Youngblood, Spotlight Gold host, leaves Kiss 104.1
Youngblood, the host of a long-time weekly oldies show at Kiss 104.1, has left the R&B station.
He has been on Atlanta radio for three decades, 20 of it at Kiss.
Youngblood confirmed he is gone but declined to comment about what happened.
His “Spotlight Gold" show on Saturday mornings from 7 a.m. to noon played soul classics from the 1960s and 1970s.
In 2011, Kiss dropped him and there was a big enough uproar that the station brought him back after five months.
At the time, Youngblood objected to a salary cut left but said he and Kiss were “able to compromise, cut it in the middle and work it out.” He had talked to other stations but in the end, he felt Kiss was the best place for him to be.
Executives at Cox Media Group, which owns Kiss, did not respond for comment.
Tony Kidd, the Cox Radio vice president of programming in 2011, said: “He’s been in this marketplace a long time. And people love the way he tells stories, the way he delivers the music. People view him as a friend. He’s a staple.”
Listeners on a Youngblood Facebook fan page expressed their dismay with the move. Linda Baker wrote, “My Saturday mornings are going to be pretty empty. Youngblood, we love you.” Mary Thomas wrote: “I have been a fan of Blood from the WCLK days until now. So if he is gone from 104 so am I. He is the only reason I listen to this station.”
A Georgia native and Morehouse graduate, he previously worked with James Brown and ran a restaurant.
Kiss dropped Art Terrell and Zooman Miller from mornings in August.
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
