Starland Vocal Band was an American

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

, known for "

Afternoon Delight "Afternoon Delight" is a hit song recorded by Starland Vocal Band, known for its close harmony and sexually suggestive wordplay. It was written by Bill Danoff, one of the members of the band. "Afternoon Delight" charted well in New Zealand, pea ...

", one of the biggest-selling

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

of 1976.

Career

The group began as Fat City, a husband/wife duo of

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 " ...

and

Taffy Nivert Mary Catherine "Taffy" Nivert-Danoff (born October 25, 1944) is an American songwriter and singer. She is best known for being a member of the Starland Vocal Band. Biography Mary Catherine Nivert was born 25 October 1944 in Washington, D.C. She ...

. Danoff and Nivert co-wrote the song "I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado" and then, with

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...

, "

Take Me Home, Country Roads "Take Me Home, Country Roads", also known simply as "Country Roads", is a song written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver about West Virginia. It was released as a single performed by Denver on April 12, 1971, peaking at number two ...

" which became a hit single in 1971 and became an official song of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

in 2014. 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 from 1969 to 1974. In the mid 1970s, Starland Vocal Band was formed and subsequently signed to Denver's label Windsong Records. Starland Vocal Band also included Jon Carroll ( keyboards,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

) and Margot Chapman (vocals). Carroll and Chapman also became a couple, marrying in 1978. The group's debut album was the self-titled ''Starland Vocal Band'' and included "

". The song was a US number one hit and the album also charted. They were nominated for four

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s in 1977 and won two: Best Arrangement for Voices and

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

, the latter award over the group

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. The song also reached number 18 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The follow-up album, ''Rear View Mirror'', did not fare as well, with 13 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200 and a peak of number 104. The band hosted a

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a co ...

, ''The Starland Vocal Band Show'', that ran on CBS for six weeks in the summer of 1977.

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...

was a writer and regular on the show, which also featured

Mark Russell Mark Russell (born August 23, 1932) is an American political satirist and comedian. He is best known for his series of semimonthly comedy specials on PBS television between 1975 and 2004. His routines were a mix of political stand-up humor cover ...

, Jeff Altman, and

Proctor and Bergman Proctor and Bergman was a comedy duo consisting of Philip Proctor and Peter Bergman. The two started performing in 1973 while taking a break from the four-man comedy act The Firesign Theatre, with the comedy album " TV or Not TV", on which they ...

. April Kelly was a writer for the series. Unable to match their previous success, the band broke up in 1981. Carroll and Chapman divorced later that year followed by Danoff and Nivert in 1982. All four members went on to pursue solo careers. All four members have remained on friendly terms, and in 1998 the group reunited for a few concerts, often featuring the children of the four original members as additional vocalists. In 2007, they appeared on a 1970s special on the New Jersey Network (NJN), singing "Afternoon Delight". In 2010, ''Billboard'' named "Afternoon Delight" the 20th sexiest song of all time. Due to its success, the song was featured in such films as '' PCU'', ''

Anchorman A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet ...

'' and ''

Good Will Hunting ''Good Will Hunting'' is a 1997 American psychological drama film directed by Gus Van Sant, and written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. It stars Robin Williams, Damon, Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård and Minnie Driver. The film received positive r ...

'' and TV show '' Glee''.

Discography

Studio albums

A CD compilation album, ''Afternoon Delight: The Best of the Starland Vocal Band'', was released in 1995 by

K-tel K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including ''The Super Hits'' series, ''The Dynamic ...

. Also in 1995, Collectables released ''Afternoon Delight: A Golden Classics Edition'' which included all tracks from the first two albums.

Singles

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

The

s are awarded annually by the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

. The band won two awards from four nominations. , - , rowspan=4,

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

, Starland Vocal Band ,

, , - , rowspan=3, "

" ,

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

, , - , Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals , , - , Best Arrangement for Voices (duo, group or chorus) ,

References

External links

Starland Vocal Band Starland Vocal Band was an American pop band, known for " Afternoon Delight", one of the biggest-selling singles of 1976. Career The group began as Fat City, a husband/wife duo of Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert. Danoff and Nivert co-wrote the s ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

* *
Bill Danoff
official website
Jon Carroll
official website {{Authority control 1976 establishments in Washington, D.C. 1981 disestablishments in Washington, D.C. American pop music groups Grammy Award winners Musical groups from Washington, D.C. David Letterman RCA Records artists Musical groups established in 1976 Musical groups disestablished in 1981