| Starland Vocal Band | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Genre: | Pop, folk rock, country, soft rock |
| Years Active: | 1975[1] –1981, 1998, 2007 |
| Label: | RCA, Windsong Records |
| Past Members: | Bill Danoff Taffy Nivert Jon Carroll Margot Chapman |
| Associated Acts: | John Denver |
Starland Vocal Band was an American pop band, known for "Afternoon Delight", one of the biggest-selling singles of 1976.
The group began as Fat City, a husband/wife duo of Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert.[2]
Danoff and Nivert co-wrote the song "I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado" and then, with John Denver, "Take Me Home, Country Roads", which became a hit single in 1971 and became an official song of West Virginia in 2014.[3] 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.[2]
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, vocals) and Margot Chapman (vocals).[2] Carroll and Chapman also became a couple, marrying in 1978.[4]
The group's debut album was the self-titled Starland Vocal Band and included "Afternoon Delight". The song was a US number one hit[4] and the album also charted. They were nominated for four Grammy Awards in 1977 and won two: Best Arrangement for Voices and Best New Artist, the latter award over the group Boston.[5] The song also reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. 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.[6]
The band hosted a variety show, The Starland Vocal Band Show, that ran on CBS for six weeks in the summer of 1977. David Letterman was a writer and regular on the show, which also featured Mark Russell, Jeff Altman, and Proctor and Bergman. April Kelly was a writer for the series.[7]
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.[4] All four members went on to pursue solo careers.[8] They 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.[9] Due to its success, the song was featured in such films as PCU, Anchorman, and Good Will Hunting, and TV show Glee.[10]
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| width=40 | US [11] | ||
| 1976 | Starland Vocal Band
| 20 | |
| 1977 | Rear View Mirror
| 104 | |
| 1978 | Late Nite Radio
| — | |
| 1980 | 4 X 4
| — | |
| 1980 | Christmas at Home
| — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||
A CD compilation album, Afternoon Delight: The Best of the Starland Vocal Band, was released in 1995 by K-tel.[12] Also in 1995, Collectables released Afternoon Delight: A Golden Classics Edition which included all tracks from the first two albums.
| Year | A/B-side songs | Catalog # (Windsong) | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=40 | US | width=40 | AUS | width=40 | CAN | width=40 | CAN AC | width=40 | UK [13] |
| 1976 | "Afternoon Delight" / "Starland" | 10588 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 18 | align=left rowspan=4 | Starland Vocal Band |
| "California Day" / "War Surplus Baby" | 10785 | 66 | — | — | 22 | — | |||
| "Hail | Hail! Rock and Roll | " / "Ain't It the Fall" | 10855 | 71 | — | 92 | — | — | |
| 1977 | "Afternoon Delight" / "California Day" | 10943 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Liberated Woman" / "Fallin' in a Deep Hole" | 10992 | — | — | — | — | — | align=left rowspan=3 | Rear View Mirror | |
| "The Light of My Life" / "Prism" | 11067 | — | — | — | 36 | — | |||
| "Mr. Wrong" / Too Long a Journey" | 11168 | — | — | — | 33 | — | |||
| 1978 | "Late Nite Radio" / "Please Ms. Newslady" | 11261 | — | — | — | — | — | align=left rowspan=1 | Late Nite Radio |
| 1980 | "Loving You with My Eyes" / "Apartment for Rent" | 11899 | 71 | — | — | 26 | — | align=left rowspan=2 | 4 X 4 |
| "(Love) Thought I Would Never Find Love" / "Love Stuff" | 12011 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||||
The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The band won two awards from four nominations. |-|rowspan=4|1977|Starland Vocal Band|Best New Artist||-|rowspan=3|"Afternoon Delight"|Record of the Year||-|Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals||-|Best Arrangement for Voices (duo, group or chorus)|