Of course, what respectable ‘bomb bungalow’ would be complete without a female companion to
help re-populate the post-attack world? Peters has that covered:
“My baby and me, cozy we will be,
away from radioactivity.”
The style of the song then abruptly shifts away from that of a weird spoken
word jazz tune to a more conventional early 1960s pop rock ditty:
Twenty megatons is the size of the boom
And if they let it go, I’ll feel no doom
Let the cats run about, helter-skelter
I’m gonna, live, live, live in my fallout shelter
Fallout Shelter
did not exactly shoot to the top of the ‘Billboard’ charts upon its release in late
1961, but the music industry publication did take note of Peters’ unique interpretation of the Cold
War tension of the day:
“Fallout Shelter - Lute 6020 - The label, which had a smash with Alley-Oop, has another off-
beat side. The theme, admittedly is a sensitive one but the spoken lyric is cleverly written. Side
has something and should be watched.”
The song also caught the attention of the ‘Los Angeles Times’ columnist, Jack Scott, who
didn’t quite know what to make of the work (and admitted he hadn’t even listened to it). What is
most notable about the column is that he informs his readers that the 45 was sent to him with a
press release headlined ‘New Record Hit Promotes Civil Defense.’
The Lute label’s PR flack (who may have been Peters himself) was clearly reaching when he
wrote of the song:
“It can accomplish much in the public service field and please civil defense
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