael P. Wright (OK)
Harrisburg Syndrom Oder Störfall In Stade - Gerd Schinkel (Switzerland)
Atomic Waste - Peter Alsop
Radiation - Tony Gradadi (Louisiana)
Harrisburg Rag - The Racquette River Rounders (NY)
Radiation - The Radiators (Australia)
Radiation Baby - Executive Slacks (Philadelphia)
Radiation - Fingerprintz (UK)
3 Miles High - Scott Hot Band (Allentown)
*Meltdown - Sleazy Pieces (OR)
Gone Fission - Pickers (WV)
Nuclear Waste - Inner City Unit (UK)
Atom Most Fear - Eric Burdon (UK)
No Harmful Effects/Mentality Meltdown - The Parasites of the Western World (OR)
Meltdown - Steve McDonald (New Zealand)
Prompt Critical - Insinuations (VA)
Call Home - The Scientific Americans (MA)
Radioactive Blues - Knut Kiesewetter (Germany)
Down Town Reactor - Jezz Woodroffe (UK)
My Girl’s Radioactive - Pink Steel (Canada)
Atomic Harvest - Main Street (Switzerland)
Gamma Rock - Rolls Rock (CA)
Nuclear Holiday - Credo (Bethlehem PA)
The Neutron Bomb Song - Watz Bros. (IL)
Nuclear Power - ‘Āina (HI)
Nuclear: Such a Waist (sic) - Warpigs (Sweden)
The New Talking Atom Blues - Stringband (Canada)
Nuclear Energy - Athletico Spizz (UK)The New Talking Atom Blues - Stringband (Canada)
Pennsylvania Rain - Frigos (Italy)
Song from Harrisburg - Nightwatch (NYC)
No Nukes For Me - Judy Gorman-Jacobs (NYC)
Vi Älskar Dej, Amerika! - Björn Afzelius (Sweden)
Suomi-ilmiö - Eppu Normaali (Finland)
Meltdown (David Besse) - Pat Dailey (OH)
Acid Reign - Truth & Rights (Jamaica)
Downwind - Mark Vavra (IL)
*Nukes Till We Puke - The Fleshapoids (ME)
Kosher Delight (Napper’s Delight) - The Yiddish People aka Gefilte Joe & the Fish (Los Angeles)
Suomi-ilmiö - Eppu Normaali (Finland)
Meltdown (David Besse) - Pat Dailey (OH)
Acid Reign - Truth & Rights (Jamaica)
Downwind - Mark Vavra (IL)
*Nukes Till We Puke - The Fleshapoids (ME)
Kosher Delight (Napper’s Delight) - The Yiddish People aka Gefilte Joe & the Fish (Los Angeles)
*Atomic Energy Overdose - Chamois (Austin) Possibly same as Waylyn James 2017
Contamination Zone - The Limps (UK)Nukes Till We Puke - The Fleshapoids (ME) On our seeking list
Nuclear sí - Aviador Dro (Spain) video
Atomic Crusader - DuChamp (Kansas City)
Gamma Ray Blues - John Gill (Coatesville PA)
SK: Growing up, TMI was an inescapable feature of my domain, a 400-foot concrete colossus lurking at the periphery of my daily movements and vision. My imagination absorbed the forbidden interiors, the massive control panels, the slope of the cooling towers, the vapor pillows spilling over their tops, merging with the atmosphere....
1981Nuclear Power - Fallout (UK)
Three Mile Island - Fred Small (MA)
Stop the Nukes - Joey Skidmore & the Cellmates (MO)
Nuclear Meltdown - ?
Three Isle My Land / Meltdown Requiem - Heads in the Sky (Canada)
Radiation Baby - The Form (Boston)
Radioactive Love - Nathan-Coates (Chicago)
Harrisburg - De Fabriek (Netherlands)
Radio Active (Fun, Fun, Fun) - Deborah Galli
Harrisburg Today - Tim Craven (PA)
Strontium 90 - Kreegah! (Norway)Radiation - The Mistakes (UK)
Nuclear Song - Craig Carothers (Portland OR)
Radioactive Love / Radiation - Gotham City (Australia)
Three Mile Island - Steve Allen
Meltdown Situation - The 012 (UK)
Shades - Poly Styrene (UK)
Radiation - Bell & James (Philadelphia)
Radiation - The Tom and Marty Band (VA)
*Susquehanna Meltdown - Fly By Night (central PA)
Meltdown - The Chameleons (Portland OR)
Radiation - Passport (West Germany)
No More - Charlie Murphy (Seattle)
Plutonium - Al Millan and the Robots (San Luis Obispo)
The Man With X-Ray Eyes - Bauhaus
Another Harrisburg - Nomadic Dissident
Ground Zero / No Need To Worry - L.E. McCullough (Pittsburgh)
Radioactive Kid - The Meteors (UK)
Leland Scott - Why Don’t You Trust Us? (VA)
Free Three Mile Island - Obrador (WA)
Meltdown - Day 5 (UK, see elMasher’s 2010 version)
Radioactive Baby Food - Random Speed (NY)
Radiation Song - Dogman and the Shepherds (TX)
Meltdown - David Hines (Los Angeles)
Radioactive - Rocking Horse (Minneapolis)
Fall Out Dust - Asha Puthli (India/NY)
Atomic Kid - Agents Provocateurs (Amherst)
Nuclear Therapy - Laboratory Adults (NYC)
Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman - The Tubes - (Los Angeles)
Meltdown - Wood Brothers (NC)
One Little Thing the Atom Can’t Do - Bluestein Family - (CA)
Bright Morning Star (New England)
Three Mile Island Blues - Alan Fox with Steve Portman (Philadelphia 1979 song recorded in 1981 on Swarthmore College Radio)
1982
Radiationmasturbation - The Authorities (CA)
Harrisburg - Buschband (Germany)
Uh-Oh Plutonium - Anne Waldman & the Hyacinth Girls (NYC)
Radiation Nation - Subverts (Chicago)
Meltdown - Lipstick Stains (GA)
The No Nuke Song - Serious Bizness (NYC)
Atomkraft - Elektrisk Regn (Norway)
Nuclear Blues - Flashback (CA)
Ballad of Three Mile Island - Jack Alves (AZ)
Babylon - Driftwood
Here's to the Nukes - AJO Repertory Company
