Lovers of love songs never had it so good as they did when this storm arrived. Starting in the mid-’70s, urban radio DJs began filling the late-night airwaves with a scintillating array of silky soul and R&B ballads. Named after a stellar track by Smokey Robinson, the Quiet Storm format showcased the era’s smoothest slow jams as performed by such masters as Al Green, Roberta Flack, Teddy Pendergrass and Anita Baker. Spacious arrangements, laidback grooves and sumptuous strings all became trademarks of the sound, along with lyrics that spoke straight from the heart.