Sign-In
Cart
The Quiet Storm: A Historical and Cultural Analysis of the Power, Passion, and Pain of R&B Groups
Audio Book
Currently unavailable to order
Please enter your email and a message will be sent to you when this product becomes available on our website.
Publisher: Amani Experience
Published: Feb 18 2025
Language: English
What Should You Expect When You Read This Book?
This book is not just a project for me; it's a labor of love. It all began during my time at Berklee College of Music, when I was tasked with choosing a research topic. I found myself drawn to the question, Why there are no more Black R&B groups in existence? This wasn't just an academic curiosity; it was a topic that resonated deeply with me, as my research revealed that 99% of all R&B groups are majority African American.
Inside the book, the first section gives you a history review of 10 to 12 of the most successful R&B groups per decade. The quantitative research for this section was based on the following:
Record sales
Billboard Hot 100 charting singles
Grammy wins
Notable performances
The second section of the book explores a question that I believe is of great interest to many of you: why have R&B groups disappeared since the mid-2000s? This is not just a financial analysis, it's a qualitative exploration that I'm still actively researching. We'll uncover five main reasons, each one offering a deeper understanding of the complex issues at play.
The final chapter will share my brief thoughts on predictions for the future, where I analyze current signs of what is to come in the world of R&B groups.
That is what you can expect from this book. Feel free to read the book from front to back or skip ahead and read the What Happened section. Thanks for reading the book, and let's prepare for our journey.
What Does The Quiet Storm Title Mean?
The Quiet Storm title has a substantial meaning, which gives further credence to the journey of R&B groups. In the mid-1970s, a DJ from WHUR 96.3 in Washington, DC (Howard University's signature station), named Melvin Lindsey created this radio format. The music format was love songs from 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s Black artists. When the initial response from listeners was positive, the station manager for WHUR, Cathy Hughes, gave Melvin Lindsey and his classmate Jack Shuler their own show. The show's name came from the Smokey Robinson song Quiet Storm, which was released in 1975.
Eventually, the show ran for four hours and kept its focus on laid-back, smooth grooves that made for easy listening. Within a short amount of time, every station in the United States with a core Black, urban audience adopted a similar format for its late-night shift. KBLX-FM in San Francisco expanded this concept into a 24-hour quiet storm format. In New York, Vaughn Harper from WBLS-FM adopted a similar format.
The Quiet Storm concept continued on radio stations until the late 1990s, as hip-hop music was the preferred genre for younger listeners, and radio stations underwent a shift in programming to capture these listeners.
I grew up in Washington, DC, listening to The Quiet Storm. This book's title allows me to pay tribute to this radio format creation while still recognizing the groups that earned fame based on the exposure from The Quiet Storm DJs across the country.
Also from
Roberts, Amani
The Quiet Storm: A Historical and Cultural Analysis of the Power, Passion, and Pain of R&B Groups
Roberts, Amani
Hardcover
The Quiet Storm: A Historical and Cultural Analysis of the Power, Passion, and Pain of R&B Groups
Roberts, Amani
Paperback
DJ's Mean Business: One Night Behind the Turntables Can Spin Your Company's Success
Roberts, Amani
Paperback
The Quiet Storm: A Historical and Cultural Analysis of the Power, Passion, and Pain of R&B Groups
Roberts, Amani
Audio Book
Also in
World Music
P Fkn R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance
Díaz, Vanessa
Rivera-Rideau, Petra R.
Paperback
P Fkn R: Bad Bunny Y La Música Como Un Acto de Resistencia / P Fkn R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance
Díaz, Vanessa
Rivera-Rideau, Petra R.
Paperback
Emo Revival: Community, Diy, and Rebirth in Post-Hardcore and Emo (2008-2018)
Sacher, Andrew
Paperback
Muévelo: The Enduring Legacy of Latin Music Across Borders
Bayetti Flores, Verónica
Zoila Pérez, Miriam
Hardcover
Rolling Stone and the Rise of Hip Capitalism: How a Magazine Born in the 1960s Changed America
Ponce de Leon, Charles L.
Hardcover
Go Back and Fetch It: Recovering Early Black Music in the Americas for Fiddle and Banjo
Gaddy, Kristina R.
Giddens, Rhiannon
Paperback
Ocean of Sound: Ambient Sound and Radical Listening in the Age of Communication
Toop, David
Paperback
Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture
Hale, Grace Elizabeth
Paperback
My Bloody Roots: From Sepultura to Soulfly and Beyond: The Autobiography (Revised & Updated Edition)
Cavalera, Max
McIver, Joel
Paperback
Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia
Orr, Doug
Orr, Darcy
Ritchie, Fiona
Paperback
The Music of Life (Omega Uniform Edition of the Teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan)
Inayat Khan, Hazrat
Paperback
Raising the Bottom: Bounce Music and Black Queer Performance in Post-Katrina New Orleans
Chapman, Alix
Paperback
30 and 1 Indian Mantras for Tongue Drum and Handpan: Play by Number
Gupta, Veda
Winter, Helen
Paperback
Too Much Too Young, the 2 Tone Records Story: Rude Boys, Racism, and the Soundtrack of a Generation
Rachel, Daniel
Hardcover
Lessons from Take Me Home, Country Roads: Identity, (Be)Longing, and Imagined Landscapes
Morris, Sarah L.
Paperback
P Fkn R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance
Díaz, Vanessa
Rivera-Rideau, Petra R.
