"Afternoon Delight" is a hit song recorded by Starland Vocal Band, known for its

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and sexually suggestive wordplay. It was written by

Bill Danoff William Thomas Danoff (born May 7, 1946) is an American songwriter and singer. He is known for “Afternoon Delight", which he wrote and performed as a member of the Starland Vocal Band, and for writing multiple hits for John Denver, including " ...

, one of the members of the band. "Afternoon Delight" charted well in New Zealand, peaking at #5. In Australia it was a #6 hit (

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

radio station 5KA was first to pick up the single, making it #1 in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

). In the UK, it reached #18 and was used as theme to a weekly show of the same title on London's

Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. ...

, hosted by Duncan Johnson, and from 1980 on an afternoon show using the same title, broadcast every weekday at Mercia Sound in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

, presented by

Stuart Linnell Stuart Linnell MBE BAHons HonMA is a semi-retired UK radio and television broadcaster, particularly well known in Coventry and Warwickshire, and in Northamptonshire. He is Chair of Healthwatch Coventry, and Chair of Coventry Community Digital Ra ...

. It became a US #1 single on July 10, 1976 and earned a

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. "Afternoon Delight" also reached #1 in Canada.

Background and writing

The title came from the happy hour menu at Clyde's restaurant in Georgetown,

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, where Bill Danoff was eating with fellow bandmember Margot Chapman, while his then-wife Taffy Danoff was undergoing surgery for cervical cancer. Danoff enjoyed writing the song and downplayed the somewhat controversial 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."

Cover versions

Concurrent with the Starland Vocal Band version, country singer Johnny Carver's cover went Top 10 on ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

. In 1983, the Circle Jerks also covered it as one of the six covers on "Golden Shower of Hits (Jerks on 45)", which appears on their album '' Golden Shower of Hits''. 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. British experimental folk music band

Current 93 Current 93 are an English experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet, who has been Current 93's only constant member. Background Tibet has been the only const ...

used an industrial-style cover as an introduction to performances of their 2009 album. Claude François sang it in French as "Dimanche après-midi". In season two of the television series

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

, the episode "Afternoon Delight" sees several characters singing the song at various points, often without knowledge of the song's subject matter. The popular TV show '' Glee'' also covered it in their episode " Sexy", with

Dianna Agron Dianna Elise Agron ( ; born April 30, 1986) is an American actress and singer. After primarily dancing and starring in small musical theater productions in her youth, Agron made her screen debut in 2006, and in 2007, she played recurring charac ...

Jayma Mays Jamia Suzette "Jayma" Mays is an American actress. She is known for playing Emma Pillsbury in the Fox musical series '' Glee'' (2009–2015) and for her starring roles in the films ''Red Eye'' (2005), '' Paul Blart: Mall Cop'' (2009) and ''Th ...

Mark Salling Mark Wayne Salling (; August 17, 1982 – January 30, 2018) was an American actor and musician known for his role as Noah "Puck" Puckerman on the television series '' Glee''. Salling studied at the Los Angeles College of Music before wor ...

, Lea Michele, and John Stamos singing. It was also used in the movie Politically Correct University (PCU) in which frat brothers from a rival fraternity set the stereo to play it over and over again on high volume and locking the doors thereby forcing the rival fraternity to have to listen to it over and over again.

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 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.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Johnny Carver version

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Afternoon Delight (Song) 1976 debut singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Johnny Carver songs Starland Vocal Band songs Songs written by Bill Danoff Grammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices 1976 songs RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Milt Okun Country pop songs