Starland Vocal Band was an American 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", 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, includin ...

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 o ...

" 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 Bur ...

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 Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

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 stri ...

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 without ...

) 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 " Afternoon Delight". 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 pres ...

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 theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...

, ''The Starland Vocal Band Show'', that ran on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

for six weeks in the summer of 1977. 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 Jeff Altman (born August 13, 1951) is an American stand-up comedian and actor who has appeared as a guest on '' Late Night with David Letterman'' and '' Late Show with David Letterman'' a combined 45 times. Altman mesmerized contemporaries like ...

, 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 April Kelly (born April Kalinowski) is an American television writer and producer, who co-created '' Boy Meets World'' and ''Girl Meets World'' with Michael Jacobs. Career She was a writer on the shows ''Happy Days'' and ''Mork & Mindy''. She ...

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 Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

''.

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 A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...

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 society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous f ...

. The band won two awards from four nominations. , - , rowspan=4, 1977 , Starland Vocal Band ,

, , - , rowspan=3, " Afternoon Delight" ,

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 Bandat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

* *
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