A Tribute To Melvin Lindsey & The Original Quiet Storm
My post on Tony Washington & The Dynamic Superiors has been one of the most popular posts on my site. If you've read it, you know that I'm passionate about DC's contributions to Black music. Washington, DC is just as important to the distribution & commercialization of Black music as cities like Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City, and (now) Atlanta are for it's creation. This is a fact I've emphasized more than a few times in the past. A lot of the outlets we consume music through and the radio formats that Black stations use today have clear and definite DC origins.
One such format would be the "quiet storm" that Black radio stations everywhere have adopted. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 40+ years, you've heard of a quiet storm. It's that block of programming that radio stations put on mid-evening. A quiet storm normally consists of ballads, slow jams, and sometimes sensual poetry. Who among us has never indulged in a late-night quiet storm session? Music listeners and lovers all over the world owe that special bit of radio programming to one Washington, DC dj.
Melvin Lindsey was born in July of 1955. He was raised in the Petworth neighborhood of DC and attended Howard University. While at Howard, he interned for the school's radio station (WHUR) and it was there in 1976 that The Quiet Storm was born. The story of its inception is actually a very interesting one that didn't actually start in 1976 or even with Melvin Lindsey.
In 1969, Cathy Hughes (of URBAN ONΞ / RADIO ONΞ / TV ONΞ fame) started her career in Washington DC as a lecturer for Howard University's newly established School of Communications. Soon after, she was transferred to WHUR and put in charge of a communications conference. One of the problems she faced was having students with no real commercial experience, so she created The Quiet Storm as a program where students would compete to be the host for a semester while gaining commercial experience. By 1973, she became the general sales manager for the radio station. By 1975, she was vice president and general manager (the first woman to occupy those positions). #BlackGirlMagic for real!
The first host of this student-operated block of programming was a student named Don Roberts. The next semester, Jack Shuler became host. Midway through his term as host, Jack decided that radio wasn't for him. He instead wanted to be on TV. He made the suggestion that his best friend, Melvin Lindsey, take his spot on the show. Jack convinced Kathy that Melvin WANTED the job and since Melvin had been working as her personal intern, she gave it to him. There was only one problem: Melvin Lindsey didn't really WANT to be host of The Quiet Storm. He wanted to be a lawyer.
In May of 1976, Melvin Lindsey hosted his first Sunday night quiet storm. He would deepen his voice, exhale deeply, give his usual "good evening and welcome to The Quiet Storm", play 40 - 50 minutes of non-stop music and at the show's end, give a lazy "you've been listening to The Quiet Storm." His lackadaisical approach actually helped the show become a HIT. Listeners couldn't get enough of Melvin. At the request of Kathy Hughes, he added Smokey Robinson's hit song, "Quiet Storm", as his theme music.
Another one of the secrets to his success? The Quiet Storm had no special playlists or format to which it followed. The music played was strictly based on Melvin's mood. If Melvin had a bad day, the show was going to reflect that. There would be more songs about heartbreak and the loss of love. If he had a good day, the show might be geared more toward songs about love's magnificence. Listeners really connected to this, as it helped to establish a more personal relationship with the music Melvin played.
Melvin's popularity soared -- so much so that the University didn't want to give up his slot to another student, as was customary. Cathy Hughes negotiated his spot for a year, but at the end of the year, Melvin stayed on. He was so popular and profitable that he continued with the station past graduation. He would stay with WHUR and The Quiet Storm until 1985. After negotiating a better contract, he moved his show to WKYS and changed the name to "Melvin's Melodies." When he began with WHUR, he had a salary of about $12,000 per year. By the end of his tenure there, he was making six-figures. He stayed with WKYS for another five years and also hosted the BET celebrity news show, Screen Scenes.
In 1990, eight years after a doctor recommended he undergo blood testing, he learned he was HIV positive. Describing why he waited so long to get tested for the virus, he said “I was afraid and never had it done."
Sadly, Melvin Lindsey died of AIDS related complications in 1992. He was 36 years old. In his final show, he took it back to WHUR where he began his career and broadcast from his hospital bed.
Initially, WHUR's Quiet Storm ran on Sunday nights only. Thanks to Melvin's charm and knack for connecting with his audience, the show began running nightly. The Quiet Storm gave way for artists like Anita Baker, Sade, and Luther Vandross to have successful radio runs in the 1980s. The format created by Cathy Hughes and Melvin Lindsey birthed an entire generation of "baby making music" and gave exposure to those obscure album ballads that most radio stations shied away from.
The success of quiet storm programming around the country can be attributed to compilation projects such as the TimeLife Body & Soul collection and TV shows like BET's Midnight Love.
“Maybe it is the love and people around me. I know I am not afraid to die. I know there have been so many wonderful people who have died before me. If there is this eternal life, I will be glad to be with them.” -- Melvin Lindsey, 1992
This was purposely posted on Valentine's Day, so grab your lover (or glass of wine) and #TurnThisUp!!! I've put together a Quiet Storm playlist of my personal favorites for your enjoyment. Full of soulful ballads from the 1960s and 1970s, the playlist features everyone from Stevie Wonder and The Stylistics to Aretha Franklin and Patrice Rushen. In tribute to Melvin Lindsey, it follows no specific format or pattern. The songs here explore the possibilities of love, the loss of love, budding romances, and everything in between.
***In previous posts, I posted two separate 1980's Quiet Storms playlists (find part one here, and part two here).
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