Caveat No. 23 - Rigsby and Lamb
Radiation Blues - Hans Olson
Nuke Blues (Melt Down Mama) - Richard Kaplan
Midlogue - Peter Cannon
Five or Ten from Now - Big Pete Pearson with the Magic Matt Blues Band
Shut Up - Sun City Girls
Girl From Three Mile Island - Timothy J. MacDonald (LA on the Dr. Demento show)
Radiation - The Outfit (Ireland)
Nuclear Reactor - Birth Control (Germany)
*Anti-Nuclear Songbook - Shelly & the Crustaceans (Seattle)
Radio-Active - Barry Ford (UK)
Fission Blues - Andy Nookes
Nuketown - Atomic Reactors
The Battle of the Nuke War Dreams - Gary Mule Deer w/Dr Demento intro (SD)
Radioactive Mist - Iko (Montreal)
Radio Active - Vital Organs (UK)
Human Error - Mark Foggo - (Netherlands)
An Accident Waiting to Happen - Michele Mercure (Harrisburg) video
Nuclear No - Las Vulpess (Spain)
Along the Susquehanna - JE Dudgeon with Michael Bogdon and Friends (MD)
No Candu - Cobblestone (Canada)
Canvey Island - DIRT (UK)
Drowning Witch - Frank Zappa
Uh-Oh Plutonium - Anne Waldman & the Hyacinth Girls (NYC)
Radiation Nation - Subverts (Chicago)
Meltdown - Lipstick Stains (GA)
The No Nuke Song - Serious Bizness (NYC)
Atomkraft - Elektrisk Regn (Norway)
Nuclear Blues - Flashback (CA)
Ballad of Three Mile Island - Jack Alves (AZ)
Babylon - Driftwood
Here's to the Nukes - AJO Repertory Company
Caveat No. 23 - Rigsby and Lamb
Radiation Blues - Hans Olson
Nuke Blues (Melt Down Mama) - Richard Kaplan
Midlogue - Peter Cannon
Five or Ten from Now - Big Pete Pearson with the Magic Matt Blues Band
Shut Up - Sun City Girls
Girl From Three Mile Island - Timothy J. MacDonald (LA on the Dr. Demento show)
Radiation - The Outfit (Ireland)
Nuclear Reactor - Birth Control (Germany)
*Anti-Nuclear Songbook - Shelly & the Crustaceans (Seattle)
Radio-Active - Barry Ford (UK)
Fission Blues - Andy Nookes
Nuketown - Atomic Reactors
The Battle of the Nuke War Dreams - Gary Mule Deer w/Dr Demento intro (SD)
Radioactive Mist - Iko (Montreal)
Radio Active - Vital Organs (UK)
Human Error - Mark Foggo - (Netherlands)
An Accident Waiting to Happen - Michele Mercure (Harrisburg) video
Nuclear No - Las Vulpess (Spain)
Along the Susquehanna - JE Dudgeon with Michael Bogdon and Friends (MD)
No Candu - Cobblestone (Canada)
Canvey Island - DIRT (UK)
Drowning Witch - Frank Zappa
1983
Radioactive Chocolate - MDC (San Francisco)
Nuclear Power (Yes Please) - Dave Greenfield & J.J. Burnel (UK)
Radio Active Baby - The Turn-Ups (Harrisburg)
Sister Cities - The Pawns of Society (Harrisburg)
Harrisburg - La Banda Sin Futuro (Spain)
I'm in Love With My Nuclear Reactor - Kelley & the Beachcombers (LA) video
Meltdown - Loverboy
Nuclear Love / Meltdown Dub - Annie G
T.M.I. - Spanish Dogs (FL)
Happy Mutants (For Nuclear Energy) - Killing Children (IN)
Meltdown - Lives of Angels (UK)
*Meltdown - Metro Youth (UK)
Stimulation Radiation - Scott Freed ()
No Nukes - US Import
Nuclear Reactions - Long Beach Long Island (NY)
Three Miles to Oblivion - Crucifix (Berkeley)
Uranium - Autumn Poison (UK)
Nuke Blues - Page Wilson (VA)
No Nuclear Energy - The Bite (Belgium)
Nuclear Blues - Flashback (CA)
Harrisburg Blues - Terry Kegan (West Germany)
Nineteen Miles from Shoreham Town - Kirk Kelly (NY)
Melt Yourself Down - James White - (NYC)
All Clear in Harrisburg - Nan Hoffman (NY)
Nuclear Power (Yes Please) - Dave Greenfield & J.J. Burnel (UK)
Radio Active Baby - The Turn-Ups (Harrisburg)
Sister Cities - The Pawns of Society (Harrisburg)
Harrisburg - La Banda Sin Futuro (Spain)
I'm in Love With My Nuclear Reactor - Kelley & the Beachcombers (LA) video
Meltdown - Loverboy
Nuclear Love / Meltdown Dub - Annie G
T.M.I. - Spanish Dogs (FL)
Happy Mutants (For Nuclear Energy) - Killing Children (IN)
Meltdown - Lives of Angels (UK)
*Meltdown - Metro Youth (UK)
Stimulation Radiation - Scott Freed ()
No Nukes - US Import
Nuclear Reactions - Long Beach Long Island (NY)
Three Miles to Oblivion - Crucifix (Berkeley)
Uranium - Autumn Poison (UK)
Nuke Blues - Page Wilson (VA)
No Nuclear Energy - The Bite (Belgium)
Nuclear Blues - Flashback (CA)
Harrisburg Blues - Terry Kegan (West Germany)
Nineteen Miles from Shoreham Town - Kirk Kelly (NY)
Melt Yourself Down - James White - (NYC)
All Clear in Harrisburg - Nan Hoffman (NY)
1984
Three Mile Island - Pinkard and Bowden (TX)
Harrisburg - Midnight Oil (Australia)
*Sister Cities - The Screaming Lincolns (Harrisburg)
Glowing In the Dark - Experimental Products (Philadelphia)
Give Us More (Nuclear Power) - Qxx (UK)
Reactor Disaster - Leukaemia (UK)
Harrisburg - Midnight Oil (Australia)
*Sister Cities - The Screaming Lincolns (Harrisburg)
Glowing In the Dark - Experimental Products (Philadelphia)
Give Us More (Nuclear Power) - Qxx (UK)Reactor Disaster - Leukaemia (UK)
Marching Up To Seabrook - Pat Scanlon & The Black Water String Band (Boston)
Sizewell ABC - Tim Laycock (UK)
