Quiet storm
Encyclopedia
Quiet storm is a late-night radio format, featuring soulful slow jam
s, pioneered in the mid-1970s by then-station-intern Melvin Lindsey
at WHUR-FM
, in Washington, D.C. Smokey Robinson
's like-titled hit single, released in 1975 as the title track to his third solo album
, lent its name to the format and to the radio program that introduced it to the public. Encompassing a mix of African American music
genres, quiet storm music is distinguished by understated, mellow dynamics and relaxed tempos and rhythms. It can be soothingly pensive, or express romantic sentiment. Quiet storm music is similar to soft rock
and adult contemporary styles, but it is more closely and unmistakably rooted in R&B and soul music
, often with jazz
extensions.
Today, quiet storm is a broad term given to an array of mellow, slow-groove contemporary R&B
, soul and smooth jazz
offerings of the type featured on Melvin Lindsey's WHUR program, and on myriad other stations that followed his lead—most notably KBLX-FM in San Francisco, which in 1979 became the first radio station in the U.S. to present a 24-hour quiet storm format.
, WHUR station manager, heard of the show's positive reception and responded by giving Lindsey his own show.
After a time, the strains of "A Quiet Storm," Robinson's popular recording, became Lindsey's theme music and introduced his time slot every night thereafter. For many, when Robinson's trademark tenor voice wafted out over the airwaves, it signalled a welcome end to the stresses of the workday. "The Quiet Storm" was four hours of melodically soulful music that provided an intimate, laid-back mood tailor-made for late-night listening, and that was the key to its tremendous appeal among adult audiences. The format was an immediate success, becoming so popular that within a few years, virtually every station in the U.S. with a core black, urban listenership adopted a similar format for its graveyard slot. Melvin Lindsey died of AIDS
in 1992, but the "Quiet Storm" format he originated remains a staple in radio programming today, more than 30 years after its inception.
and Anita Baker
, and with introducing Sade
to U.S. audiences. Classic quiet storm recordings include Frankie Beverly
and Maze
's "Golden Time of Day," Marvin Gaye
's "Let's Get It On
", the orchestrations of Philadelphia soul
, the recordings of Al Green, Barry White
, and Bill Withers
, much of jazz guitar
ist Wes Montgomery
's work during his CTI (Creed Taylor, Incorporated) years, and the work of jazz-funk
saxophonist
Grover Washington, Jr.
. In 1986, Peabo Bryson
released an album entitled Quiet Storm. Quiet storm was most popular as a programming niche with baby boomers from the mid-'70s to the early '90s, after which time much of mainstream R&B took on a harder, hip-hop influenced approach.
WHUR radio still has a "Quiet Storm" show; and many urban, black radio stations still reserve their late-night programming slots for quiet storm music, as well. Now included in the genre is music with a hip-hop infusion, known as neo soul
. Neo soul artists today include Raphael Saadiq
, John Legend
, Brian McKnight
, Joe
, Sade
, Jaheim
, D'Angelo
, Maxwell
, Janet Jackson
, Mary J. Blige
, India.Arie
, Jill Scott
, Lauryn Hill
, Erykah Badu
, and Alicia Keys
. Quiet storm music is also the more mellow, soulful side of smooth jazz
.
At least two non-commercial FM stations, the community-based WGDR
in Plainfield, Vermont and its sister station, WGDH
in Hardwick, Vermont (both owned by Goddard College
), broadcast a weekly, two-hour "Quiet Storm"http://www.wgdr.org/quietstrm.html program -— a 50-50 mix of smooth jazz
and soft R&B, presented in "Triple-A" (Album Adult Alternative) style, with a strong emphasis on "B" and "C" album tracks that most commercial stations often ignore. Launched in 1998 and hosted by Skeeter Sanders, WGDR's "Quiet Storm" is one of the station's most popular music programs, based on a 2010 listener survey, and is the only program of its kind on the air in northern New England. In September 2011, a syndicated commercial version of Sanders' program began broadcasting on the Internet-only Fishbowl Radio Network.
WHUR operator Howard University
has registered "Quiet Storm" as a trademark for "entertainment services, namely, a continuing series of radio programs featuring music."
