When Arcade Gaming Used to Be Cool Quiz

Answer: Sting

Featured on Sting's debut solo album "The Dream of the Blue Turtles" (1985), "Russians" (released as a single a few months after the album) uses a theme from Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev's suite "Lieutenant Kijé". The song appeals to the common sense of the citizens of both USA and USSR, rejecting the views of those in power and emphasizing that a nuclear war would be unwinnable.

The song's stylish black-and-white video was directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, famous for his work on a number of Madonna videos. Prior to embarking on his successful solo career, Sting had been the bassist/vocalist of new wave trio The Police.

Answer: London

Released as a single on December 7, 1979 - one week before the eponymous double album - "London Calling" was titled after BBC World Service's station identification during WWII. The song was inspired by the Three Mile Island nuclear incident of March 28 of the same year, as well as other social and political issues such as police brutality, youth alienation, and the threat of natural disaster. Though not The Clash's most successful single, "London Calling" reached Number 11 in the UK charts immediately after its release.

Answer: Two Minutes to Midnight

Featured on Iron Maiden's fourth studio album, "Powerslave" (1984), "Two Minutes to Midnight" was the band's tenth single, and their first to exceed five minutes in length. It is a powerful, unrelenting statement against nuclear war, inspired by the symbolic clock (known as Doomsday Clock) used by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists to represent a countdown to potential nuclear catastrophe ("midnight").

In September 1953, when the USA and the USSR tested H-bombs within a few months of one another, the Clock reached two minutes to midnight.

The other options are all well-known Iron Maiden songs based on historical events.

Answer: 1999

The title-track to Prince's fifth studio album (released in 1982), "1999" managed to convey a strong statement against nuclear proliferation disguised as a funky, infectious party anthem. The song was released as a single in September 1982, about one month before the album, and became Prince's first Top Ten hit outside the US, where it was not equally successful.

The other dates also appear as titles of songs: "1921" by The Who, "2112" by Rush, "1984" by David Bowie, Eurythmics, Van Halen and a number of other artists.

Answer: Kate Bush

The closing track on Kate Bush's third studio album, "Never for Ever" (1980), "Breathing" is about a foetus hiding from nuclear fallout inside the womb. The song, inspired by a documentary about nuclear war, features backing vocals by renowned folk-rock singer-songwriter Roy Harper. Released as a single in April 1980, four months before the album, it reached Number 16 in the UK singles chart.

The remaining options are also great women singer-songwriters, but none of them is English.

Answer: Metallica

Though not exactly upbeat in its lyrical content, "Ride the Lightning" (1984) is one of the landmark albums of the thrash metal genre, pioneered in the early 1980s by the "big four" - Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth. With its pounding, relentless pace, aggressive vocals and simulated nuclear explosion at the end, opener "Fight Fire With Fire" focuses on nuclear warfare and the end of the world, though rejecting the "eye for an eye" approach. Unlike most of the songs mentioned in this quiz, it was not released as a single.

Answer: Seconds

Released in 1983, "War" was U2's third studio album, and their first overtly political one. The subdued, haunting "Seconds" (whose first two stanzas are sung by guitarist The Edge) foreshadows the possibility of a nuclear catastrophe happening by accident; it is the second track on the album, following the anthemic (and definitely better-known) "Sunday Bloody Sunday".

Answer: Rush

According to Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart, "Distant Early Warning" - with its repeated cry of "Red Alert!" - was the band's response to the threat of nuclear annihilation. The song, included on Rush's tenth studio album, "Grace Under Pressure" (1984), was also released as a single, and reached Number Three on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. The Distant Early Warning Line (also known as DEW Line), mostly located in the northern arctic regions of Canada and Alaska, was built in the 1950s; its stations were deactivated or transitioned to a new system in 1993.

The remaining three bands are all rock trios, but none of them is Canadian.

Answer: Red

Like other Peter Gabriel songs, "Red Rain" (the opening track of his fifth solo album, "So", and also released as a single) has its origins in a dream, or a series of different dreams, not necessarily related to nuclear war. However, in the song lyrics there are details that hint at the effects of a nuclear explosion.

This interpretation is also shared by author Daryl Elmslea, who in Gabriel's biography pointed out that the song reflects the Eighties' obsessions with AIDS and nuclear fallout.

Answer: Reagan and Chernenko

"Two Tribes" (1984) was the second single released by Liverpool band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was later included on their debut studio album, "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" (released in the same year). The song, driven by a pounding bass line, features lyrics full of nihilistic black humour that express enthusiasm for nuclear warfare; its title comes from a line in the movie "Mad Max 2".

The stunning, iconic video for "Two Tribes" - directed by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme (formerly of art rock band 10cc) - depicts a wrestling match between US President Ronald Reagan and USSR leader Konstantin Chernenko, cheered on by an assembly of other international leaders, and culminating in global destruction.