3 Mile Ain’t An Island - The Proles (Philadelphia)1985
Meltdown - Watchtower (TX)
Only One Mile from Three Mile Island - Libby HaLevy
Harrisburg - The Beliers (Sweden)
Harrisburg - Ur (West Germany)
SK: ...the Nuclear Regulatory Commission allowed the undamaged Unit 1 reactor to go back online in 1985. This was not a welcome development for most central Pennsylvania households, but by that point in my own childhood I had spent the entire Reagan-era acutely fearful of the coming nuclear holocaust. When emergency sirens sounded in the dead of night to arouse volunteer firefighters from their slumbers, my juvenile pysche was pre-programmed for panic. After the TMI-1 restart, the only formality was which flavor our nuclear death would assume: reactor or missile-based.
TQ: By the time of the Chernobyl disaster I had gone from pretend meltdowns to musical meltdowns (Ha! These songs are getting to me; I succumbed to the hokey TMI metaphor! But "meltdown" came into widespread usage after 1979), playing in bands and listening to music with apocalyptic themes. I was pretty sure 1986 was the year World War III would start, based of course on all the scholarly evidence I had accumulated from pop psychics, episodes of Leonard Nimoy's In Search Of..., and the lyrics of the Minutemen and Dead Kennedys. I didn't bother to apply to colleges until the last minute, and then only one....
1986: Chernobyl
TQ: By the time of the Chernobyl disaster I had gone from pretend meltdowns to musical meltdowns (Ha! These songs are getting to me; I succumbed to the hokey TMI metaphor! But "meltdown" came into widespread usage after 1979), playing in bands and listening to music with apocalyptic themes. I was pretty sure 1986 was the year World War III would start, based of course on all the scholarly evidence I had accumulated from pop psychics, episodes of Leonard Nimoy's In Search Of..., and the lyrics of the Minutemen and Dead Kennedys. I didn't bother to apply to colleges until the last minute, and then only one....
1986: Chernobyl
Deadly Radiation Blues - Jayne Cortez (NYC)
Party At the Nuclear Plant - The Flys (CA)
Fallout - Dead Flowers (UK)
The Susquehanna River - Mofungo (NYC)
Party At the Nuclear Plant - The Flys (CA)
Fallout - Dead Flowers (UK)
The Susquehanna River - Mofungo (NYC)
Meltdown - Hermanos Gusanos
Tsjerno Harris- R.T.C. Rockin Teenage Combo (Netherlands)
Harrisnobyl - De Fabriek (Netherlands)
Rich Man’s War - John Trudell (Santee Sioux)
Tsjerno Harris- R.T.C. Rockin Teenage Combo (Netherlands)
Harrisnobyl - De Fabriek (Netherlands)
Rich Man’s War - John Trudell (Santee Sioux)
1987
Meltdown - Reactor
Tute Sekure - Persone (Sweden, in Esperanto)
Chernobyl Song - Battery Farley (Los Angeles)
3 Mile Island - Moaners (DE)
Tute Sekure - Persone (Sweden, in Esperanto)
Chernobyl Song - Battery Farley (Los Angeles)
3 Mile Island - Moaners (DE)
1988
Nuclear Wastoid - Miser (Elizabethtown PA)
Roulette - Bruce Springsteen (NJ orig 1979)
The Wheel of Light: Three Mile Island - Zone (Wales)
*Three Mile Island - Ed Johnson
*Radiation Contamination - Sneak Attack (NJ)
Keikoku Dōri, Keikaku Dōri (As Warned, As Planned) - Sano Motoharu (Japan)Dare Ni Mo Mienai, Nioi Mo Nai (“No One Can See It, It Has No Smell”) - Rankin Taxi (Japan)
Nuclear Wastoid - Miser (Elizabethtown PA)
Roulette - Bruce Springsteen (NJ orig 1979)
The Wheel of Light: Three Mile Island - Zone (Wales)
*Three Mile Island - Ed Johnson
*Radiation Contamination - Sneak Attack (NJ)
Keikoku Dōri, Keikaku Dōri (As Warned, As Planned) - Sano Motoharu (Japan)
1989
Three Mile Island - Suzanne Pasternak (Canada)
Nuclear Power - Silence (central PA)
Future Shock - EvilDead (Los Angeles)
1990
TMI - Rick Baker (Pittsburgh)
From Three Mile Island With Love - James Pond, Underwater Agent
Last Call - T.P.Y. (Hershey PA)
Extinction - CIA
Metal Meltdown - Judas Priest (UK)Last Call - T.P.Y. (Hershey PA)
Extinction - CIA
Nucalypso - Dave Guard (US)
1991
Headin' for Armageddon - Joey Welz (Lititz PA cover of Willis Meyers' 1979 single) video
Stop the Pollution - Dr. Alban (Sweden)
Constantí, Molta Merda I Poc Vi - Els Pets (Spain)
Constantí, Molta Merda I Poc Vi - Els Pets (Spain)
Three Mile Island - Stony Island (Chicago)
Radioactivity - Kraftwerk (Germany)
1992
Meltdown (or Mickey Mouse at 3 Mile Island) - The Urban Squirrels (NY)
Three Mile Island - Mark Harp
Atomic Myopia - Destroy
Störfall - Toxoplasma (Germany)Three Mile Island - Mark Harp
Atomic Myopia - Destroy
1993
This Land - MDC (San Francisco)
Do the Meltdown - Brain-Wave Project (Conshohocken PA)
*Groove For Radial Nerve / 3 Mile Island - Beowulf Scantron Test (MI)Do the Meltdown - Brain-Wave Project (Conshohocken PA)
1994
Time To Fight - H-Blockx (Germany)
1995
Let's Be - TMI Generation (central PA)Strahlentod - Prager Handgriff (Germany)
Let's Be - TMI Generation (central PA)
1996
1997
