📺Starland Vocal Band Show Episode One 7/31/ 1977

CBS network offered up a 6-week summer series in 1977 with the Starland Vocal Band after their song Afternoon Delight was a huge hit during the summer of 1976, joining them was up and coming writer David Letterman, the show featured comedy skits and musical performances with the band, each episode ran for approximately 24 minutes
Episode One of the 1977 series in full, including the opening song Afternoon Delight
Starland Vocal Band was fronted by Bill and Taffy Danoff who started out as a folk duo in the mid sixties
#classictvshows #starlandvocalband #afternoondelight #davidletterman
1.Dave Letterman introduces Starland Vocal Band 0:00
2.Taffy driving the Star Van to a local performance (Afternoon Delight) 1:03
3.Dave Letterman (as a postman) reading a fan letter to SVB 5:04
4.Renaissance Fair with Proctor and Bergman 6:37
6.Bill and Margot do the old pie in the face comedy skit 8:44
7.Dave Letterman interviews Rocky Balboa (Jeff Altman) 9:23
8.Bill introduces the song Take Me Home Country Roads while driving around and then parking across the street from the basement apartment where the song was written, then SVB performs it at Georgetown University 10:09
9.SVB listening in outside the White House gates 13:10
10.Dave Letterman introduces SVB recording the song-Starting All Over Again 13:30
11.Dave Letterman reads the SVB news 17:14
12.A comedy monologue by Mark Russell 18:20
13.Dave Letterman introduces SVB at Pepperdine University singing Friends With You 20:16
14.SVB saying goodnight to the television audience/closing credits 22:46
filmed in 1977
The show featured Taffy Danoff, Bill Danoff, Margot Chapman and Jon Carroll
Political Satirist Mark Russel
Comedy Team Proctor and Bergman (Firesign Theater)
Comedian Jeff Altman and Comedian David Letterman
with musical performances by SVB
Starland Vocal Band is considered to be one hit wonders because of their only number one hit Afternoon Delight
One hit wonder, maybe, but their accomplishments are plenty

[@northsmoket]

the girls are sublime/ taffys light soprano and margots powerful alto

[@AgeBetterDotCom]

I remember the first time I heard Afternoon Delight." It took me a while to figure out what they were singing about. What for me is magical about the song and their performance is that it harkens back to memories of a peaceful happy time when the world was less complicated and challenging than it is now. I love their harmonies as well. Great stuff!

[@starlandandmore]

Thank you for the kind words and remembrance, we appreciate hearing from you, we had a blast, and our channel here has let us hear from fans from back in the day and even picked up a few new fans.

[@AgeBetterDotCom]

@@starlandandmore Come back!!!

[@starlandandmore]

@@AgeBetterDotCom everyone but Jon Carroll is retired ,our kids are making their mark now, both Ben Carroll and Owen Danoff are singer songwriters and record their own music, Owen was a part of The Voice a few years back, he has his own KZbin channel as well.

[@AgeBetterDotCom]

@@starlandandmore Great to hear that your kids will carry on the great music that you started. Sometimes I wish I could hit the reset button and go back to 1977. It was a great time for music.

[@ArmpitStudios]

I was 12, and I got the reference. 🙂 It was in heavy rotation on KIOA the summer that my older brother and I painted our grandma’s house. He hated it, but I couldn’t wait for the “skyrockets” sound to come around every time. It sounds like a pedal steel through distortion and a flanger to me. I’d love to know if I’m right about that.

[@Big_Daddy_CorkUSMC]

So cool! Bill Danoff is a great guy. A great singer, guitarist and songwriter too.

[@LAIRDO-]

Clicked on this video on a whim. Never expected to see Dave Letterman hosting it! Fun stuff! I love old crap like this, for some reason.

[@starlandandmore]

There's 5 more episodes, we had a blast with Dave, he was one of the writers. Thanks for watching

[@vc8230]

Sitting at home in this hot summer day, watching these guys, I could not ask for more. Yeah! It's cool.

[@starlandandmore]

Awesome

[@edwindevera7549]

Who would have thought? The Starland Vocal Band broke up in 1981. That Letterman guy began a 33 year career in late night television in 1982.