Hardcover
Hardcore Punk in the Age of Reagan: The Lyrical Lashing of an American Presidency
Fitzgerald, Robert
Paperback
Otamatone Beginner's Songbook: All-in-One Guide with 100 Easy Famous Songs in 3 Levels: Easy Note Maps & Letter Diagrams No Music Reading Needed Folk,
Publishing, Lido
Dominguez, Jane
Paperback
Road to Rembetika: music of a greek sub-culture, songs of love, sorrow and hashish
Holst, Gail
Paperback
Unchanged Trebles: What Boy Choirs Teach Us about Motherhood and Masculinity
Peeples, Rebekah
Hardcover
Guitar: Guitar Music Book For Beginners, Guide How To Play Guitar Within 24 Hours
Mahalo, Tom
Paperback
They All Came to Memphis: True Stories of How Memphis Shaped the Greatest Music in the World
Elkington, Beau C.
Paperback
From Infinite World: The Sound of the Hammond Organ and the Tragedy of AIDS in the Black Church
Crawley, Ashon Thomas
Hardcover
John Duffey's Bluegrass Life: FEATURING THE COUNTRY GENTLEMEN, SELDOM SCENE, AND WASHINGTON, D.C. - Second Edition
Moore, Stephen
Keplinger, G. T.
Paperback
Electro Rap: Science Fiction, Fantasy and Reality in the Circuitry of Hip Hop
Paor-Evans, Adam de
Hardcover
Middle Eastern Flute Magic: Play the Nay: Finger Charts for Arabic Music Scales
Powers, Cameron
Paperback
Communities of Sound: Religion, Displacement, and Caste in the Bay of Bengal
Lorea, Carola E.
Paperback
Traders, Chanters, and Mystics: The Networked Afterlives of North African Torah Scrolls
Webster-Kogen, Ilana
Paperback
The Empire of the Ear: Music, Race, and the Sonic Architecture of Colonial Morocco
Llano, Samuel
Hardcover
The Bakersfield Sound: How a Generation of Displaced Okies Revolutionized American Music
Price, Robert E.
Paperback
Salsa, Sabor y Control! Sociologia de La Musica Tropical
Quintero Rivera, Angel G.
Rivera, Angel G. Quintero
Paperback
Dancing at the Thresholds: Music, Trance, and Feeling in Algerian Dīwān of Sīdī Bilāl
Turner, Tamara Dee
Paperback
Arab Techno for the People: Sonic Responses to Orientalism in Toronto and Montreal
Fulton-Melanson, Jillian
Hardcover
Guitar: Guitar Lessons For Beginners, Simple Guide Through Easy Techniques, How T
Mahalo, Tom
Paperback
Armenian Duduk: Complete Method and Repertoire: Complete Method and Repertoire
Minasyan (Minasov), Georgy
Hardcover
What about Tomorrow?: An Oral History of Russian Punk from the Soviet Era to Pussy Riot
Herbert, Alexander
Paperback
Talking Machine Empires: Phonograph Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean During the Acoustic Era
Ospina Romero, Sergio
Hardcover
Echoes of Translation: Audibility and Relationality in Indian Jewish Women's Songs
Schultz, Anna C.
Paperback
Seeing Metal Music in Latin America and the Caribbean
Varas-Díaz, Nelson
Araújo, Daniel Nevárez
Hardcover
Hating Jazz: A History of Its Disparagement, Mockery, and Other Forms of Abuse
Berish, Andrew S.
Paperback
Chicano Soul: Recordings and History of an American Culture, 10th Anniversary Edition
Molina, Ruben
Paperback
Brutality Garden: Tropicalia and the Emergence of a Brazilian Counterculture
Dunn, Christopher
Paperback
From the Bronx to the Bosphorus: Klezmer and Other Displaced Musics of New York
Feldman, Walter Zev
Hardcover
From Ring Shout to Bomba: Ethnographic Perceptions and Approaches to Music and Religion in the Gullah/Geechee and Afro-Latin Diasporas
Sánchez Cruz, Anthony L.
Paperback
Performing Paramilitarism: Loyalist Songs, Conflict, and Culture War in Northern Ireland
Millar, Stephen R.
Paperback
Why You Love Music: From Mozart to Metallica--The Emotional Power of Beautiful Sounds
Powell, John
Paperback
Raising the Bottom: Bounce Music and Black Queer Performance in Post-Katrina New Orleans
Chapman, Alix
Hardcover
Unusual Guitar Scales from Around the World: Exotic Guitar Riffs and Licks
Orheim, Raif Justin
Paperback
The Voice of Egypt: Umm Kulthum, Arabic Song, and Egyptian Society in the Twentieth Century Volume 1997
Danielson, Virginia
Paperback
The Reggae & Ska Guitar Book: Learn Authentic Rhythm & Lead Guitar Parts for Reggae, Ska, Rocksteady, Dub & More
Kellie, Daryl
Alexander, Joseph
Paperback
Sounding Good: Advancing Cultural Sustainability and Social Justice Through Music
Grant, Catherine
Paperback
Songs of Desire and Defiance: Subjectivity, Emotions, and Authenticity in Bhawaiya Folk Songs of North Bengal
Khandoker, Nasrin
Hardcover
A Song for the Horses: Musical Heritage for More-than-Human Futures in Mongolia
Hutchins, Kip
Paperback
Interpreting Court Song in Uganda: Musical Meaning, Power Relations, and Political Life
Kafumbe, Damascus
Paperback
Musical Argonauts of Central Asia: The Aga Khan Music Programme's Quest to Revitalize Cultural Heritage
Levin, Theodore
Paperback