Melvin Lindsey (July 8, 1955March 26, 1992) was an American radio and television personality in the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

area. He is widely known for originating the "

Quiet Storm 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''. The radio format was pioneered in 1976 by Melvin Lin ...

" late-night music programming format. Lindsey began his broadcast career as an intern at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

radio station

WHUR-FM WHUR-FM (96.3 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary radio station that is licensed to Washington D.C., and serving the Metro D.C. area. It is owned and operated by Howard University, making it one of the few commercial radio stations in the Unite ...

. In 1976, he brought the "Quiet Storm" to the station's late-night lineup, titled after a romantic hit single by tenor crooner

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

. The show's soulfully melodic and moody musical fare made it a phenomenal success, and the 'love song'-heavy format was quickly replicated at stations across the country that served an urban, African-American adult demographic. Lindsey's show also gave rise to a category of music of the same name. After a nine-year run on WHUR, Lindsey took his format to another local radio station,

WKYS-FM WKYS (93.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. The station is owned by Urban One through licensee Urban One Licenses, LLC, and broadcasts an Urban Contemporary radio format. It is co-owned with WMMJ, WOL, WPRS-FM, a ...

, for five more years, and later he hosted '' Screen Scene'' for

Black Entertainment Television Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

(BET). He also worked for Washington, D.C. television stations

WTTG-TV WTTG (channel 5) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNe ...

and

WFTY-TV WFTY-DT (channel 67) is a television station licensed to Smithtown, New York, United States, serving Long Island as an affiliate of the True Crime Network. It is owned by TelevisaUnivision alongside Newark, New Jersey–licensed UniMás co-flag ...

and for

WJZ-TV WJZ-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and maintains studios and offices on Televi ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. Lindsey died at the age of 36 from complications of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

in 1992, but the Quiet Storm format he originated gained widespread popularity. It remained popular over 4 decades after its inception across the nation, especially in evening and late-night radio programs. Artists continue to compose songs target the audiences of Quiet Storm stations and shows.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsey, Melvin 1955 births 1992 deaths African-American television personalities Journalists from Washington, D.C. American radio personalities American television reporters and correspondents AIDS-related deaths in Washington, D.C. 20th-century African-American people

See also

References

External links