Afternoon Delight

   A paid-program for a "Hits of the Seventies" cd collection caught my eye, or rather ear, as I was surfing TV aimlessly the other day. It was pretty saccarine stuff: Leo Sayers, Andy Gibbs, hair bands and other cultural deterius. And then, there they were- The Starland Vocal Band, with their big hit "Afternoon Delight". As a song about fucking, it was better than most. The very next day, I caught a Simpsons rerun wherein Carl and Lenny were line dancing to that very tune (I'm not going to try to explain that!) And then last week at the thrift store- the LP in vintage vinyl (mint- condition!) offered itself to me, almost as if it were saying, "Come join us! Return to the hedonistic seventies, you are one of us!"

   When that song was on the charts in 1975, I was involved with a very nice young woman who lived in an Uptown apartment. Working odd shifts, as we both did, oft-times we were found together there at midday, before the afternoon shift began. It being summer and the apartment was without air conditioning, our clothing was minimal. Or optional.

   Directly beneath her place was the rehearsal space of an aspiring combo. They were really quite good at the only song they knew. Which was (you already know the title, don't you?): AFTERNOON DELIGHT!

"Skyrockets in flight! Afternoon delight!"

        Or, if you still didn't quite understand:  

"...Rubbin' sticks and stones together makes the sparks ignite...And the thought of rubbin' you is getting so exciting..."

   We got the hint.