The No Nukes Concerts were a series of star-studded shows that rocked New York for five consecutive nights back in September 1979. The activist group Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) organized the ambitious event to help raise awareness of the threat nuclear energy posed to our planet and to protest its use in the wake of the partial meltdown of Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear power plant earlier that year. Founded by Jackson Browne, John Hall of Orleans, Graham Nash, and Bonnie Raitt, MUSE enlisted the aid of fellow folk rockers James Taylor, Carly Simon, the Doobie Brothers, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Poco, and two hot bands who were just breaking at the time—Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. With its stellar roster of talent and the passion behind their collective message, No Nukes became one of the defining musical events of the 1970s. Yes, it was a simpler time back then. We truly believed we could change the world.
As one of the first large-scale concerts organized in protest of a national policy instead of in support of a particular cause or humanitarian crisis, i.e. Farm Aid and Live Aid, MUSE took considerable heat from the press over whether it was an artist's place to try and change public policy. Undaunted, the plucky group pressed on with their mission and used their public forum to sound the alarm on the dangers of nuclear power. What resulted were raw, classic performances from some of the '70s greatest artists.
Concert highlights included Bonnie Raitt's cover of John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery," the haunting "Cathedral" by Graham Nash, "Captain Jim's Drunken Dream" by James Taylor, "You Don't Have to Cry" and "Teach Your Children" by CSN, and the breakout hit of the shows, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's rousing performance of Mitch Ryder's "Detroit Medley." Springsteen's 1984 breakthrough album, Born in the U.S.A., was still five years off. His No Nukes appearance marked the first official recordings and footage of his fabled live act and captured the singer/songwriter's initial tentative steps into political activism. The "Detroit Medley" would become an encore staple of Springsteen's live shows.
No Nukes featured the dream pairings of Jackson Browne and Graham Nash harmonizing on "The Crow on the Cradle," James Taylor and then-wife, the stage phobic Carly Simon singing "Mockingbird," and a performance of Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" by the trio of Taylor, Simon and Nash. Also appearing at No Nukes were Ry Cooder, Jesse Colin Young, Chaka Khan, Nicolette Larson, Raydio, Sweet Honey on the Rock, and the recently deceased Gil Scott-Heron.
The historical concerts were immortalized on the gold-selling triple live album, No Nukes: The Muse Concerts For a Non-Nuclear Future, released in November 1979, as well as a feature film that hit theaters in the summer of 1980. The shows raised millions that MUSE donated to various anti-nuclear groups around the country and enlightened the public on the issue of nuclear power and its long-term effects. In 2006, MUSE founder John Hall was elected to the U.S. House on an alternative energy platform. He served as a representative until January 2011.
So here we are, some three decades later, yet no closer to the goal than we were back then. With Japan struggling to subdue meltdowns of apocalyptic proportions at Fukushima, Ft. Calhoun nuclear plant in Nebraska fighting to keep its reactor and spent fuel above Missouri's rising floodwaters, and New Mexico facing the threat of a radioactive plume from a fire surrounding the Los Alamos nuclear lab, man's careless use of nuclear energy, coupled with nature's unpredictability, is suddenly making the unthinkable very real.
Shortly after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that triggered multiple meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a decision was by the members of MUSE to coordinate another No Nukes benefit in response to the disaster. Tickets went on sale this week for MUSE 2, as it is being called, which will be held on Sunday, August 7, at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. Shoreline, the largest Green certified concert venue in the U.S., was chosen because of its close proximity to the Pacific Rim, Northern California's history and deep association with Japan, and because nuclear reactors on the California coast store spent fuel rods in the same manner as at Fukushima. The concert date falls between the anniversaries of atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945). The concert stage will be powered by an integrated system of clean, alternative energy sources including solar, biodiesel, and wind technologies, and will use energy-saving lighting.
Returning for another go-round of No Nukes are many of the same acts that made its namesake a success, including Crosby, Stills and Nash, Jackson Browne, the Doobie Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, John Hall and Sweet Honey in the Rock. Also added to the roster of talent are new recruits Jason Mraz, Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello, and Japanese musician and multi-instrumentalist, Kitaro, who joined the bill as a way to give thanks for the worldwide support of Japan and to show his respect to the Japanese people, who continue to struggle with the aftermath of the disaster. There is no word yet about whether MUSE vets Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty will be returning. Graham Nash, one of the event's organizers, tells Rolling Stone that the bill isn't complete. "We've got the lines out there," he says. "Big names will be added, but I can't tell you who yet." All proceeds from the benefit will go to MUSE to be distributed to support disaster relief efforts.
"The MUSE concert will not only be a great show," says Nash, "it will hopefully entice the public to become better informed of the tremendous dangers of nuclear power. The accident in Fukushima has awakened not only a lot of people but a lot of countries to the stupidity of nuclear power."
In a statement released by Jackson Browne, the singer says that, "The disaster in Fukushima is not only a disaster for Japan. It is a global disaster. We come together now across cultural boundaries, political and generational boundaries, to call for changes in the way we use energy, and in the ways we conduct the search for solutions to the problems facing humanity. We join with the people of Japan, and people everywhere who believe in a non-nuclear future."
For more information on MUSE 2, check out their website at www.musiciansunited4safeenergy.org.