[@starlandandmore]

Dave thanked us when he did his last show.

[@bradwelljackson6385]

Thank you so much for uploading this TV show! I was fascinated for a long time by what this series would possibly look like. I never thought I would get to cast eyes on it, and I was dying to see Margot!

[@starlandandmore]

You're Welcome and thank you ,thanks to KZbin we can share our music and live performances with our fans old and new, enjoy, all 6 episodes of the tv series is here

[@blainedavis8343]

I like Taffy Danoff

[@maoxian]

Great stuff, thanks for posting it... fun to see young goofy Letterman ... Margot Chapman, what a talent, and stunningly beautiful to boot!

[@starlandandmore]

Thank you, we all love Margot too

[@slide4180]

Quite a set of pipes, yes.

[@starlandandmore]

I'll see that she reads your comments, thank you kindly

[@glenalienartist]

This show is an absolute 70s gem! Fun, creative atmosphere and great music by SVB. The mix of music and comedy skits makes me wonder if the producers had "Saturday Night Live" in mind, or perhaps "The Monkees" TV show. SVB members are comfortable and relaxed with the variety format and I wish the show could have gone on for multiple seasons. Thank you for posting this blast from the past.

[@starlandandmore]

Thank you and you're welcome, we found KZbin is a way to share our Music and the TV show with old fans and new..

[@glenalienartist]

@@starlandandmore is the blue and yellow SVB van still running?

[@starlandandmore]

After we finished filming the show, we were busy recording our 3rd album, touring, etc.,the network owned the van,someone tried to find it years later, but no one knows anything, maybe someday it will drive out of some relatives of a crew member of the show's garage ...

[@glenalienartist]

@@starlandandmore thanks so much for the update. I noticed how prominently the van factored in to the first episode of the TV show. it would be amazing to see a colorful SVB van make a comeback sometime.

[@k.c.8658]

Variety shows, which were so popular in the 70s, went extinct by the end of the end of the decade. Even the best wouldn’t survive. Soft rock took a hit also, replaced by disco, punk, and then New Wave. As I have aged I have come back to the kindness and warmth of groups like Starland Vocal Band. Perhaps I am just getting old, but maybe there is also some maturity involved. They’re really did make some beautiful songs

[@starlandandmore]

Thanks for the sentiment and kind comment, through 9 albums we tried to make it about the vocals and lyrics, it was a blast

[@k.c.8658]

StarlandandMore And I hope the the gentle amiability of your music has been reflected in success, however you want to measure that, in your own personal lives.

[@celestialstarseed111]

I agree with you. The songs of the 70's were so much better..more class...real songwriters...and real music...nothing digital or fake....and the tunes were so much catchier then they are today.

[@kenperk9854]

Before letterboy became A TOTAL DOUCHE.

[@tarstarkusz]

This show is bad even by 70s standards. I mean, it's bad. Really bad.

[@georgekeys5693]

They were the American ABBA!

[@starlandandmore]

We just sounded completely different, they were more electronic and overdubs, we were a seven piece band with 4 lead singers and no overdubs, but ABBA was great

[@animalyze7120]

Man it's unreal how a band could release a song (And great album by the way) that 45 years later still has me remembering the lyrics and singing along, mind you I was 5 when Afternoon delight was released. A timeless melody from great Singer/Songwriters who weren't 1 hit wonders to me, they were part of a great montage of great songs from my youth that I never forgot and still know where I was when I first heard them. Thanks for the great trip down memory lane to a time that will never come again but I can still see and hear through the great music.

[@starlandandmore]

Thank you kindly for your comment, I am sharing this with Starland Vocal Band on Facebook

[@starlandandmore]

bandzoogle.com/tracks/187722/2671857155/2526919.html This is our most recent interview with Taffy Nivert that Willie J.Hoevers did back in November 2020,a very revealing conversation.

[@starlandandmore]

Taffy Nivert is giving us another interview in May fb.me/e/2zLkkcP0x

[@sunryse111]

Great show, you guys. First time I've seen this one. Loved Margot's lead on "Starting All Over Again"! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐➕👍

[@vc8230]

Just like time travelling, bringing everybody back to the golden old days. It's really great. Thanks !

