In 1975, Smokey Robinson released a smooth, sensuous solo LP of romantic adult soul titled A Quiet Storm. The album eventually gave its name to a style and radio format that aimed to create very similar moods. Quiet storm programming was credited with launching the careers of Luther Vandross 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 guitarist Wes Montgomery's work during his CTI (Creed Taylor, Incorporated) years, and the work of jazz-funk saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr.
In a way, quiet storm was R&B's answer to soft rock and adult contemporary — while it was primarily intended for black audiences, quiet storm had the same understated dynamics, relaxed tempos and rhythms, and romantic sentiment. However, there was also an urbane sophistication and subdued soulfulness that marked quiet storm as unmistakably rooted in R&B. Some artists concentrated near-exclusively on the style, but most recorded more uptempo tracks in addition to the ballads that fit the requirements of the radio format. Quiet storm remained popular from the late '70s into the early '90s, when mainstream R&B took on a harder-edged hip-hop influence; as a result, quiet storm found virtually no new practitioners.