The station's musical selection was also forged by competition with smooth-jazz rival 103.7 KKSF.Д®ven when KBLX quietly modified its format to Urban AC in the 1990s, the station continued to play jazz music in rotation-and this practice of mixing R&B and jazz songs on radio playlists has occurred on few Urban AC radio stations in some markets. This was done to establish the station's own identity apart from competition from now-defunct Urban stations KSOL and KDIA, or its current competitor 106.1 KMEL. Even then, for some time the station played mostly smooth R&B, rarely playing any uptempo R&B, current or old school. (The Urban AC terminology did not exist until 1988). KBLX was the inspiration for the creation and launch of various adult contemporary radio formats across the country, from Smooth Jazz to Soft Rock to Urban AC. Throughout the 1980s, the station played an eclectic mix of R&B, smooth jazz and soft pop, reflecting the diverse music culture of the Bay Area. KBLX marketed the station as an adult contemporary format, rather than urban, in order to attract a wider audience. While WBLS played a variety of urban music, KBLX focused more on and Urban Adult Contemporary format, calling itself The Quiet Storm.

In 1979, the station was sold to the New York-based Inner City Broadcasting Corporation, headed by Percy Sutton (which also owned WBLS), and was relaunched as KBLX (the call letters KBLS, which would otherwise honor its sister-station relationship with WBLS, were unavailable, assigned to another station in Kansas). When Inner City Broadcasting purchased the station, it eliminated the unique format and changed it to more mainstream urban sound with less interaction with local artists and the community. The station was the first to break records by Pete and Sheila Escovedo, Bill Summers, Sylvester, and other Bay Area artists. The station frequently produced live broadcasts out in the community, including at the Oakland Community School when Huey Newton came home from Cuba. It supported local artists who frequently stopped by to visit with the deejays on the air to talk about new recordings and gigs. KRE-FM, which had previously played religious programs and Top 40 music, became one of the first commercial full-time 'fusion' stations playing Blues, R&B, Latin pop, Reggae, Jazz and World Music. Donnell Lewis, a Blues musician, approached KRE to do one night a week of Blues programming. In 1973, it changed its call letters back to KRE-FM. In 1962, the station changed its call letters to KPAT-FM. It mostly simulcast the programming of co-owned KRE 1400 AM (now KVTO). On April 29, 1949, the station signed on as KRE-FM. 1.2 KBLX 'Soft and Warm, The Quiet Storm'.

Soft and warm like a quiet storm