“Afternoon Delight”
Starland Vocal Band was an American pop band who are mainly known for their single, “Afternoon Delight,” which was one of the best-selling singles of 1976. The group began as Fat City, a husband and wife duo of Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert. Together, they co-wrote the song “I Guess He’d Rather Be in Colorado” (if you can hum a few bars of this, go to the head of the class!), and then, with John Denver, “Take Me Home, Country Roads’” which became a hit single in 1971. The duo recorded two albums as Fat City (Reincarnation, Welcome To Fat City) and two more as Bill & Taffy (Pass It On, Aces), all released between 1969 to 1974. Starland Vocal Band was formed in the mid-1970s, signing to John Denver’s record label, Windsong Records, and included Jon Caroll (keyboards, guitar, vocal) and Margot Chapman (vocals). The group’s debut album was the self-titled Starland Vocal Band and included the featured single. They were nominated for four Grammy Awards in 1977, winning two: Best Arrangement of Voices and Best New Artist, the latter award beating out Boston…I know, an absolute travesty as far as I’m concerned. The title of the song came from the happy hour menu at Clyde’s restaurant in Georgetown, Washington, D.C, where Danoff was eating with fellow bandmate Chapman. Danoff downplayed the lyrics: “I didn’t want to write an all-out sex song…I just wanted something that was fun and hinted at sex.” Ah, the 70s. By the time we get to Cardi B, we’re talking “all out” on steroids!
I cannot remember the first, and probably, last time I heard this song, but I do remember thinking that this might be the most annoying song I had ever heard to date. My favorite comment on the official video from YouTube says it all: “Here because I smoke good weed!” I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in the room where whoever decided that this group should win a Grammy over Boston and their 1976 debut album’s eight amazing tracks like, “More Than A Feeling,” and “Let Me Take You Home.” But hey, what do I know?
My chosen cover is from The New Love Generation (that should be a hint!), which is a musical project featuring German TV production artists who have released pop music, including their cover of the featured song, from their 2018 album, Summer of Love. There is not a great deal of information of this project, other than the fact that their cover is supposed to be “reggae-infused,” which still has me scratching my head. I will say that their voices are, I feel, a step up from the original, but that is as far as I will go with the compliments.
Enjoy!
Starland Vocal Band. “Afternoon Delight” 1976.
The New Love Generation. “Afternoon Delight” cover 2018.
Los Angeles 2025
You’ve given new meaning to “afternoon delight” and as you expect some people aren’t going to like it!
I aim to please!
😂😂
Great post! The one good thing I will say…it reminds me of being a 9 year old kid…so that is good. The bad thing is I didn’t like it as an 9 year old kid. This song and Moonlight Feels Right…I couldn’t stand…I would turn the radio off in my sister’s 1973 Vega…. The cover? Well…it would be hard to mess up this song any further…but they actually did alright on it. BUT…If you are going to listen to a bad song…you might as well go bad with the original version that got you there.
Thank you. Wow, musical taste at 9, that’s pretty awesome! Agreed.
Thank you! Those two songs (Moonlight Feels Right) got under my skin for some reason although I loved Chevy Van!
Aww I loved all those songs, Afternoon Delight, fab harmony cheese with a hint of innuendo, Moonlight Feels Right, laid back gorgeousness, and More Than A Feeling, one of the greatest rock riffs of all time. Boston is the best, obv, but I’m easily pleased musically 🙂 Oddly, none of those were big hits in the UK at the time where punk was about to happen and ABBA were dominating the charts in an altogether more classy fashion than Starland Vocal Band.
I thought this song was alright when it came out, however, due to hearing it far too many times on the radio, I quickly got sick of it and never recovered. A friend once stated it was her most hated song ever. The reggae cover by The New Love Generation is every bit as insipid as the original. And I agree that Grammy voters were egregiously wrong that year!