[@lucillelaurenzi4510]

I love this song.This brings back good memories of the now.

[@starlandandmore]

Thanks Lucille, we appreciate hearing from you 🙂

[@derekwohland6503]

We were ALL dying to see Margot..

[@collegeman1988]

Nice orange coat, Dave 👍

[@starlandandmore]

It was the 70's

[@hanawana]

I loved watching this

[@starlandandmore]

Thank you kindly, hope you get a chance to watch the other 5 episodes..enjoy!

[@stanroberts4820]

Fun to watch the skits, and the music was fantastic!

[@starlandandmore]

I hope it was in sync, it's been a pain getting this put back together, we put it up without Afternoon Delight because of KZbin issues, but finally got it worked out, thanks watching and commenting Stan

[@stanroberts4820]

@@starlandandmore looked in sync to me, and enjoyed it immensely.

[@starlandandmore]

Thanks 😊

[@fromthesidelines]

Originally telecast on Sundays at 8:30pm(et), then moved to Fridays at 8:30pm {replacing another summer variety series, " THE KEANE BROTHERS SHOW", on August 19th}. Jeff Altman, of course, was later involved in another variety show in March 1980- the infamous "PINK LADY {& JEFF}" on NBC.

[@starlandandmore]

It never moved to Friday night's in our region, our show only aired on Sunday night through it's six episode run

[@fromthesidelines]

I remember seeing it on Fridays towards the end.

[@almodovar251]

Margot Chapman had a great voice. What a beautiful princess!

[@starlandandmore]

She did, we knew her from the late sixties and worked off and on together through the years leading up to Starland. Thanks for stopping by.

[@fastfootedone]

I was gonna say the little Asian girl could really sing and was really gorgeous!

[@starlandandmore]

Native Hawaiian

[@starlandandmore]

​@@fastfootedonecheck out the opening song in episode six, Margot at her best

[@toddlee2571]

Fun to see David Letterman honing his comedy here, especially his "man on the street" tropes that would eventually wind up in his Late Night show. IIRC, Mark Russell did this before Real People. I always liked his political jokes and takes. Jeff Altman... a few of my favorite comedians name him as a major influence. I don't see it, but...

[@starlandandmore]

It was a pleasure to work with them,Mark Russell was at our request, great talent (RIP)

[@timmyv3488]

I don’t remember this at all, but I’m sure we gathered around the big old RCA console TV to watch it. We had just seen y’all open for John at the Roanoke Civic Center in November of ‘76 (I was 7 and it was my first concert).

[@starlandandmore]

What a great memory, thanks for sharing, all six episodes are here, we aired on Sunday nights for six weeks, they are in a playlist on our channel.

[@timmyv3488]

@@starlandandmore I just looked up the Sunday night prime time TV listings for summer ‘77 and you were up against “The Six Million Dollar Man” so you didn’t have a chance in our house 😀.

[@starlandandmore]

@@timmyv3488 honestly, the show wasn't great, but we enjoyed working with David Letterman, Mark Russell and Proctor and Bergman and the concert spots were awesome.

[@ArmpitStudios]

Proctor and Bergman! I’m baffled about how they got roped into this.

[@starlandandmore]

It's Proctor and Bergman and we asked them to be regulars, they weren't roped

[@ArmpitStudios]

@@starlandandmore I didn’t mean “roped” in a negative sense. I was just floored when I got to the ren fair skit and started to recognize them. And that must’ve been a fat-fingering misspelling Bergman. I’ll fix that. I think this might be my first viewing of the show. I don’t recall seeing it when it aired.

[@starlandandmore]

@@ArmpitStudios no problem, we do try to answer questions and respond, we appreciate your comment and that you watched an episode, there's 5 more episodes 😁,depending on your age,it aired on CBS in the summer of 1977,not many people saw it then either, lol,not even us. We didn't like it either, except for the concert spots, we lived and learned.

[@AwfullWaffle]

That Letterman guys seems pretty funny. I bet he’ll have a really great career.