TMI / TMI (Unit 3) / Nuclear Fusion - Hex / L.U. Cipha (York PA)
Three Mile Island - Imagho (France)
Three Mile Island - Jerry Joseph & the Jackmormons (CO)
Fallout Shelter - Dennis Most & the Instigators (IN)
America - Donna the Buffalo
Three Mile Island - Andy Middleton (Harrisburg)
Three Mile Island - Kickland, Johnson & Martin
Evil Dead - Future Shock
War All the Time - Thursday
Three Mile Island - Stockholm Syndrome
Just a Little Meltdown - Tom Neilson
Three Mile Island - Two For One At the Eye (Moon Township PA)
*Three Mile Island - ek-sedes (LA)
*Three Mile Island - Radio Active (NJ)
*Daytrip to Three Mile Island - Valere Iubeo (UK)
Vacation Homes on Three Mile Island - Chris Hamlet (Louisiana)
3 Mile Island - Owenshire (Ontario)
Three Mile Island - Clouds 10: Mushrooms (WI)
Three Mile Island - Darius Brubeck & Gathering Forces
Nuclear Power Song - Environment Man (CA)
True Love - Thou Shalt Not
Three Mile Island Baby - The Shame Holes (WI)
3 Mile Island/Core Breach/Half Life/Children of the Atom - Paul Blackford
The Cryin’ Land - Jefferson Pepper (York Haven PA)
Three Miles Island - Nightmare (France)
Good Times on Three Mile Island - The Durden Estate (Red Lion PA)
Three Mile Monster Island - Divine Tragedy (Pittsburgh)
INES Level 5 - Middletown, Pennsylvania (TMINGS) - Lev Kowalczwk (Ireland)
Three Mile Island - Phil Nico
Radioactive Boy - Modern Action (CA)
Three Mile Island-part two - Les Alstat & the Green Farmacy Gardeners (MD orig 1979 by Howard County Dump) video
Three Mile Island - Arms
Three Mile Island - Minushuman (France)
Three Mile Island - Metalhead Motion Pictures (Long Island)
Something in the Air - Three Mile Island Band (Middletown PA)
A Catastrophe - Fukushima, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island - Miki Shunji and his Grand Orchestra (Japan)
Three Mile Island - Noon By Noon (UK)
Surf's Up! Three Mile Island - The Lugosis (Shippensburg PA)
Three Mile Island - A Jedi Craves Not These Things
Three Mile Island - Phil Jacobi (UK)
Nuclear Hotseat - Libby Halevy
Another Fukushima - Raging Grannies
No Nukes Swing - Laura Sue, the Silver Nightingale & Friends (FL)
Pennsylvania Wind - Brendan "Mookx " Hanley (Australia - written 1979)
TMI-2 - Dan Parr (UK)Song For Fukushima - David Bernz - (NY)
Nuclear Accident - Next Generation (Switzerland)
Turn Back the Nuclear Tide - Richard Hamilton (US)
3 Mile Island - Juicy Fruit
Bearer of Bad News - Triple Fast Action (Chicago)
2000
TMI / TMI (Unit 3) / Nuclear Fusion - Hex / L.U. Cipha (York PA)
Three Mile Island - Imagho (France)
2001
Three Mile Island - Jerry Joseph & the Jackmormons (CO)
Fallout Shelter - Dennis Most & the Instigators (IN)
America - Donna the Buffalo
2003
Three Mile Island - Andy Middleton (Harrisburg)
Three Mile Island - Kickland, Johnson & Martin
Evil Dead - Future Shock
War All the Time - Thursday
2004
Three Mile Island - Stockholm Syndrome
2005
Three Mile Island - Crossroad (Austria)
2006
Just a Little Meltdown - Tom Neilson
Three Mile Island - Two For One At the Eye (Moon Township PA)
*Three Mile Island - ek-sedes (LA)
*Three Mile Island - Radio Active (NJ)
*Daytrip to Three Mile Island - Valere Iubeo (UK)
Vacation Homes on Three Mile Island - Chris Hamlet (Louisiana)
3 Mile Island - Owenshire (Ontario)
2007
Three Mile Island - Oh Shit They’re Going To Kill Us (Franklin PA)
Nu-Clear - Johnny Dock (Doylestown PA)
Nu-Clear - Johnny Dock (Doylestown PA)
2008
Three Mile Island - Darius Brubeck & Gathering Forces
Nuclear Power Song - Environment Man (CA)
True Love - Thou Shalt Not
Three Mile Island Baby - The Shame Holes (WI)
3 Mile Island/Core Breach/Half Life/Children of the Atom - Paul Blackford
The Cryin’ Land - Jefferson Pepper (York Haven PA)
2009
Three Miles Island - Nightmare (France)
Good Times on Three Mile Island - The Durden Estate (Red Lion PA)
Three Mile Monster Island - Divine Tragedy (Pittsburgh)
INES Level 5 - Middletown, Pennsylvania (TMINGS) - Lev Kowalczwk (Ireland)
Three Mile Island - Phil Nico
Radioactive Boy - Modern Action (CA)
Cocktail Time in Hell - D.O.A. (Vancouver)
Lonely Road - Genuflect (Boston)
Lonely Road - Genuflect (Boston)
2010
Three Mile Island - Three Step Charlie (Las Vegas)
Harrisburg (Three Mile Island) I-XI - Gasfront (CA)
Harrisburg (Three Mile Island) I-XI - Gasfront (CA)
2011: Fukushima
Three Mile Island-part two - Les Alstat & the Green Farmacy Gardeners (MD orig 1979 by Howard County Dump) video
Three Mile Island - Arms
Three Mile Island - Minushuman (France)
Three Mile Island - Metalhead Motion Pictures (Long Island)
Something in the Air - Three Mile Island Band (Middletown PA)
A Catastrophe - Fukushima, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island - Miki Shunji and his Grand Orchestra (Japan)
Three Mile Island - Noon By Noon (UK)
Surf's Up! Three Mile Island - The Lugosis (Shippensburg PA)
