Golden Hits Radio and GHR-2's Everything Oldies.....starting a brand new week with brand new Oldies news!
- A soul legend passed last week
- Who's the latest to get his face on a coin in the UK?
- Which music legend (and die hard San Francisco Giants fan) led the crowd in one of his signature songs during Game 5 of the National League Championship Series?
Where In The World Is........Starland Vocal Band?
Do you remember who the nominees for Best New Artist were at the 1977 Grammy Awards? There was a group who went on to have the biggest selling debut album of all-time at one point (Boston), an R&B act who had a highly successful five year run on the U.S. pop charts (The Brothers Johnson), a British one hit wonder (Wild Cherry), and a funk band whose output consisted of a dance chart hit (Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band). The winner, however, began a phenomenon known as the "Best New Artist Curse", which states that the Best New Artist winner fades into obscurity and never heard from again. Such was the fate of the Starland Vocal Band.
The group formed in the 70's, and at one time consisted of two married couples. Their original name was "Fat City", a duo consisting of husband and wife Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert. Their claim to fame prior to forming Starland Vocal Band was co-writing a classic for John Denver, "Take Me Home, Country Roads". Denver returned the favor by signing them to his record label, Windsong Records. They eventually teamed up with another couple who would eventually marry, Jon Carroll and Margot Chapman.
In 1976, a seemingly innocent sounding song that hid a rather suggestive message became their signature. The first single from their self-titled debut album, "Afternoon Delight" hit #1 in the U.S. and became one of the biggest selling singles of the year. Along with the dreaded Best New Artist Grammy, they were nominated for four more, winning also for Best Pop Vocal Arrangement. In those days, an unwritten rule stated that once you had a hit song, you were given your own prime time TV variety show. The Starland Vocal Band got theirs in the summer of 1977 on CBS that ran six weeks and featured a then-unknown comedian who would become a superstar on that same network sixteen years later, David Letterman.
Follow up efforts went nowhere for Starland Vocal Band. By 1981, the two married couples decided to split up both as husband and wife AND as a group. For years afterward, they were the butt of many a pop culture joke, but the 90's made all things 70's cool again. As a result, "Afternoon Delight" has had a major rebirth on radio and in pop culture, most notably in a hilarious scene in the movie Anchorman. Group members embarked on individual solo careers and have remained active in the music business, and you can read more about Bill Danoff and Jon Carroll on their official websites by clicking on their names.
From VH1's "8 Track Flashback"..........
Golden Hits Radio and GHR-2's Burning Question of the Day
What was the last instrumental hit to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100?
Check back @ Everything Oldies tomorrow for the answer, and leave a comment here with your best guess!
Friday's Burning Question (and Answer) of the Day
If you had bought a record from one of Motown's signature acts under their original name, the label would have read "The Primettes". By what name do we know them better?
Answer: The Primettes eventually became............The Supremes!
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