Starland Vocal Band
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Starland Vocal Band is an American pop band, known primarily for "Afternoon Delight", one of the biggest selling singles in 1976.
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[edit] Career
The group began as 'Fat City', a husband/wife duo of Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert.
The band was also composed of Jon Carroll (keyboards and vocals) and Margot Chapman (vocals). Carroll and Chapman were also married after meeting as members of the group, but later divorced. They had one son, Ben Carroll, who is also a musician.
Their debut album was the self-titled Starland Vocal Band, which included "Afternoon Delight". The song was a hit, reaching #1 and the album also charted. They were nominated for five Grammy Awards and won two - Best arrangement (voices) and Best New Act. The follow-up, Rear View Mirror was a failure in comparison, although it was a minor chart entry, spending 13 weeks on the Billboard 200 (reaching a peak of #104).
The band hosted a self-titled variety show that ran on CBS for six weeks in the summer of 1977. David Letterman, then unknown, also participated in the show, as did Mark Russell, Jeff Altman, and Proctor and Bergman.
The band broke up by the early 1980s, unable to match their previous success (see 1980s in music). Danoff and Nivert divorced shortly afterwards.
Each of the band members went on to a solo career.
As recently as 1998 Starland Vocal Band has reunited for a few concerts, often featuring the children of the four original members as vocalists.
Danoff and Nivert co-wrote, with John Denver, the hit song "Take Me Home, Country Roads". Denver subsequently signed them to his label, Windsong Records.
[edit] Discography
- 1976 Starland Vocal Band
- 1977 Rear View Mirror
- 1978 Late Night Radio
- 1979 4 X 4
[edit] Cultural references
- 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 "Afternoon Delight". They also perform a full cover of the song on the film's soundtrack album, and a music video of the same is included as an extra feature on the "Unrated, Uncut, & Uncalled For!" version of the film's DVD release.
- In The Simpsons episode 'Round Springfield, Homer Simpson recommends to Lisa Simpson that the best way to preserve the things you love is to get a tattoo, he finds that the tattoo he got reads "Starland Vocal Band"; to which he responds, "Starland Vocal Band? They suck!" Also in The Simpsons episode The Fat and the Furriest, Lenny, Carl, and Bart Simpson listen and dance to "Afternoon Delight", missing Homer's cries for help when he is attacked by a bear.
- In PCU, Jeremy Piven's character uses "Afternoon Delight" as a form of torture when he locks up a group of University executives and alums in a room and leaves the song on repeat at full volume.
- The television show Arrested Development had an episode entitled Afternoon Delight that featured Michael Bluth singing the song with his niece Maeby, and his sister Lindsay singing it with her nephew George Michael. In both cases, the couples did not realize the song was sexually suggestive until it was too late.
- In the movie Good Will Hunting, Will (Matt Damon) sings "Afternoon Delight" to a therapist (Francesco Clemente) while pretending to be hypnotized. As well, the actual recording of "Afternoon Delight" is played during the final credits. Damon has stated that when his real-life nephew was crying as a baby, Damon would sing "Afternoon Delight" for him.
- Taffy Danoff has been heard on the Washington, DC morning radio show, Elliot in the Morning on DC101. She has said that the members of Starland Vocal Band received a one-time payment for recording "Afternoon Delight", and receive no royalties for the song.
