How Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight" Became the Surprising Soundtrack of America's Bicentennial Summer
A nostalgic look back at the Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight," the one-hit wonder that became the unlikely soundtrack of America's Bicentennial summer in 1976. The article explores how this pop/folk song reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts just after July 4, 1976, and has remained a cultural curiosity ever since, despite being the group's only hit.
Key quotes
The pop/folk song that became the soundtrack to that summer 50 years ago, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts just after Independence Day: The Starland Vocal Band's 'Afternoon Delight.'
It would prove to be the only hit from the group, made up of Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert and Jon Caroll and Margot Chapman.
America's 250th has unleashed flashbacks to the Bicentennial, a buildup to July 4, 1976, awash in corporate patriotic branding, a flood of variety specials and a very memorable version of Schoolhouse Rock.
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