"In a Mellow Tone", also known as "In a Mellotone", is a 1939 jazz standard composed by Duke Ellington, with lyrics written by Milt Gabler.[1] The song was based on the 1917 standard "Rose Room" by Art Hickman and Harry Williams,[2] which Ellington himself had recorded in 1932.[3] Howard Stern used a recording of this song (from Ellington's Blues in Orbit album) as the opening theme to The Howard Stern Show from 1987 to 1994.