The mellow, laid-back nature of the format has been parodied, most notably by Tim Meadows onSaturday Night Live
," in which he played a "Quiet Storm" DJ who would react to life-shattering news, such as being fired, having his wife confess to adultery, and even his own murder, with his soothing voice unaltered. Back in the 1990s, Canadian
adult contemporary station CFQR-FM
in Montreal
aired a Quiet Storm program featuring new age music
. Most recently, in 2007, Premiere Radio Networks
launched a nationally syndicated nightly radio program based upon the Quiet Storm format, known as The Keith Sweat
Hotel. That program, in edited form, broadcasts under the Quiet Storm name (as The Quiet Storm with Keith Sweat) on WBLS
in New York City.
Slow jam
A slow jam an umbrella term for music with R&B and Soul influences. Slow jams are commonly R&B ballads or down tempo songs. The term is most commonly reserved for soft-sounding songs with heavily emotional or romantic lyrical content. This definition has led to intense debate over whether...
s, pioneered in the mid-1970s by then-station-intern Melvin Lindsey
Melvin Lindsey
Melvin Lindsey was an American radio and television personality in the Washington, D.C. area. He is widely known for originating the "Quiet Storm" late-night music programming format....
at WHUR-FM
WHUR-FM
WHUR-FM is an Urban Adult Contemporary radio station that serves the Washington D.C. area. WHUR is licensed to Washington, D.C. and is owned by Howard University. Also, the staff of the station mentors the students of the university's school of communications. WHUR is also the home of the...
, in Washington, D.C. Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
's like-titled hit single, released in 1975 as the title track to his third solo album
A Quiet Storm
This is one of the most highly acclaimed soul albums of the 1970s. A longtime innovator at Motown, Robinson responded to the funk revolution in black music with an effective counterpoint: the stylish and mature album A Quiet Storm...
, lent its name to the format and to the radio program that introduced it to the public. Encompassing a mix of African American music
African American music
African-American music is an umbrella term given to a range of musics and musical genres emerging from or influenced by the culture of African Americans, who have long constituted a large and significant ethnic minority of the population of the United States...
genres, quiet storm music is distinguished by understated, mellow dynamics and relaxed tempos and rhythms. It can be soothingly pensive, or express romantic sentiment. Quiet storm music is similar to soft rock
Soft rock
Soft rock is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock music to compose a softer, more toned-down sound. Soft rock songs generally tend to focus on themes like love, everyday life and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of acoustic guitars, pianos, synthesizers and sometimes...
and adult contemporary styles, but it is more closely and unmistakably rooted in R&B and soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, often with jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
extensions.
Today, quiet storm is a broad term given to an array of mellow, slow-groove contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
, soul and smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
offerings of the type featured on Melvin Lindsey's WHUR program, and on myriad other stations that followed his lead—most notably KBLX-FM in San Francisco, which in 1979 became the first radio station in the U.S. to present a 24-hour quiet storm format.
Origins
Melvin Lindsey was first a disc jockey for WHUR in 1976 as a stand-in for an employee who failed to report for work because of a violent storm that had caused power outages and knocked some area radio stations off the air. The response from listeners was positive, and Lindsey stayed on. Founder of Radio One Cathy HughesCathy Hughes
Cathy Hughes, born Catherine Elizabeth Woods in Omaha, Nebraska on April 22, 1947, is an African-American entrepreneur, radio and television personality and business executive. Hughes founded the media company Radio One and later expanded into TV One, the company went public in 1998, making...
, WHUR station manager, heard of the show's positive reception and responded by giving Lindsey his own show.
After a time, the strains of "A Quiet Storm," Robinson's popular recording, became Lindsey's theme music and introduced his time slot every night thereafter. For many, when Robinson's trademark tenor voice wafted out over the airwaves, it signalled a welcome end to the stresses of the workday. "The Quiet Storm" was four hours of melodically soulful music that provided an intimate, laid-back mood tailor-made for late-night listening, and that was the key to its tremendous appeal among adult audiences. The format was an immediate success, becoming so popular that within a few years, virtually every station in the U.S. with a core black, urban listenership adopted a similar format for its graveyard slot. Melvin Lindsey died of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
in 1992, but the "Quiet Storm" format he originated remains a staple in radio programming today, more than 30 years after its inception.
Influence
Quiet storm programming is credited with launching the careers of Luther VandrossLuther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
and Anita Baker
Anita Baker
Anita Baker is an American R&B/soul jazz singer-songwriter. To date, Baker has won eight Grammy Awards, and has four platinum albums and two gold albums to her credit....