Three Mile Island - A Jedi Craves Not These Things
Three Mile Island - Phil Jacobi (UK)
Nuclear Hotseat - Libby Halevy
Another Fukushima - Raging Grannies
No Nukes Swing - Laura Sue, the Silver Nightingale & Friends (FL)
Pennsylvania Wind - Brendan "Mookx " Hanley (Australia - written 1979)
TMI-2 - Dan Parr (UK)Song For Fukushima - David Bernz - (NY)
Nuclear Accident - Next Generation (Switzerland)
2012
TMI-2 - Three Mile Island (UK)
Three Mile Island Opera - Andrea Molino (Italy)
Three Mile Island: TMI - Suicide Squirrel (NJ)
Harrisburg - Rusk (Lithuania)
Three Mile Island - Grayscale
3 Mile Island - The James Taylor Quartet
Meltdown Stomp - The Meltdowns (Detroit)
Three Mile Islands - Noon (UK)
Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima - Radiation Poisoning
Thee Mile Island - Jackson Lee (NYC)
Three Mile Island - Paul Gibson
3 Mile Island - Proper Concern (Canada)
Three Mile Island - Trident
Sunrise Over Three Mile Island - Twenty Necks (Australia)
Three Mile Island - Chris Campbell (Los Angeles)
Wind Whistle - Dave Elder (NY)
TMI (Three Mile Island) - Sianide 1134 (York PA)
3 Miles Island - <1979> (Germany)
Hur Tänker Du Då? - Mikael Wiehe (Sweden)Three Mile Island Opera - Andrea Molino (Italy)
Three Mile Island: TMI - Suicide Squirrel (NJ)
Harrisburg - Rusk (Lithuania)
Three Mile Island - Grayscale
3 Mile Island - The James Taylor Quartet
Meltdown Stomp - The Meltdowns (Detroit)
Three Mile Islands - Noon (UK)
Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima - Radiation Poisoning
Thee Mile Island - Jackson Lee (NYC)
Three Mile Island - Paul Gibson
3 Mile Island - Proper Concern (Canada)
Three Mile Island - Trident
Sunrise Over Three Mile Island - Twenty Necks (Australia)
Three Mile Island - Chris Campbell (Los Angeles)
Wind Whistle - Dave Elder (NY)
TMI (Three Mile Island) - Sianide 1134 (York PA)
3 Miles Island - <1979> (Germany)
2013
<1979>Three Smile Island - DJapperz (Belgium)
Three Mile Island - Black Pilots (UK)
1979 - 3 Mile Island - DrMOIIE (Germany)
Three Smile Island - Analog Distortion (AK)
The Three Mile Island Incident - Anwkozik
Three Mile Island - Allioth (Germany)
Three Mile Island - Ben Johnson
Sunrise Over Three Mile Island - Garbage Day (Australia)
Three Mile Island - Trident (Philippines)
Three Mile Island - Ben Johnston (UK)Good Times on Three Mile Island - Sometime After Dark (New Freedom PA)
3 Mile Island - The Wonderful Sadists (Cincinnati)<1979>Three Smile Island - DJapperz (Belgium)
Three Mile Island - Black Pilots (UK)
1979 - 3 Mile Island - DrMOIIE (Germany)
Three Smile Island - Analog Distortion (AK)
The Three Mile Island Incident - Anwkozik
Three Mile Island - Allioth (Germany)
Three Mile Island - Ben Johnson
Sunrise Over Three Mile Island - Garbage Day (Australia)
Three Mile Island - Trident (Philippines)
Three Mile Island - Ben Johnston (UK)
2014
IT027 / Three Mile Island - Stenny-Hagale (Germany)
TMI-2 - Three Mile Island (UK)
Gone Fission - Dallin Schmidt (Canada)
Unit 2 - Three Mile Island (Middletown PA)
Three Mile Island - Rogers Canyon (WY)
Three Mile Island - Crossroad (Austria)
(Three Mile) Island Vacation - Nebulous
Three Mile Island - Lou Karsh (Australia)
Three Mile Island - Jackson Lee
The New Scum - Ephelant and Time
How Would I Feel - Robert S. Steinberg
Three Mile Island / 1979 - Jake Kitty (Harrisburg)
Three Mile Island - Yellow 11 (Philadelphia)
Meltdown - elMasher (UK)
Three Mile Island - Stony Island
Ballad of Three Mile Island - Quasi Pseudo & the Annonymi (WV)Hey Captain Midnight - Adolescents (CA)
Sallys Flat - Tony Smith (Australia)
Three Mile Island -Dog Flambe (UK)
Three Mile Island - El Kabongg (MD)
(Three Mile) Island Vacation - Nebulous 6
Three Mile Island - Rogers Canyon (WY)
Three Mile Island - Tsar Bomba (Sweden)
Three Mile Island - Unit 2 (Middletown PA)
Three Miles Island - Genox ()
Meltdown - Tellurium Band (UK)
Bright Lights - Vid Libert (WI)
Energy - Jan Zander (Netherlands)
O'Pennsyltucky - Mischief Brew (Philadelphia) video
Don't Meltdown On My Baby / Nuclear Waste - Tru Fax & the Insaniacs (DC orig. 1979)
3 mile island - Radiation Patrol (RI)
Emergency Alert System - Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident - douro 20
(Three Mile) Island Vacation - Nebulous 6
Three Mile Island - Rogers Canyon (WY)
Three Mile Island - Tsar Bomba (Sweden)
Three Mile Island - Unit 2 (Middletown PA)
Three Miles Island - Genox ()
Meltdown - Tellurium Band (UK)
Bright Lights - Vid Libert (WI)
Energy - Jan Zander (Netherlands)
O'Pennsyltucky - Mischief Brew (Philadelphia) video
3 mile island - Radiation Patrol (RI)
Emergency Alert System - Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident - douro 20
2015
IT027 / Three Mile Island - Stenny-Hagale (Germany)
TMI-2 - Three Mile Island (UK)
Gone Fission - Dallin Schmidt (Canada)
Unit 2 - Three Mile Island (Middletown PA)
