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1976 single by Starland Vocal Band
"Afternoon Delight " is a song recorded by
Starland Vocal Band . It was written by band member
Bill Danoff . In the US, it became a #1 single on July 10, 1976,
[4] and earned a
gold record .
Background and writing
The title came from the
happy hour menu at
Clyde's
restaurant in
Georgetown ,
Washington, D.C. ,
[4] where Bill Danoff was eating with fellow bandmember Margot Chapman, while his then-wife
Taffy Danoff was undergoing surgery for
cervical cancer .
[5] Danoff downplayed the lyrics: "I didn't want to write an all-out sex song ... I just wanted to write something that was fun and hinted at sex."
[4]
Cover versions
Concurrent with the Starland Vocal Band version, country singer
Johnny Carver 's cover went Top 10 on Billboard
Hot Country Singles .[
citation needed ]
In the 2004 film
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy , the song is sung by the news crew in choir and referenced multiple times and came with a music video in the bonus disc.[
citation needed ]
It was briefly used as the intro song for the Australian 1980s Children's TV show
Simon Townsend's wonderworld . It was replaced once the creator/producer of the show discovered that the song was about an afternoon sexual encounter.
[6]
[7]
Critical reaction
At the
19th Grammy Awards ceremony in 1977, "Afternoon Delight" received three nominations for recordings from 1976. It won the
Grammy Award for Best Arrangement for Voices
[8] and was also nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and
Song of the Year .
In 2010,
Billboard named "Afternoon Delight" the 20th sexiest song of all time.
[9]
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Chart (1976)
Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)
[11]
[20]
56
Canada RPM Top Singles
[21]
11
New Zealand
[22]
28
UK
[23]
120
US Billboard Hot 100
[24]
12
US Billboard Easy Listening
[25]
31
US Cash Box Top 100
[26]
7
All-time charts
Johnny Carver version
Chart (1976)
Peak position
US Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks
9
Canadian RPM Country Tracks
16
See also
References
^
"VH1's 40 Most Softsational Soft-Rock Songs" .
Stereogum .
SpinMedia . May 31, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2016 .
^
a
b Breihan, Tom (September 6, 2019).
"The Number Ones: Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight" " .
Stereogum . Retrieved June 30, 2023 . The final product stands out as a kind of throwback to sunshiney '60s folk-pop, and to countrified early-'70s soft rock.
^
"secondhandsongs.com" . secondhandsongs.com . Retrieved January 10, 2021 .
^
a
b
c
Bronson, Fred (2003).
"Afternoon Delight" . The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits (5th ed.). Billboard Books. p. 438.
ISBN
0-8230-7677-6 .
^
"Grammy Winner Taffy Nivert Settles In Safety Harbor - Safety Harbor, FL Patch" . Patch.com . 2013-02-08. Retrieved 2016-10-11 .
^ National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (2023-02-06).
"simon-townsends-wonder-world-first-episode" . National Film and Sound Archive of Australia .
^
" "...and remember, the world really is wonderful!" " . tvtonight.com.au . 6 September 2019. Retrieved 2023-02-06 .
^
"The Grammys : Starland Vocal Band : Search" . Grammy.com . Retrieved 2016-10-11 .
^
"The 50 Sexiest Songs Of All Time Page 4" . Billboard. Retrieved 2016-10-11 .
^
Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 291.
ISBN
0-646-11917-6 .
^
a
b
"National Top 100 Singles for 1976" .
Kent Music Report . December 27, 1976. Retrieved January 15, 2022 – via
Imgur .
^
"Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada" . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 1976-08-07. Retrieved 2018-06-10 .
^
"Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada" . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 1976-07-10. Retrieved 2018-06-11 .
^ "
Starland Vocal Band – Afternoon Delight" (in Dutch).
Single Top 100 .
^ "
Starland Vocal Band – Afternoon Delight" .
Top 40 Singles .
^
"Starland Vocal Band: Artist Chart History" .
Official Charts Company .
^
"Starland Vocal Band Chart History (Hot 100)" .
Billboard .
^
"Starland Vocal Band Chart History (Easy Listening)" .
Billboard .
^
"Starland Vocal Band Chart History (Hot Country Songs)" .
Billboard .
^
Australian-charts.com
Archived 2014-10-06 at the
Wayback Machine
^
"Top Singles – Volume 26, No. 14 & 15, January 08 1977" .
RPM .
Library and Archives Canada . Archived from
the original on 2016-03-19. Retrieved December 6, 2017 .
^
"The Official New Zealand Music Chart" .
^
"Old-Charts" . Old-Charts. Archived from
the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-11-12 .
^
"Top 100 Hits of 1976/Top 100 Songs of 1976" . Musicoutfitters.com . Retrieved 2016-10-11 .
^
Top 50 Adult Contemporary Hits of 1976
^
"Top 100 Year End Charts: 1976" .
Cashbox Magazine . Archived from
the original on 2012-08-25. Retrieved 2016-06-05 .
^
"Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart" . Billboard . Retrieved 10 December 2018 .
External links