, and with introducing Sade
Sade Adu
Helen Folasade Adu OBE , is a British singer-songwriter, composer, and record producer. She first achieved success in the 1980s as the frontwoman and lead vocalist of the Brit and Grammy Award winning English group Sade.-Biography:Sade was born in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria...
to U.S. audiences. Classic quiet storm recordings include Frankie Beverly
Frankie Beverly
Frankie Beverly is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and producer, known primarily for his recordings with the soul and funk band, Maze.-Early life and career:...
and Maze
Maze (band)
Maze a soul / quiet storm band, also known alternately as Maze featuring Frankie Beverly and Frankie Beverly and Maze, was established in San Francisco, California in the early 1970s.-Career:...
's "Golden Time of Day," Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
's "Let's Get It On
Let's Get It On
Let's Get It On is the twelfth studio album by American soul musician Marvin Gaye, released August 28, 1973, on Tamla Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during June 1970 to July 1973 at Hitsville U.S.A. and Golden World Studio in Detroit, and at Hitsville West in Los Angeles...
", the orchestrations of Philadelphia soul
Philadelphia soul
Philadelphia soul, sometimes called the Philadelphia Sound or Sweet Philly, is a style of soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often featuring sweeping strings and piercing horns. The subtle sound of a glockenspiel can often be heard in the background of...
, the recordings of Al Green, Barry White
Barry White
Barry White, born Barry Eugene Carter , was an American composer and singer-songwriter.A five-time Grammy Award-winner known for his distinctive bass voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring...
, and Bill Withers
Bill Withers
William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. Some of his best-known songs are "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands"...
, much of jazz guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Wes Montgomery
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
's work during his CTI (Creed Taylor, Incorporated) years, and the work of jazz-funk
Soul jazz
Soul jazz is a development of jazz incorporating strong influences from blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues in music for small groups, often an organ trio featuring a Hammond organ.- Overview :Soul jazz is often associated with hard bop. Mark C...
saxophonist
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
Grover Washington, Jr.
Grover Washington, Jr.
Grover Washington, Jr. was an American jazz-funk / soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with George Benson, John Klemmer, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Herb Alpert, and Spyro Gyra, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre.He wrote some of his material and...
. In 1986, Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, born in Greenville, South Carolina...
released an album entitled Quiet Storm. Quiet storm was most popular as a programming niche with baby boomers from the mid-'70s to the early '90s, after which time much of mainstream R&B took on a harder, hip-hop influenced approach.
WHUR radio still has a "Quiet Storm" show; and many urban, black radio stations still reserve their late-night programming slots for quiet storm music, as well. Now included in the genre is music with a hip-hop infusion, known as neo soul
Neo soul
The term neo soul was originally coined by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records in the late 1990s as a marketing category following the commercial breakthroughs of artists such as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell...
. Neo soul artists today include Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Saadiq has been a standard bearer for "old school" R&B since his early days as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! He also produced songs of such artists as TLC, Joss Stone, D'Angelo, Mary J...
, John Legend
John Legend
John Roger Stephens , better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer, musician, and actor. He is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Prior to the release of his debut album, Stephens' career...
, Brian McKnight
Brian McKnight
Brian McKnight is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, producer, and R&B/Pop musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays nine instruments: piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussions, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn and trumpet....
, Joe
Joe (singer)
Joseph Lewis Thomas , usually credited simply as Joe, is an American R&B singer and record producer.-Early life:Joe is a native of Cuthbert, Georgia and later moved to Opelika, Alabama. The son of two preachers, Joe spent much time in church singing, playing guitar, and even directing the choir...
, Sade
Sade
Sade, or SADE can mean:* Marquis de Sade, the eighteenth century aristocrat, writer and libertine* Sade , a French film starring Daniel Auteuil as the Marquis de Sade* Sade , a Nigerian-British smooth jazz band from the 1980s...
, Jaheim
Jaheim
Jaheim Hoagland is an American R&B singer and formerly a rapper performing under the mononymous name of Jaheim. He was signed by Naughty by Nature's Kaygee to Divine Mill Records in 2000, and released his debut album Ghetto Love in 2001. His second effort, Still Ghetto, was released a year later,...
