In 1976, Starland Vocal Band won the Best New Artist Grammy, beating out Boston for the honor. They also beat “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen to take home the statue for Best Arrangement for Voices (Duo, Group, or Chorus). “Afternoon Delight” was everywhere you turned. It was sitting atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart on July 4, 1976. As the country celebrated its 200th anniversary, it was only fitting there would be a song about fireworks at number one. But there’s more to this song than just skyrockets in flight. Let’s look at the meaning behind “Afternoon Delight” by Starland Vocal Band.
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The Band
Starland Vocal Band consisted of two couples. Bill and Taffy Danoff, and Margot Chapman and Jon Carroll worked up four-part harmonies and released five albums before breaking up in 1981. The Danoffs began as a duo using the name Fat City and backed John Denver on many of his albums. They co-wrote “Take Me Home, Country Roads” with the singer and sang on the recording. It became an official state anthem of West Virginia. Starland Vocal Band was signed to Denver’s Winding Records, which was a subsidiary of RCA Records. The group opened many shows for Denver. The success of “Afternoon Delight” led to a summer replacement show on CBS hosted by the band that featured up-and-coming comedian David Letterman.
Gonna find my baby, gonna hold her tight
Gonna grab some afternoon delight
My motto’s always been, ‘When it’s right, it’s right’
Why wait until the middle of a cold, dark night?
When everything’s a little clearer in the light of day
And we know the night is always gonna be there anyway
The Inspiration
Clyde’s of Georgetown opened for business in 1963 in the Northwest section of Washington, D.C. The legendary saloon offered a happy hour menu called “Afternoon Delight.” Bill Danoff started writing the song over a six-month period, often while watching home team NFL football games. He told People magazine, “All that energy coming out of the tube gets my creative juices flowing.”
Thinkin’ of you’s workin’ up my appetite
Looking forward to a little afternoon delight
Rubbin’ sticks and stones together makes the sparks ignite
And the thought of lovin’ you is getting so exciting
Sky rockets in flight
Afternoon delight
[RELATED: 7 One-Hit Wonders of the 1970s]
What’s It Really About?
The song is filled with double entendres referring to midday sexual encounters. Nooners or quickies could now be called Afternoon Delights. Danoff told Dennis Hunt of The Los Angeles Times, “I didn’t want to write an all-out sex song. I just wanted to write something that was fun and hinted at sex. It was one of those songs that you could really have a good time writing. If the song had been banned, it would have been a real injustice. The lyrics are subtle and sophisticated and not at all raunchy. It might have been banned years ago, but not today.”
The song is clearly not only about fireworks.
Started out this morning feeling so polite
I always thought a fish could not be caught who wouldn’t bite
But you’ve got some bait a waitin’, and I think I might try nibbling
A little afternoon delight
Sky rockets in flight
Afternoon delight
Pop Culture References
The song has been used in movie and television soundtracks or parodied on PCU, Boogie Nights, Good Will Hunting, Sports Night, Malcolm in the Middle, ER, The Simpsons, Arrested Development, South Park, 30 Rock, Family Guy, My Name Is Earl, Emily’s Reasons Why Not, and Mindhunter.
Johnny Carver released his own version of “Afternoon Delight” in 1976, reaching No. 9 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. In 2004, it may have gotten its biggest resurgence when Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and David Koechner performed the song in the movie Anchorman. A full-blown music video was released with an intro by Ferrell, “Now, if you don’t think this song is the greatest song ever, I will fight you. That’s no lie.”
Please be waiting for me, baby, when I come around
We could make a lot of lovin’ ‘fore the sun goes down
The Steel Guitar
Of course, the vocals take center stage on the recording. One of the musical highlights of the song is the soaring, heavily processed pedal steel guitar lick which appears just after the skyrockets line. The lick, as well as the solo, were played by Danny Pendleton, who went on to record with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. Initially, producer Milt Okun tried a Moog synthesizer in that spot but was not happy with the results. Engineer Phil Ramone asked Pendleton to come up with something, and the iconic lick was born.
Bassist Russell George told The Washington Post in 2011. These guys were folkies trying to come up with a groove that just doesn’t happen in folk music. I’d done a James Brown album. I’d done Labelle. I said to Bill, ‘Do you mind if I kick it off?’ My count-off—a one, a two, a one-two-three-four—set up the whole groove. They had this wonderful song, but we didn’t know it until we heard it in its finality. We didn’t know what tune we were playing; we were just reading symbols off the page. They put the vocals down later. The first time I heard ‘Afternoon Delight’ in its complete form was when I got the record at home. I damn near [wet] myself. Honest to god, I got chills.”
Thinkin’ of you’s workin’ up my appetite
Looking forward to a little afternoon delight
Rubbin’ sticks and stones together makes the sparks ignite
And the thought of lovin’ you is getting so exciting
Sky rockets in flight
Afternoon delight
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Image
