I remembered this from when I was growing up - at the time, I hated it with the heat of a hundred suns, as it sounded smug and whitebread bland. Listening to it as an adult, I'm down to a mere fifty suns or so, since I will give them credit for having good harmonies. But I only lasted as far as the first chorus just out of curiosity and I hope to never pass this way again. However, there are some fascinating bits of trivia associated with this song and this band.
Starland Vocal Band were from Washington, D.C., and consisted of two couples. One couple, Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert, was already married when the band was formed; prior to this, they had co-written "Take Me Home, Country Roads" with John Denver and been a duo named Fat City. (I am willing to speculate that "Afternoon Delight" would not have been a chart success had it been performed by Fat City.) Danoff also co-wrote "Boulder To Birmingham" with Emmylou Harris; her version of this song is eleven different kinds of awesome, and I will forgive much because of this. The other two members of the band, Jon Carroll and Margot Chapman, apparently weren't a couple when the band formed but became one; they got married in 1978.
"Afternoon Delight" made it to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and nationally in Canada, earning a gold record. It also reached #6 in Australia and #18 in the UK. The band won two Grammy Awards in 1977, for Best Arrangement for Voices and Best New Artist (they beat out Boston for this one). They also hosted a variety show on CBS for six weeks in the summer of 1977; David Letterman was a writer and regular on the show.
The quartet (I was going to write "foursome", but that has implications that I assume aren't warranted here) produced singles through 1980. They split up in 1981 and both couples divorced shortly after that, though apparently everybody remains on good terms.
"Afternoon Delight" has been covered a few times. In particular, it was covered in the movie Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, in which it was sung by its star, Will Ferrell. (For personal reasons, I don't really want to add more Will Ferrell to my life.)
Created October 7, 2026.