[@starlandandmore]

We were happy to help him along the way

[@Sheeeeeeeeeit]

Looks like the Afternoon Delight performance was filmed on 30th Street NW, with the van parked on Thomas Jefferson Street NW (in Georgetown - Washington, DC). Drive by there almost daily and never realized.

[@starlandandmore]

We filmed the show in various DC locations and surrounding areas

[@Sheeeeeeeeeit]

@@starlandandmore I was referring to the performance of AD. Edited my comment to clarify. 🙂

[@starlandandmore]

@@Sheeeeeeeeeit I understood that

[@jackhuffman9313]

Yeah I know this song, I was a teen in 76 and became a teen dad becouse of this song and strangely my daughter looks a lot like Margot !

[@starlandandmore]

Then all is well

[@journeymusic]

Letterman looks like the Johnny cab driver in the movie Total Recall with Schwarzenegger hahah

[@ThomasSellers]

"We hope you enjoyed the ride!"

[@journeymusic]

@@ThomasSellers hahahahaha

[@starlandandmore]

Never seen Total Recall

[@JohnDoe-fu6zt]

I remember sitting in my car outside the Columbia Mall on a warm summer afternoon, waiting to pick someone up, Afternoon Delight was playing on the radio. That song always transports me back to that moment. Was that '76? Maybe '77?

[@starlandandmore]

A certain song can revive a memory,thanks for watching our channel

[@exugient]

You know... I looked this up expecting it to be stupid Seventies schlock, but it's actually great! Seventies one, prejudice zero!👏

[@starlandandmore]

Terrible show in the end result, but we had a blast with the cast and crew .All 6 episodes are here, hope you can check them out, thanks for watching and commenting.

[@hanawana]

cheers !

[@starlandandmore]

🍻

[@spencerwelchii573]

Eve from the start Dave is Dave, the same from The Mary Tyler Moore Variety Show in 1979 with Michael 'Batman' Keaton

[@starlandandmore]

Undeniably

[@TheDeev]

Letterman the Letter Man is hilarious here.

[@starlandandmore]

He made us laugh a time or two

[@mikereif7240]

David Letterman is in rare form here, or as would say medium rare. He could get arrested for impersonating a mailman. This is the genesis for viewer mail that he would eventually use on his talk show.

[@starlandandmore]

We had a blast working with him, along with members from Firesign Theater, Proctor and Bergman and Dave's longtime associate Jeff Altman

[@samsnead7]

Can you believe it? David Letterman is the host!

[@starlandandmore]

We were there,we can believe it, even Biff was part of our show

[@samsnead7]

@@starlandandmore Are you one of the members? Thanks for the reply. BTW... I thought I saw Biff and Marty in the background.

[@starlandandmore]

@@samsnead7 Taffy here, thanks for commenting and watching.

[@samsnead7]

@@starlandandmore Hey Taffy. I was 15 in 1976. I bought the 45 of Afternoon Delight. Fun fact:. I was pretty innocent back then and when my mom heard it she said: "That song is about sex!" Of course, I liked it for the beautiful harmonies. Although, talking to your mom about that subject can be awkward.

[@starlandandmore]

@@samsnead7 the song was inspired by a restaurant menu with the heading "Afternoon Delights "Bill Danoff is clever songwriter using double entendres, he did the same thing with "Baby, You Look Good To Me Tonight "

[@redlikewineagain697]

Success can be so fleeting. These guys were on top of their game at this moment in time. I bet they never realized it would all be gone in just a few short years. Both marriages would end and they would all go their separate ways. Hope all 4 are doing well today. Enjoy the moment, folks. Because you never know what tomorrow will bring. ♥

[@starlandandmore]

We had prior success as Fat City, John Denver recorded our Take Me Home Country Roads with us providing harmony ,other artists had hits with our songs,Alan Jackson, Olivia Newton John to name a couple, looking back, the tv show is probably what did us the most harm,but we have 9 albums under our belt, so it wasn't all bad, thanks for stopping by.

[@redlikewineagain697]

@@starlandandmore Oh gosh....I didn't realize this was actually Starland Vocal Band's channel. I meant no disrespect. So sorry if I offended you. Yes, you guys did have a lot of success. Thank you for all the happy memories and wishing you all many, many great years ahead ♥

[@starlandandmore]

@@redlikewineagain697 no harm or offense taken, just thought one of us should chime in.

