This is a list of songs associated with the quiet storm radio format, widely heard in the United States starting in 1976 [1] as a form of early evening/late night easy listening music aimed at a sophisticated African American audience. [2] Quiet storm radio programs thrived in the 1980s, with many stations across the US carrying a quiet storm program at night, and a few stations broadcasting in the format all day long. [3] The field adapted in the 1990s as new listeners embraced neo-soul experimentation, hip hop samples and beats, as well as more explicit themes. Slow jams with quiet storm elements continued to be produced through the 2000s and 2010s. [4]
Quiet storm songs are a mix of genres, including pop, contemporary R&B, smooth soul, smooth jazz and jazz fusion – songs having an easy-flowing and romantic character. The format first appeared in 1976 but initially it drew from songs recorded earlier. After the radio format became popular, songs were written to fit the format, and in that manner the radio style became a broad "super-genre" of music. [5] [6]
Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Electric organ and small combos including tenor saxophone, electric guitar, drums, piano, vocals, pipe organ and electric organ. Its origins were in the 1950s and early 1960s, with its heyday with popular audiences preceding the rise of jazz fusion in the late 1960s and 1970s. Prominent names in fusion ranged from bop pianists including Bobby Timmons and Junior Mance to a wide range of organists, saxophonists, pianists, drummers and electric guitarists including Jack McDuff, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, and Grant Green.
Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style. It was named after the title song on Smokey Robinson's 1975 album A Quiet Storm.
David William Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school.
Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid-1970s to the early 1990s.
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.
Chicago Transit Authority is the debut album by the Chicago-based rock band Chicago. It was recorded and released in 1969 and became a sleeper hit, reaching number 17 on the Billboard 200 by 1971 and spawning several successful singles, including "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Questions 67 and 68" and "Beginnings". The album stayed on the Billboard chart for 171 weeks, beating the previous record for a rock album's longevity of 155 weeks and has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). For this inaugural recording effort the group was nominated for a Grammy Award for 1969 Best New Artist of the Year. The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.
Brown Sugar is the debut studio album by American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist D'Angelo, released on July 3, 1995, through EMI. The album was recorded during 1994 and 1995 in sessions at Battery Studios and RPM Studios in New York City and at the Pookie Lab in Sacramento. Its production, instrumentation, arrangements, and songwriting were primarily handled by D'Angelo, who employed both vintage recording equipment and modern electronic devices. The songs feature earnest lyrics about love and romance, set against a fusion of contemporary R&B and traditional soul music with elements of funk, quiet storm, and hip hop music.
"Come Get to This" is a song written and recorded by American recording artist Marvin Gaye. It was released as the second single off Gaye's album, Let's Get It On following the success of the title track. Recording sessions for the song first occurred in 1970 when Gaye worked on the song in a demo format while he made What's Going On.
Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on their playlists, and generally include some mix of contemporary R&B and traditional R&B. Urban adult contemporary playlists generally consist of many different genres that originated amongst Black Americans including R&B, soul, funk, disco, jazz, pop, hip-hop, electro, quiet storm, gospel, new jack swing, and hip-hop soul.
Diamond Life is the debut studio album by English band Sade, released in the United Kingdom on 16 July 1984 by Epic Records and in the United States on 27 February 1985 by Portrait Records. After studying fashion design, and later modelling, Sade Adu began backup-singing with British band Pride. During this time Adu and three of the original members of "Pride"—Paul Anthony Cook, Paul Denman and Stuart Matthewman—left the group to form their own band called Sade. After various demos and performances, Sade received interest from record labels and signed to Epic.
"The Greatest Romance Ever Sold" is a song recorded by American musician Prince, under his unpronounceable stage name called the "Love Symbol". It was released as the only single from his twenty-third studio album Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (1999). It was issued on October 5, 1999, in several different formats, including a 12-inch single, CD single, and a maxi single. Prince solely wrote and produced it, while Mike Scott provided guitar strings for the track. Several music critics found the single reminiscent to the works on his previous studio album, Diamonds and Pearls (1991).
Rapture is the second album by American vocalist Anita Baker, released in 1986. This became Baker's breakout album and earning her two Grammy Awards. The album's first track, "Sweet Love", was a top 10 Billboard hit in addition to winning a Grammy Award. The music video for the track "Same Ole Love" was filmed at Baker's Keyboard Lounge.
Stronger Than Pride is the third studio album by English band Sade, released by Epic Records in the United Kingdom on 3 May 1988 and in the United States on 10 May 1988. In September 2018, Pitchfork placed the album at number 37 on its list of "The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s". The album spawned five singles.
"The Sweetest Taboo" is a song by English band Sade from their second studio album, Promise (1985). It was released on 12 October 1985 as the album's lead single. While the song peaked at number 31 on the UK Singles Chart, it fared considerably better in the United States, where it reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1986, remaining in the top 40 for 13 weeks. It also became the band's second consecutive number-one single on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, following "Smooth Operator".
Smooth soul is a fusion genre of soul music that developed in the early 1970s from soul, funk and pop music in the United States. The fusion genre experienced mainstream success from the time of its development to the late 1970s, before its succession by disco and quiet storm.
"Send It On" is a song by American R&B recording artist D'Angelo. It was released by Virgin Records on March 25, 2000, as a radio single in promotion of D'Angelo's second studio album Voodoo (2000). He wrote the song, with his brother Luther Archer and R&B singer Angie Stone, in 1998 at a recording studio in Virginia after the birth of his son. It was produced by D'Angelo at Electric Lady Studios in New York City.
"Money Won't Change You" is a song recorded by James Brown in 1966. It was released in edited form as a two-part single which charted #11 R&B and #53 Pop. Both parts of the single were included on Brown's 1967 album Sings Raw Soul.
Rafael "Rafe" Gomez is an American business writer, sales support consultant, lecturer, music producer, and DJ.
"Unbreakable" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Janet Jackson for her eleventh studio album Unbreakable (2015). It was co-written and produced by Jackson and her long-time collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, with additional writing by Thomas Lumpkins and additional production by Tommy McClendon and Dem Jointz. The song debuted on September 3, 2015 on Apple Music's Beats 1 radio station and was made available for digital download on the same day Jackson officially announced the studio album's release date and track list. It was subsequently released to urban contemporary radio on September 29, 2015 and to urban adult contemporary radio on October 5, 2015 as the album's second single.
Smooth jazz was a popular radio format that included songs by artists such as George Benson, Pat Metheny, Kenny G, Luther Vandross, Sade, Robin Thicke, Anita Baker, Basia, Dave Koz and Chuck Mangione. It began in the 1980s as "adult alternative" or NAC, a well-defined radio format, with jazz, new-age music and adult contemporary music. In the 1990s, the format became much more jazz-oriented, with very little new-age, and emphasizing young artists.