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Starland Vocal Band

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Starland Vocal Band
The band standing together
Starland Vocal Band, June 1977, from left to right: Jon Carroll, Margot Chapman, Taffy Danoff, Bill Danoff
Background information
OriginWashington, D.C., U.S.
GenresPop, folk rock, country, soft rock
Years active1975[1]–1981, 1998, 2007
LabelsRCA, Windsong Records
Past membersBill Danoff
Taffy Nivert
Jon Carroll
Margot Chapman

Starland Vocal Band was an American pop band, known for "Afternoon Delight", one of the biggest-selling singles of 1976.

Career[edit]

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.[6] 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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9] 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.[10] Due to its success, the song was featured in such films as PCU, Anchorman, and Good Will Hunting, and TV show Glee.[11]

Discography[edit]

Studio albums[edit]

Year Album details Peak chart
positions
US
[12]
1976 Starland Vocal Band
  • Release date: 1976
  • Label: Windsong 1351
 20
1977 Rear View Mirror
  • Release date: April 15, 1977
  • Label: Windsong 2239
 104
1978 Late Nite Radio
  • Release date: March 1978
  • Label: Windsong 2598
 —
1980 4 X 4
  • Release date: March 11, 1980
  • Label: Windsong 3536
 —
1980 Christmas at Home
  • Release date: November 25, 1980
  • Label: Breaker 100
 —
"—" 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.[13] Also in 1995, Collectables released Afternoon Delight: A Golden Classics Edition which included all tracks from the first two albums.

Singles[edit]

Year A/B-side songs Catalog #
(Windsong) 		Peak chart positions Album
US
[12] 		AUS
 CAN
 CAN AC
 UK
[6]
1976 "Afternoon Delight" / "Starland" 10588 1 6 1 6 18 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 — — — — — 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 — — — — — Late Nite Radio
1980 "Loving You with My Eyes" / "Apartment for Rent" 11899 71 — — 26 — 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.

Awards and nominations[edit]

Grammy Awards[edit]

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The band won two awards from four nominations.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1977 Starland Vocal Band Best New Artist Won
"Afternoon Delight" Record of the Year Nominated
Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Nominated
Best Arrangement for Voices (duo, group or chorus) Won

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Utopia Coming To Texas Hall". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. November 21, 1975. Retrieved June 7, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c "Fat City - At Least We're Not Invading China". Paste. August 29, 1972.
  3. ^ "House Concurrent Resolution No. 40". West Virginia Legislature. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c "'Skyrockets in flight/Afternoon delight': The story behind Starland Vocal Band's one big hit". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  5. ^ "19th Annual GRAMMY Awards (1976)". Grammy.com. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "STARLAND VOCAL BAND - full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  7. ^ Jeff Benjamin (January 29, 2013). "8 One-Hit Wonders Who Won Best New Artist Grammys". Fuse. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  8. ^ "A look at early David Letterman on the 'Starland Vocal Band Show'". Atom Bash. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  9. ^ "Whatever happened to Grammy's Best New Artists?". CBS News. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  10. ^ "The 50 Sexiest Songs Of All Time Page 4". Billboard.com. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  11. ^ Jeffrey Rosenfield (February 7, 2013). "Grammy Winner Taffy Nivert Settles In Safety Harbor". Patch Media. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Starland Vocal Band - Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  13. ^ "Schwann Spectrum". Stereophile. 7 (1): 137. 1995.

External links[edit]

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