Content by Anthony Dockrill
I’ve written previously about the wonders of a great radio duo and how they are the radio equivalent of finding a golden nugget. The thing about duos is that what makes them compelling can also cause them to fall apart, and drastically so. When a radio divorce happens it can get every bit as messy as a real divorce.
We are currently watching one of the largest ever radio divorces. It was less than two weeks ago when Jackie O took time off from the show and many people were calling it fake and a publicity stunt, but we now know this was no stunt, it was exactly how it appeared. A partnership in meltdown.
A good radio duo is built on friendship….well, at least friendship while on air, but essential to all good radio duos is that there needs to be an internal tension, a contradiction of why these two are on air together. All great duos follow this formula but in different ways.
As I wrote previously:
“All duos are, on some level, a version of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. And I’m not just talking about the straight guy and the comedian, but a pairing that makes total sense unless you look at it closely. This quality is also why duos can implode or break up as they themselves are dealing with this tension every day when they go to work.”
Ignoring the radio divorce happening in front of us, another high-profile bust-up that shows the tension and how emotionally impactful it can be is Martin/Molloy. Tony Martin and Mick Molloy‘s bust-up brought to an end, in many ways, the best duo radio in this country has seen. Both have gone on to do amazing work in the industry, but it’s also true to say something miraculous was lost.
Martin, talking about the bust-up in 2021, said: “It’s funny, you enter into a society of comedy duos who have had falling out. From Merrick and Rosso to Todd and Brant, the miners, there’s been so many of them that have had falling outs over the years….People would ask me about it in interviews and I would say, ‘Well, we’re seeing other comedians now.'”
People who don’t work in creative industries often miss how messy and emotional the business can be. A radio duo isn’t like working with someone in the office on a report. It’s an all-in enterprise, often with lots of hard work and knockbacks, and often in a duo one person has had to mould themselves to fit what the duo requires. So this is a relationship built on emotional investment and sometimes resentment.
What comes after a breakup?
Having been through a radio divorce, it can be really rough, and if you find yourself suddenly a solo presenter it can be like going back to scratch, or worse. Because you are now painfully aware of how you are measuring up. You no longer have the bliss of ignorance to keep you going.
In the divorce in front of us, we will soon find out if either party gets custody of the time slot and accompanying car spot, but we won’t see anything like this for quite some time. But we will.
Anthony Dockrill is a Digital Producer at Pod Jam and the former Program Director of 2SER FM Sydney.
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