Top 5 instances of “Afternoon Delight” in film

Written by John on August 24th, 2009

This song is about daytime love-making. The naughty type.

— Will Ferrell

Whenever directors need to make one of two important points (Hey! It’s the ’70s! or Hey! This is whacky!) they just need to throw one little ditty into the mix: Starland Vocal Band’s bottomlessly awful “Afternoon Delight.”

“Afternoon Delight” was unleashed on an unsuspecting public in the summer of 1976, toping the Billboard Hot 100 charts July 10, and nearly caused my mother to miscarry — that’s right, I could have died in the womb thanks to that song. (OK, I made that up, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have happened.) The, ahem, hit helped Starland get five Grammy nominations and two wins, according to wikipedia. The band also hosted their own variety show the following year which featured a then-unknown David Letterman.

Starland Vocal Band didn’t last long, but their legacy remains, thanks to a bunch of pop-culture references first appearing in the 1990s and continuing well into the next decade. It seemed that, whether they were helming a screwball buddy comedy, an episode of Arrested Development or a serious study in porno that needed a sprinkling of fairy dust, “Afternoon Delight” was a dependable filmmaker’s crutch.

Simply put, “Afternoon Delight” has been done to death. All need is a quasi-ironic cover version by a modern rock group and the circle of sadism will be complete. Here’s to beating a dead horse:

Top 5 Top 5 instances of “Afternoon Delight” in film

1. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

OK, let’s just get the obvious out of the way. Yes, the whole “Anchorman” thing is tired, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is still a very funny, funny movie. For a film this ridiculous, you need a ridiculous song.

Check out the video released by Will Ferrell and the Channel 4 News Team covering Starland’s sadly immortal hit.

2. Good Will Hunting

While the soundtrack to 1997’s “Good Will Hunting” contains a slew of excellent tunes by Elliott Smith, its closing credits roll to “Afternoon Delight,” in reference to an earlier scene: the titular character sings “Afternoon Delight” (through a heavy Boston accent) in order to annoy/embarrass his hypnotist.

3. PCU

The poor man’s Animal House, “PCU” is one of the better frat-comedies out there (although, consider the competition). In one of the film’s many mad-hat hijinks, Jeremy Piven locks the college dean and her cronies in a room where Starland Vocal Band plays on an endless loop. Shenanigans ensue.

4. Starsky and Hutch (2004)

OK. We get it. It’s the ’70s. You have to include “Afternoon Delight.” Now let’s get coked up and disco.

5. Boogie Nights

Like Martin Scorsese before him, Paul Thomas Anderson peppered his film of one man’s journey through the pornography industry with notable and often ironic music. Although “Afternoon Delight” can be heard in the film, it is conspicuously absent from the film’s two official sound tracks.