Also for the record this post is thoroughly fogged by time passing too fast too far ago… bringing me to talk about one of my favorite musical groups of my youth and perhaps all time and one that unfairly bears that slur, One Hit Wonder.
Most of us old enough to remember the Cellar Door in Georgetown during the 60’s and 70’s recall the cramped dark and smoky place that might have seated 100 people who were very good friends or about to be. At 31st and M Streets, on one of the steepest streets in Georgetown, there was always a line falling downhill from the door before the evening’s show. The door inside was only wide enough to let one person by (so it seemed) and once inside you would step down a stairway into the seating area. I seem to remember seats above, but the place was always too crowded for me to ever turn around to actually see what or who was up there. I saw Richie Havens perform there one night with a “before my wife girlfriend”, (not to imply that there are any after my wife girlfriends) and we were so close that when he broke a guitar string, he stopped his performance and carried a conversation on with my friend and me and handed us the broken string when he had replaced it. The place defined intimate club. It was at the Cellar Door that some memorable moments of my youth occurred.
There are many groups cursed as One Hit Wonders. Most deservedly, some not. The name conjures inadequacy or luck or just happenstance to be in the right place at the right time with the right tune.
The fact is that when applied to the group, Starland Vocal Band , Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert, Jon Carroll and Margot Chapman, it is slanderous and more a comment on the listening public’s easily titillated simple-mindedness than Starland’s ability and talents as artists.
I recall the tune, “Afternoon Delight” with a smile and how that cute song about nooners and quickies and fun sex between friends seemed to scandalize the radio waves when it was released. It could not miss as a hit in the 70’s. Those who are younger than me will know the song from its inclusion in movie soundtracks and retrospectives. “Afternoon Delight”, was the name of a menu item at Clyde’s in Georgetown and one day that kicked off Bill Danoff’s vivid imagination. While really fun and a great way for getting an afternoon with your honey started, it is probably the least of their efforts. Let’s go back a ways for a moment….
Starland has its roots in the Washington, DC, husband/wife duo Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert, known as Fat City. As Fat City, they released four albums from 1969 to 1974. Oh to have those nights at the Cellar Door back again. “Workingman’s Day”, “Readjustment Blues”, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (yes Bill and Taffy co-wrote it with John Denver), “Morning Go Away”, “I Guess He’d Rather Be In Colorado”, “Friends With You” these last four all covered wonderfully by John Denver.
Fast forward to 1975-76, I am not remembering clearly which, and “Starland Vocal Band” makes its debut sort of. I first heard them at the Cellar Door, did I say this was a phenomenal club?. They don’t make clubs like this anymore. We always went to see Fat City when they performed but this night would turn out to be special. First off, there was a piano on the stage and four mikes. Bill and Taffy were introduced as Fat City and then Margot Chapman and Jon Carroll came on stage. If I remember correctly, this was the first time they performed together in public. Right out of the box, they did “Boulder to Birmingham” a song that Bill co-wrote with Emmy Lou Harris, and they knocked us all flat. To this day theirs’ is the benchmark recording of that song. The vocal harmonies constructed by Bill, Taffy, Jon and Margot were simply marvelous. Together, the powerful and angelic voices of Taffy and Margot just mesmerized everyone that night. Jon’s playful voice and Bill’s smooth baritone perfect compliments to the ladies. Too soon the evening was over and they departed the stage to applause that almost burst down the doors off the place. As they returned to do an encore, the group stood on stage, their instruments behind them. Taffy announced that they had been working on lots of new vocal harmonies and would perform a capella for the first time, Paul Simon’s, “American Tune”, and she made no promises. They nervously started, got four or five notes in and just stopped. Taffy apologized, smiled and said, “Let’s try that again.” What magic was next. There was not a sound during the song and not a dry eye in the house by the close. Paul Simon later said after hearing their performance of his song, “It’s not my song, it’s theirs now”. To this day, when I hear that song, I stop what I am doing and listen all the way to the end. And remember.
Starland released their first album, “Starland Vocal Band”, shortly after that and “Afternoon Delight” led it to the top of the charts and two Grammy Awards for the group that year. The subsequent three albums: 1976’s Rear View Mirror, 1978’s Late Night Radio, and 4×4 in 1979, all as good in their own right, one, Rear View Mirror was even better, never equaled the commercial success of the first one and are as of now only available on vinyl at used record shops. I urge you to find them or the “Best of” compilation “Afternoon Delight: A Golden Classics Edition” released in 1995. I think this may be available on CD as well.
At the very least go to ITunes or Emusic and download the only album you can get online, “Starland Vocal Band”.
Trust me, just for the record.
