Afternoon Delight (song)

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"Afternoon Delight" is a 1976 hit song by the Starland Vocal Band, written by Bill Danoff, featuring close harmony and sexually suggestive lyrics. It became a number-one U.S. Billboard Hot 100 single on July 10, 1976. Some critics have suggested the song has since become a shorthand for the excesses of the 70s, as well as soft rock.

Concurrent to the Starland Vocal Band's version, country singer Johnny Carver had a Top 10 version of his own on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.

In the 1990s and 2000s, "Afternoon Delight" was featured in several film and television shows, albeit often in an ironic sense, such as Good Will Hunting, PCU, Boogie Nights, Starsky & Hutch, Arrested Development, The Simpsons, South Park and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

[edit] Trivia

The name for the song comes from the name of a special menu of the same name at Clyde's restaurant in Georgetown. [1]

[edit] References in popular culture

1987: In the movie Dragnet it plays while Dan Aykroyd's character is romancing the heroine, The Virgin, Connie Swail.
1994: In the movie PCU, the song is used as a form of torture.
1997: In Good Will Hunting, Matt Damon's character uses it to taunt one of his several therapists. It is also played during the end credits.
1997: In episode 215 of Murphy Brown, Murphy recalls that she once met Kay outside a concert because they both hated the song (even though Kay was actually the band's manager at the time)
1997: In Boogie Nights, it is used as the background to an early sex scene
1998: On episode 1.2 of the show Sports Night ("The Apology"), Casey's coworkers use the fact that he likes the song as proof that he is uncool.
2002: In The Rules of Attraction, while Sean Bateman masturbates in his dorm, and when he wakes in the morning following a failed suicide attempt.
2003: In The Simpsons's episode "The Fat and the Furriest", Lenny, Carl, and Bart listen and dance to Afternoon Delight, missing Homer's cries for help when he is attacked by a bear.
2004: In Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) explains to his friends what it's like falling in love with Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate); in the process, the foursome sings the song. They also perform a full cover of the song on the film's soundtrack album, and a music video (directed by The Malloys) of the same is included as an extra feature on the "Unrated, Uncut, & Uncalled For!" version of the film's DVD release.
2004: The song is played briefly in Starsky & Hutch.
2004: In the Arrested Development episode titled Afternoon Delight (originally aired 19 December 2004), the show's main character, Michael, sings a karaoke version of the song with his niece Maeby, becoming increasingly aware of the song's sexual theme as it continues. In a reversal of that situation, Michael's sister (and Maeby's mother) Lindsay would later sing the song with Michael's son, George Michael. [2]
2005: In episode 13 of the television show Entourage, Turtle quotes the song after intercourse with a Hollywood prostitute.
2006: In the South Park episode "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy," the song plays as an attractive teacher engages in illicit sexual conduct with a pre-school student.
2006: On the daytime drama, One Life to Live, the kooky Roxanne Balsom character sang "Hot pockets tonight, afternoon delight."
2007: On the television show My Name Is Earl in an episode entitled "Our 'Cops' Is On!", the song is playing in a convenience store that Earl and Randy are robbing.

Preceded by "Love Hangover" by Diana Ross	Billboard Hot 100 number one single July 10, 1976	Succeeded by "Kiss and Say Goodbye" by The Manhattans