“Afternoon Delight” by Starland Vocal Band

"Afternoon Delight," from Starland Vocal Band's self-titled 1976 album, started life on a restaurant menu. Bill Danoff was eating with bandmate Margot Chapman at Clyde's in Georgetown, in Washington, D.C., where the happy-hour spread of hot Brie with almonds and spiced shrimp went by the name "Afternoon Delights," while his then-wife lay in a hospital bed after cancer surgery. When he later told her what an afternoon delight ought to mean, the song was on its way.

Danoff wrote it by himself and sings it with Chapman, Jon Carroll and Taffy Nivert. It has lived on as a byword for sexual innuendo, but it also caught the Bicentennial summer just right, its chorus calling up the fireworks, and it hit number one that July and went gold. By a band member's own account, it also made them a one-hit wonder.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.