[@redlikewineagain697]

@@starlandandmore ♥

[@YouTubeallowedmynametobestolen]

This has a strong Monkees vibe.

[@starlandandmore]

Thanks,our show wasn't as good as theirs.

[@NatandGeorge]

Postman Letterman looks so different. . .

[@starlandandmore]

Indeed, we had fun with Dave ,Proctor and Bergman and Mark Russell,and the crew

[@BoxcarFred]

It’s so worth it just to see David Letterman and Jeff Altman in their younger days! In all fairness, this was a pretty good band that deserved more credit. They could certainly sing.

[@starlandandmore]

We appreciate the comment, not to brag 😉,but we did write the original version of Take Me Home Country Roads,John asked us to write a different 2nd verse, funny how success is defined

[@colinlimb2068]

MARGOT CHAPMAN, GORGEOUS X

[@grandmasterblowhole4245]

I dated her once. Nice girl but it didn't work out

[@GetBenched2010]

DAVE!!!

[@starlandandmore]

Yep,he was a writer on our shows as well as a performer.

[@LaJoBa1]

Margot is so damn pretty!!!!

[@journeymusic]

Pretty like Yvonne Eliman

[@imasonofadeadbeat2928]

Taffy ain't none too shabby either.

[@LaJoBa1]

@@imasonofadeadbeat2928 right on!

[@AgeBetterDotCom]

and Taffy as well....OMG!

[@starlandandmore]

Last Thanksgiving Taffy did an interview with Willie Hoovers, very revealing and a long kept secret was shared bandzoogle.com/tracks/187722/2671857155/2526919.html

[@pluggy86]

I knew their signature song of course, and I remember seeing something about the show in TV Guide. Of course I had never heard of Letterman. Anyway, I just dismissed it. They weren't hard rock enough for me. Boy did I miss out!

[@starlandandmore]

It's never too late, we have 9 albums not counting our solo albums, we recorded our first in 1969 ,we called ourselves Fat City, all of our music is here on our channel, hope you take time to check it out, we wrote Take Me Home Country Roads in 1970 and recorded it as Fat City with John Denver, just one of a few we wrote for other artists, enjoy

[@starlandandmore]

Taffy Nivert is giving us another interview at 4 pm today LIVE fb.me/e/2zLkkcP0x

[@user-ll4tw9xp7h]

You probably get tired of hearing this, but love where you guys sing Afternoon Delight. There’s a much lower quality black and white version on another KZbin channel of that scene.

[@starlandandmore]

Never get tired of hearing from listener's

[@BlakeGildaphish76]

Why do they perform this song so much slower than the studio version??

[@starlandandmore]

We think it sounds pretty much the same, we performed this for the show using a soundtrack unfortunately, not our choice, if you watch the NJN clip,it's faster, if you watch us perform at the Berchmire it's slower, it's due to musicians or lack of at certain venues

[@starlandandmore]

Taffy Nivert did a 2 hour interview on November 7th rockymountainfpa.org/track/2526919/jd-with-taffy-nivert

[@josephroman8568]

R.I.P. Mark Russell 🙏🏻

[@starlandandmore]

We asked for him personally to be a featured player on the show, sending our prayers and love to Alison and the family

[@ccthree329]

The 70s formula seemed to be, have a hit then we will give ya a variety show or saturday morning kids show and see what happens. Shelf life sell by date around a year or 2. Seems it was great for a career then assisted suicide for a career at the same time for many talented folks. That Letterman dude ended up doing pretty well I hear.

[@starlandandmore]

It wasn't in our best interest to do a tv show, we should have been out promoting the new album, but after touring and playing the clubs for 10 years it seemed like a welcome change, our manager Jerry Weintraub was really into television at the time.We had a totally different show in mind when we agreed to do it, but then it was taken over by the powers that be, we were proud of the music, we had hits to back us up,We wrote Take Me Home Country Roads, Afternoon Delight, a few others, we played Country Roads live for a concert segment in the show, but it was butchered by the time it aired, it was a bad show with bad writing, we did enjoy working with the cast and the crew, it was fun,but it wasn't. Thanks for stopping by and commenting, we appreciate hearing from you.