Three Mile Island - Rogers Canyon (WY)
Three Mile Island - Crossroad (Austria)
(Three Mile) Island Vacation - Nebulous
Three Mile Island - Lou Karsh (Australia)
2016
Three Mile Island - Jackson Lee
The New Scum - Ephelant and Time
How Would I Feel - Robert S. Steinberg
Three Mile Island / 1979 - Jake Kitty (Harrisburg)
Three Mile Island - Yellow 11 (Philadelphia)
Meltdown - elMasher (UK)
Three Mile Island - Stony Island
Ballad of Three Mile Island - Quasi Pseudo & the Annonymi (WV)
2017
Three Mile Island - Marzie Doats (UK)
A Clear View of Three Mile Island From On Top of Governor Dick Tower - Soporus (Philadelphia)
Three Miles Island - My Own Cubic Stone (France)
The Power of the Atom - Dynamic Prophet (UK)
Three Mile Island - Daniel Fagerström & Alexander Skepp (Sweden)
Three Mile Island - The Black Museum (UK)
Dust From Three Mile Island (1979) - Arcane Waves (France)
Dreams of Three Mile Island - Striations/Macronympha (CA)
Atomic Energy Overdose - Waylyn James (Austin) - Possibly the same song as Chamois 1980
A Clear View of Three Mile Island From On Top of Governor Dick Tower - Soporus (Philadelphia)
Three Miles Island - My Own Cubic Stone (France)
The Power of the Atom - Dynamic Prophet (UK)
Three Mile Island - Daniel Fagerström & Alexander Skepp (Sweden)
Three Mile Island - The Black Museum (UK)
Dust From Three Mile Island (1979) - Arcane Waves (France)
Dreams of Three Mile Island - Striations/Macronympha (CA)
Atomic Energy Overdose - Waylyn James (Austin) - Possibly the same song as Chamois 1980
2018
3 Mile Island - Klike (UK)
1979/ The Happening at Three Mile Island * Pennsylvania, U.S.A - Cloudwarmer (NYC)
Three Mile Island - Ethan Walters (Australia)
Three Mile Island - Dove Project
From Three Mile Island with Love - Ghosts and Leviathans (Dublin)
Way Down Upon the Susquehanna - Rich Stewart aka Barroom Ramber (Lancaster PA)
All U Can Hate - Three Mile Island - Scuderia (Italy)
Threads - Eureka California (GA)
Three Mile Island - Gypsy and Federico Balducci (UK)
Three Mile Island - Gypsy and Federico Balducci (UK)
2019
Melted Roses (Three Mile Island Mix) - Manipulant (Lancaster PA)
Three Mile Island - Alien Keyes (Harrisburg)
Three Mile Island - Dumb Drugs
Three Mile Island - Alien Keyes (Harrisburg)
Turning A Potential Chernobyl Into A Mere Three Mile Island - HOORS (Ireland)
Risks - Moonrover (Portugal)
Chernobyl, F*ck You Shima! and Three Mile Island - Gregory Vanderlaan (CA)
2020
Three Mile Island - Code of the Jaguar (Philadelphia)
Three Mile Island - Code of the Jaguar (Philadelphia)
Ketchup - Girls Rituals (Toronto) video
For DOOM - Open Mike Eagle (Los Angeles)
Three Mile Island 1979 - Mope County (UK)
Three Miles Island Grind Away Out (Spain)
Three Mile Island - WILT (Italy)
03_threemileisland - digitalsakura (Germany)
Three Mile Island - Klyde Parker (Pittsburgh)
Three Mile Island - Anders Hammar (Sweden)
Three Mile Island - Nightmare, Inc (Los Angeles)
The Three Mile Island Crisis in 1979 - Chris Woodbridge
Three Mile Island (1 & 2) - DigiMax
Every Man Is a Three Mile Island - Haerdsmaelta (Sweden)
Atomb - Cytotoxin (Germany)
Three Mile Island - HEX/Hex1134 (York, PA)
Eating the Paste - Murdered By Robots (FL)For DOOM - Open Mike Eagle (Los Angeles)
Three Mile Island 1979 - Mope County (UK)
Three Miles Island Grind Away Out (Spain)
Three Mile Island - WILT (Italy)
03_threemileisland - digitalsakura (Germany)
Three Mile Island - Klyde Parker (Pittsburgh)
Three Mile Island - Anders Hammar (Sweden)
Three Mile Island - Nightmare, Inc (Los Angeles)
The Three Mile Island Crisis in 1979 - Chris Woodbridge
Three Mile Island (1 & 2) - DigiMax
Every Man Is a Three Mile Island - Haerdsmaelta (Sweden)
Atomb - Cytotoxin (Germany)
Three Mile Island - HEX/Hex1134 (York, PA)
2021
Three Mile Island - Main Theme - Paul Caveworks (Greece)
Three Mile Island Radiation Moloch - Flesh Wound (Finland)
Lukämie in de Elvmarsch - Wilfred Staake (Germany)
Sonsöz - Serap Yağız, Taner Öngür (Turkey)Lukämie in de Elvmarsch - Wilfred Staake (Germany)
2022
Three Mile Island - Sisto Rossi (FL)
Three Mile Island - Mostly Other People Do the Killing (NYC)
Three Mile Island - Remains of Silence
Three Mile Island - Lord M&M, Ft. Gino the Dino, Dan the Menace
Three Mile Island - Equinox
Three Mile Island - Dataloop
Three Mile Island - Remains of Silence
High Roller - Rapmessiah (NYC)
Uranium Rap - TheNeXTGUI
Three Mile Island - Itrusko (Italy)
Suicide - Dogg Brothers
Fire On the River - Phil Burdett & Blip Pilot (UK)
Literal Angels - Precision Auto (Melbourne)
Three Mile Island - Dataloop
Three Mile Island - Remains of Silence
High Roller - Rapmessiah (NYC)
Uranium Rap - TheNeXTGUI
Three Mile Island - Itrusko (Italy)
Suicide - Dogg Brothers
Fire On the River - Phil Burdett & Blip Pilot (UK)
Literal Angels - Precision Auto (Melbourne)
2023
Three Mile Island (Chainsaw Mix) - Leave It To Cleaver (CA)
