This was posted Wednesday, February 8, 2017 by Rodney Ho on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Peaches & Herb would be thrilled: Joyce Littel has reunited with V-103's signature night-time show the Quiet Storm after a seven-year absence and it feels so good.
She returned on Monday night at 10 p.m. as if she had never left.
Littel was a signature voice on that show in the 1990s and 2000s, which focuses on slower, sexy jams late into the night. But V-103 cut her without explanation in early 2010.
Management didn't say at the time why they made the move. But it doesn't take an economist to figure out the 2008 near depression that caused one-third of radio revenue in the Atlanta market to disappear may have been a factor.
Rick Caffey, who has been general manager at V-103 for more than 20 years, said in 2010 that he hoped to find a replacement for her relatively quickly.
But in the end, the station chose to keep the show jockless - for seven years.
Littel, away from the radio, has organized events over the years such as her Valentine's Day's Passion & Poetry concert at Center Stage. (Tickets on sale here.) She returned to V-103 in 2014 part time on weekends.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Over that time, she said the topic of Quiet Storm came up periodically but she didn't push it.
“It was a long time coming," Littel said in an interview today. "The way I've lived my life, things happen for a reason. And it was just perfect timing. Everything lined up. We just went back at it. I'm enjoying it as much as I did when I did it before."
She said the minute she came on and played Lenny Williams' "Cause I Love You," the phones lit up. "The listeners really helped me get back in that space," she said.
Reggie Rouse, long-time program director, said she is an incredible brand in this market and it was difficult to find a proper replacement for her. In the end, he felt it was better to just go with music if they couldn't have her.
V-103 clearly is facing more Quiet Storm competition with Steve Hegwood's Old School 87.7 on top of Kiss 104.1's Slow Jamz.
"People grew up with her," Rouse said. "As Joyce herself has said, with 'Quiet Storm,' she helped make a lot of babies in this market.' "
Mike Roberts, who hired her in 1990 when he was program director, said "she has always been able to connect with people. She was smart enough to keep herself out there and relevant."
He said he liked how she never resorted to an artificial "sexy" voice to do the show, that she was just herself.
Here was what she posted Monday on Instagram.
And in honor of her return:
ON THE RADIO
"Quiet Storm with Joyce Littel," 10 p.m.-1 a.m. weekdays, V-103