[@ccthree329]

Wonderful talent and you all were much appreciated, those harmonies were the real deal and a lost art you dont see much anymore.

[@starlandandmore]

@@ccthree329 thank you kindly.

[@GJ-wz1lm]

👍

[@starlandandmore]

Thanks

[@davidratcliffe1]

@14:29 pure beauty

[@journeymusic]

You ain’t kiddin

[@Geritopia]

OK, what gives here? This is rare footage and that's appreciated but why are the other two non-Danoff members of of the band edited out in the intro and excerpted in your text here?

[@starlandandmore]

It was sent to me that way, they are included in the intro in episodes 3 through 6 though

[@starlandandmore]

Bill Danoff sent this to me before he had them remastered, maybe one day we'll see them on DVD, here's hoping

[@colinlimb2068]

@@starlandandmore hi there ,it's great to see the self titled starland vocal band album and rear view mirror on Spotify but is there any chance of the other albums going on there too.still think Margot's dropdead gorgeous by the way 🙂

[@starlandandmore]

Hey Colin ,thanks, the Debut album and RVM are distributed through Razor and Tie, they haven't approached us about Late Nite Radio or 4x4,we'd also like to see our Reincarnation, Pass It On, Aces and Welcome To Fat City albums on spotify, here's hoping

[@peterbland7227]

Yikes. A very young Letterman.

[@starlandandmore]

We enjoyed working with Dave

[@imasonofadeadbeat2928]

Can this be re-uploaded without all the skipping?

[@starlandandmore]

Not sure what you mean by skipping, unfortunately we haven't made any headway with the network in trying to get copies of the original tapes, these are from VHS copied to disc..we're just thankful that these are at least watchable

[@larry1824]

Did it last longer????!!!!!!!!!

[@starlandandmore]

We did a 6 week summer series, 6 episodes,all here on our channel

[@ddellwo]

Nothing says “The 1970’s” more than a TV variety show……….😂 Except for maybe a “Roast”……….🤔 Or a customized full-size van……..✌ Or a CB radio…….🚛 Or godawful synthetic shirts with garish colors and designs……..🫣

[@starlandandmore]

On the other hand the music from the mid seventies on back was outstanding, no autotune, no disco.

[@LandondeeL]

Except for singing, the SVB don't really do that much on what is supposed to be their show!!!

[@starlandandmore]

We felt the same way, even before we started filming it

[@LandondeeL]

@@starlandandmore Thanks for the quick reply. This show has the obvious giant thumbprint of a network VP or two!

[@starlandandmore]

Jerry Weintraub was our manager, his forte then was getting his musical acts/bands on tv,not in our best interest, but we worked with some amazing talent in Proctor and Bergman (firesign theater),Mark Russell and Letterman, made some lasting friendships also...not all was lost, but the fans of our day have reconnected with us and been able to see the shows again, KZbin has helped in that capacity

[@starlandandmore]

Also, Weintraub believed that since we had written Take Me Home Country Roads for John Denver and been part of his band that the association would render positive results on TV...

[@starlandandmore]

Btw, quite an interesting channel you have, we subscribed, some of fan favorite songs were written around old TV movies and serials caught late at night, Jesus Says Hello was written after watching Alan Arkin in a movie called King Of Hearts...gonna check out your channel, big fan of Bela Lugosi

[@teptime]

You couldn't make up something this weird

[@starlandandmore]

Actually, our writers did

[@zanti4132]

Yeh, get into the right frame of mind, and making up weird shit is easy. I don't why you hear that phrase "you couldn't make this up" so often. Maybe the people who say it have no imagination.

[@PamolaPauly]

whose idea 2 write letterman into the show? he ruins it.

[@starlandandmore]

He was under contract with CBS, as a writer and performer, it was their idea

[@fromthesidelines]

Of course. "You gotta use him, or you don't go on." Judy Garland faced the same "problem" when Jerry Van Dyke , who was also under contract to CBS in 1963, was "shoehorned" into her Sunday night variety show. He really didn't fit into her format, and disappeared after ten episodes.