, D'Angelo
D'Angelo
Michael Eugene Archer , better known by his stage name D'Angelo, is an American R&B and neo soul singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is known for his production and songwriting talents as much as for his vocal abilities, and often draws comparisons to his influences,...
, Maxwell
Maxwell (musician)
Maxwell , is an American R&B, funk and neo soul musician. He played an important role in the development of the soul sub-genre, neo-soul.-Early life:...
, Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...
, Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
, India.Arie
India.Arie
India.Arie is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and record producer . She has sold over 3.3 million records in the U.S. and 10 million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards from her 21 nominations, including Best R&B Album.-Background:Simpson was born in Denver, Colorado...
, Jill Scott
Jill Scott
Jill Scott is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married? That year, her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on...
, Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress.Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of...
, Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu
Erica Abi Wright , better known by her stage name Erykah Badu , is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Her work includes elements from R&B, hip hop and jazz. She is best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre, and for her eccentric, cerebral musical...
, and Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
. Quiet storm music is also the more mellow, soulful side of smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
.
At least two non-commercial FM stations, the community-based WGDR
WGDR
WGDR is a noncommercial American radio station licensed to Plainfield, Vermont, serving central Vermont. WGDR, owned by Goddard College Corporation, is a hybrid college/community/public radio station, broadcasting a freeform format....
in Plainfield, Vermont and its sister station, WGDH
WGDH
WGDH is a non-commercial educational American radio station that serves the community of Hardwick, Vermont, United States. The station, launched in 2011, is owned by Goddard College and the broadcast license is held by the Goddard College Corporation....
in Hardwick, Vermont (both owned by Goddard College
Goddard College
Goddard College is a private, liberal arts college located in Plainfield, Vermont, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Goddard College currently operates on an intensive low-residency model...
), broadcast a weekly, two-hour "Quiet Storm"http://www.wgdr.org/quietstrm.html program -— a 50-50 mix of smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
and soft R&B, presented in "Triple-A" (Album Adult Alternative) style, with a strong emphasis on "B" and "C" album tracks that most commercial stations often ignore. Launched in 1998 and hosted by Skeeter Sanders, WGDR's "Quiet Storm" is one of the station's most popular music programs, based on a 2010 listener survey, and is the only program of its kind on the air in northern New England. In September 2011, a syndicated commercial version of Sanders' program began broadcasting on the Internet-only Fishbowl Radio Network.
WHUR operator Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
has registered "Quiet Storm" as a trademark for "entertainment services, namely, a continuing series of radio programs featuring music."
The mellow, laid-back nature of the format has been parodied, most notably by Tim Meadows onSaturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
," in which he played a "Quiet Storm" DJ who would react to life-shattering news, such as being fired, having his wife confess to adultery, and even his own murder, with his soothing voice unaltered. Back in the 1990s, Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
adult contemporary station CFQR-FM
CFQR-FM
CKBE-FM is an English language Canadian radio station located in Montreal, Quebec.Owned and operated by Cogeco, it broadcasts on 92.5 MHz with an effective radiated power of 41,400 watts using an omnidirectional antenna...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
aired a Quiet Storm program featuring new age music
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
. Most recently, in 2007, Premiere Radio Networks
Premiere Radio Networks
Premiere Networks is an American radio network. It is the largest syndication company in the United States based on popularity of programming...
launched a nationally syndicated nightly radio program based upon the Quiet Storm format, known as The Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat is an American R&B/soul, singer-songwriter, record producer, radio personality and a major contributor to the new jack swing era.-Music career:...
Hotel. That program, in edited form, broadcasts under the Quiet Storm name (as The Quiet Storm with Keith Sweat) on WBLS
WBLS
WBLS is an urban adult contemporary FM radio station in New York City, operating on 107.5 MHz. WBLS is owned by Inner City Broadcasting Corporation along with sister station WLIB...
in New York City.
External links
- http://www.liffeysoundfm.ie/quietstorm
- "Listeners Jammin' to the Quiet Storm, Radio's Most Romantic Couple of Hours" The Virginian-Pilot, February 13, 1995
- "Slow jamz and quiet storms" Cheryl Coward
- Ebony article mentioning Cathy Hughes' credit for the format
- "JazzysRadio.com - Internet Radio playing RnB quiet storm music"
- "The Quiet Storm - WGDR-FM"
- SOULRNB.COM - A french webzine about R&B, Soul and Neo Soul musics