“Afternoon Delight” turns 50!
Skyrockets in flight…
This chart topper and Grammy winner was released as a single in April 1976.
This is an image of the cover art for the self-titled album by Starland Vocal Band. Copyright Windsong Records. This song is the album’s eighth track.
“Afternoon Delight” was written by band member Bill Danoff. The hit song was inspired by a spicy happy hour menu at Clyde's of Georgetown titled "afternoon delights", that included items like spiced shrimp and hot Brie with almonds. Danoff, inspired by the menu's name, came home and explained to his wife what "afternoon delights" really should mean, becoming the seed for the creation of a song that drips with sexual innuendo. Bill’s wife Taffy later noted the "song was the right thing at the right time. It was the summer of 1976, the country’s bicentennial celebration". With a chorus evoking the summer's fireworks displays ('Skyrockets in flight'), it resonated with the public and reached the Billboard number one spot on July 10th, within days of the national July 4th celebrations. 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. It was instrumental in Starland Vocal Band winning the Grammy for Best New Artist of 1976, beating out the band Boston, whose 1976 self-titled debut album now ranks as one of the best-selling debut albums in U.S. history.
Source: Wikipedia.org
As a young child, I often heard songs and records playing on my parents’ stereo console that sat in our living room right across from our pea green sofa. “Afternoon Delight” (1976) is the first song that I remember hearing on that console.
A future “rockstar”… Photo of me circa 1976.
Courtesy of Anthony Woodard
“Afternoon Delight”
Oct. 1, 2013: Our rollicking band made its way to a local studio in the Crossroads Arts District for a professional video shoot.