No Nukes (film)

History

This was the first official appearance of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's much-ballyhooed live act on film, and many critics hailed their performances as the best in the documentary. Additionally, the future Springsteen classic "The River" was debuted at these shows and on the film, as well as Chaka Khan's consternation at being "Broooced" (Raitt deadpanned backstage, "Too bad his name wasn't Melvin"). The other generally acclaimed highlight of the film was Carly Simon and then-husband James Taylor's physically dynamic duet on "Mockingbird". On the other hand, Graham Nash's earnest spoken part about having seen "giant sponges" as a side effect of nuclear waste dumps earned itself a Spinal Tap-like reputation for rock star verbal blundering.

No Nukes was released for home consumption on VHS and LaserDisc along the way, but as of 2012 not on DVD. Two of Springsteen's three numbers are available on his 2001 The Complete Video Anthology / 1978-2000 DVD, however.

The No Nukes live album was also released in May 1980 from this event, although it contained varying musical contents from the film (generally, the artists' biggest hits make it into the film but not the album, while some artists are on the album but not in the film).

Performers and songs

Those who performed in the film in order of appearance,

at Madison Square Garden:

at Battery Park:

Other famous personalities and celebrities are seen during the film, including Jane Fonda, Chaka Khan, Maggie Kuhn of the Gray Panthers, Ray Parker Jr., Ralph Nader, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Nicolette Larson, Phoebe Snow, and ubiquitous backup singer Rosemary Butler.