Quiet storm is a radio format and a subgenre of contemporary R&B music that is characterized by understated, mellow dynamics, slow tempos, and relaxed rhythms. It was pioneered in the mid-1970s by Melvin Lindsey, while he was an intern at the radio station WHUR-FM in Washington, D.C.. This style of R&B music is named for Smokey Robinson's 1975 single "A Quiet Storm". Quiet storm later became a blanket term for mellow or soulful slow jams and smooth jazz of the sort played by radio programs influenced by Melvin Lindsey's format.