Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert
On their way to a family reunion, Bill Danoff and former wife, Taffy Nivert, were suddenly inspired by the “... real pretty old country road with farms and cows and fields. [They] thought it would be a great thing to write a song about so [they] started humming it right then," (Stieff, 1). The inception of this song led to a sensational hit that launched performer, John Denver, into the dizzying heights of stardom, nostalgic of Bill and Taffy’s glory days.
In the mid 1970s, the Starland Vocal Group was created by Danoff and Nivert. Creating their hit single “Afternoon Delight” sent Bill and Taffy into fame; Their song hitting the top of the charts in 1975 with five Grammy Award nominations. However, with every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In 1981, the Starland Vocal Group broke up, never exceeding the superiority of “Afternoon Delight.” "That's kind of the danger of opening up with a song that's such a big hit," said Danoff. "It's hard to follow that up," (Oksenhorn, 2). After the demise of SVG, Danoff had lost his Midas touch, unable to finish writing the many songs he started. It wasn’t until he married Joan Grbach that he got out of his self described funk.
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During the mid 1960s, Danoff was a student attending Georgetown University majoring in Chinese language with hopes to work for the CIA. However, “[The] government didn't recognize China, so the job opportunities were limited to the CIA," (Oksenhorn, 2), so Danoff turned to the music industry. Working as a sound and light man at the Cellar Door, a Washington D.C. folk and jazz club, he met his future wife and music partner, Taffy, then later the lead singer of The Mitchell Trio, John Denver. Later returning to the Cellar Door, Denver and Danoff scheduled a late-night music session at Danoff’s apartment. Though Denver only heard bits and pieces of the song, due to a car accident that left him with an injured thumb, he knew “Take Me Home” was a song full of potential. Danoff felt reluctant, however; He was nervous that, “[Denver] [wouldn't] like that. It's not his thing, you know, because it's for Johnny Cash,” (Gitner, 3). Despite Danoff’s hesitation, he, Taffy, and Denver finished writing the song and went to New York to record it. Horrified, “[Danoff] thought [they had] blown the record. And millions of other people didn't agree," (Gitner, 3).
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