Paul Cavalconte's Cavalcade For December 5

Since the "Cavalcade" started rolling in the spring of this year, each show has touched upon many styles and eras of music, with a liberal scoop of brand new releases, and with often with themes or concepts tying it all together. Tonight's show at 8 settles deep into the concept pocket with an evocation of a very specific time: early December 1980.

I can't imagine that an FUV fan of any age would struggle with the significance of that particular time. My choice is to return not exclusively to the music of John Lennon, but to the musical environment that supported his return to the world stage in the pivotal year of 1980. Radio was bubbling with new and unexpected music. Out of the waning days of disco and punk came a "new wave" of pop that could be as pop as Blondie, quirky as The B-52s, dark and arty as Joy Division and The Cure, and bar-friendly as Southside Johnny.

Artists like Bruce Springsteen and Peter Gabriel still had something to prove and took their game to the next level. And the one hit wonders had their moment: Suzie Quatro, Rachel Sweet, Lene Lovitch and Carolyn Mas. All of this music steamed into the Lennon inner sanctum throughout 1980, culminating in the a-ha moment that clicked for him—this musical landscape was where he belonged. Watching the wheels worked for a few years. Now it was time to set them in motion.

A "Cavalcade" of 1980 tonight from 8-10p.m. on WFUV.org and on demand in the WFUV archives, up to two weeks after broadcast.