Three Mile Island - Justin Depoy (NM)
Disassociating on the Shores of Three Mile Island - vacavi (OK)
Three Mile Island - Shane Dawson (Australia)
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman - Far Canal (UK)
Three Mile Island - Justin Depoy (NM)
Disassociating on the Shores of Three Mile Island - vacavi (OK)
Three Mile Island - Shane Dawson (Australia)
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman - Far Canal (UK)
All in the Hall - Honest John Lacy (CA)
3 Mile Island - Alaska (NYC)
3 Mile Island - Alaska (NYC)
*Christmas On Three Mile Island - Leon Redbone parody by Old Man Ribber (no known recording)
No Nukes - George Robson (AZ)
Fukushima Harrisburg Chernobyl Hiroshima - KK Slider and Co
Harrisburg Blues - Uninvited (West Germany)
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| Proto-TMI - Atomic Blast Polka by the Steelton Polka Platters (Steelton PA c1978) is up there with the China Syndrome for eerily predicting the TMI accident! |
Once I started looking, I was surprised to find so many TMI songs. I figure any song about "radiation" in '79-81 had to be part of the reaction. The '79 tracks tend to be very literal, anti-nuke, some good black humor, and sometimes hyperbolic and some would say silly fear mongering. There are lots of people glowing in the dark, mutant fish, and nuclear explosions. The 80s tracks began to use nuclear accident lingo as metaphor in the best tradition of atomic bomb songs from the 50s and 60s with "radioactive" coming to mean "hot love" more often than not. Reesa's You melt my heart like TMI is my favorite, and Syn's Radioactive Nights is the hands-down mathematical winner (15 distinct metaphors!). I held most of the later tracks to a higher standard. Most had to make direct reference to TMI to make the cut. There are at least 21 songs titled Three Mile Island or TMI from the 2000-2012 period, though interestingly, outside the US, "Harrisburg" seems to be the word most closely associated with the accident. Sean and I salvaged many of these tracks from the analog abyss, digitizing and archiving them for the first time, and I hope people can find an interest in their collective effect, weirdness, fear, and humor.SK: As far as the impact goes, yeah, I would agree, it's hard to overestimate. It even informed how we discussed such events. Following from your point about the word "radiation", I bet "reactor", "control rod" and "meltdown" weren't even in some adult vocabularies before 1979. And for those that wrote all the earnest, politically engaged protest songs throughout the 70s in opposition to new nuclear plants, all of a sudden their worst fears are confirmed.
I appreciate that these songs and other assorted cultural detritus (even crassly commercial cash-in stuff) tell a story about how humans of different cultures and belief systems respond to complex, traumatic events. It really becomes a sort of unofficial "people's history." There are some scholarly articles I came across about Chernobyl describing how school kids were responding with these morbid nursery rhymes while skipping rope! Children talking matter-of-factly about leukemia or calling one another "dirty radioactive pigs" as a form of insult. It's amazing how deeply these terrors filter down to the individual level, shaping private experience. This would also indicate to me that whatever official explanation may prevail, whenever you've lived through a nuclear accident, radiation exposure is a nebulous, gnawing sort of psychic burden.
There are surely more TMI songs that haven't been salvaged yet, and if you have any ideas about how we can permanently archive this collection, let us know.
Archivist and co-author of "Radioactive Releases" Sean P Kilcoyne's 2024 article, Hell No, We Won’t Glow: Selections from the Anti-Nuclear Power Discography (Signal 09: A Journal of International Political Graphics and Culture) has a long segment of protest music about the Three Mile Island accident, in the context of the global antinuclear movement and songwriting history, before, during, and after.
This fascinating mini-journal sized 88-page article, full of background research on the music, musicians, movement organizers, and agitprop album art, partially concludes with an an important call to action, asking: "...how do we preserve these materials for future audiences...these legacies and find ways for them to engage with the histories, ideas, art, and music inherent to these movements?"
- Sean Kilcoyne contacted me as a stranger interested in helping out with the research. I had no idea he was as obsessed as I was. He found some of the most obscure tracks from all over the world and added a really great personal connection to this piece. Check out his Metallic Rainforest YouTube channel- an excellent companion source to this project!
- Rick Noll's Bona Fide blog got me started on this project.
- Bands of Central Pennsylvania
- Hardcore For Central PA
- Thanks to everybody that helped us track down a song, and to all the musicians who shared their work. -SK & TQ
 |
| Pin sent by Jeff Coleman from Lancaster bands the Blame and Fender Twinns, and Steam Powered Studio. |
Links:
- Popular Reactions to the Accident at Three Mile Island
- Health Physics Historical Instrumentation Museum Collection
- Three Mile Island Alert
- Three Mile Island Emergency - Dickinson College Archives
- NUCLEAR WAR and Lancaster County.... Thirty Years After
- Nuclear Platters... The Unofficial CONELRAD Sequel
- Robert Del Tredici - The People of Three Mile Island
- Chornobyl's Folklore: Vernacular Commentary on Nuclear Disaster by Lairsa Fialkova
- The Sounds of Japan's Antinuclear Movement
Arcade:
- Three Mile Island (Apple II computer game) - Richard Orban (1980)
- SCRAM (Atari 800 1980)
- Nuclear Power Plant (Atari 1981)
- China Syndrome (Atari 2600 video game 1982)
- Meltdown (Cosmi Atari 8-bit game 1982)
- Reactor (Gottlieb 1982)
Comic Material:
- The Pepsi Syndrome - Saturday Night Live (NYC April 7, 1979)
- Nuclear Energy - Richard & Willie (1979)
- Uranium - Fred Dagg (New Zealand 1979)
- Vocabulary Building - O’Brien, Michael and John Ellis - (US 1980)
- Mutant Blues - Chris Rush (NY 1981)
Radioactive Releases on the Radio and in the News:
- "Listen Up!" TMI Special - March 31, 2014 (archived)
- "Idle Noise" TMI Special - April 9, 2014
- I Remember TMI: Central PS Stories WITF PA Post, March 2019
- How Three Mile Island and the nuclear industry influenced popular culture (includes interviews with Sean and Tom) WITF PA Post, March 2019
- ‘Radiation Funk’: Song about Three Mile Island nuclear accident gave people a reason to smile PennLive March 26, 2019
This is pretty much the best post I've ever seen on a music blog, I'd been looking forward to it more than a month ... THANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteA tour de force. Or perhaps, de farce, in the case of some of these tunes. I'm surprised at the number of recent TMI songs.
ReplyDeleteI, for one also didñ't realize there that many songs about TMI either. The only one I was really aware of until I heard the two songs by The Clash you mentioned was a song called Harrisburg by Midnight Oil, which I didn't see on the list, though you can certainly be forgiven for missing one. On a kinda related side note, the day of the accident I was 8 years old and living with my family in North Cornwall Township just south of Lebanon and about 15-20 miles out from TMI at most, so I kinda feel you guys on a lot what you where saying.
ReplyDeleteHoly shit, man, this is fantastic. Thank you so much. It's gonna take me a while to dig through all of this.
ReplyDeleteWow, as a musician and an anti-nuke activist, I'm impressed. This is an amazing, and valuable, archive. I hope you'll link to our two TMI-related songs--Nuclear Waste and Don't Meltdown on Me, Baby. Both were written in 1979, shortly after the accident and entered our set list just about immediately (we didn't actually start performing until Summer 1979, so they were there for the beginning). They've both gone on and off the list at various times over the years, but we seem to keep coming back to them. The versions we have were recorded in 2014. There are probably some live cassette versions from 1980-81 in my closet somewhere, but don't know if those will ever emerge.
ReplyDeleteWe had one other song inspired by TMI and written that summer. It was called Plutonium and I think we'd played it twice before trying it out at CBGB's in October 1979, where it bombed completely and has rarely been brought back into circulation since.
Michael Mariotte
Tru Fax and the Insaniacs
Thanks for these great tracks Michael. I added the 2014 versions. let me know if you ever dig out those cassettes!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteI'd add The Isotopes - Countdown For Meltdown (7", 1979) to your list! Absurdly rare!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.discogs.com/Isotopes-Countdown-For-Meltdown/release/5948373
Thanks for the link! That's on the list, but I have yet to find the recording. Please let me know if you have it. I noticed that the b-side "After the Meltdown" is listed as 0:00 minutes long. How ominous!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the mention of Melted Roses, Invisble (Three Mile Island Mix)- Manipulant
ReplyDeleteParents try their best to protect their precious offspring by teaching good hygiene, "stranger danger," seatbelt safety, etc. In the final analysis we realize how limited we are.
ReplyDeleteSean's mom, Beth.
Check out Harrisburg Girls, by Lucky Del Ray & The Raydells.
ReplyDeleteRecorded in 1979. It's on soundcloud.
Good one! Where were the Raydells from?
DeleteInteresting. Thanks for posting my parody Way Down Upon the Susquehanna. I also played at the Rock Against Radiation concert in Harrisburg with the Ska-Matics in 1981 as noted in the poster.
ReplyDeleteRich Stewart
aka Barroom Rambler
Lancaster, PA
Hey, there! I helped Paul Caveworks compose "Three Mile Island Main Theme". It's actually part of a soundtrack for a video game I am developing based on the accident at Three Mile Island. My mother lived through the accident as a child and was one of the 140,000 people who chose to evacuate, so I have some personal ties to it as well. Thanks for featuring us!
ReplyDeleteBrandon Santos
Lancaster, PA
Hey Brandon,
DeleteThanks for reaching out! Let me know when the video game comes out and I'mm add it to the list of TMI inspired games!
Tom
Arcade:
Three Mile Island (Apple II computer game) - Richard Orban (1980)
SCRAM (Atari 800 1980)
Nuclear Power Plant (Atari 1981)
China Syndrome (Atari 2600 video game 1982)
Meltdown (Cosmi Atari 8-bit game 1982)
Reactor (Gottlieb 1982)