Eddie and JoBo: On the outs

Here we go again: another Chicago radio partnership has ended in divorce.

A deal that would have brought Eddie Volkman and Joe “Bohannon” Colburn to Cumulus-owned Classic Hits station WLS-FM in morning drive collapsed Saturday after Colburn turned down the deal and left Volkman fuming on Twitter.

“Eddie & JoBo” were best known for their successful morning drive show at Rhythmic Top 40 WBBM-FM (B96) from 1988-94 and again from 1997-2008, though a contract dispute kept them off the air for a few weeks in 2002. The duo had not been on the air together since December 2012, when they were let go from WJMK-FM (K-Hits) after nearly two years.

The duo had been doing commercials for a local auto insurance company, keeping them in the local media spotlight.

Several media websites and social media speculated the duo would return in a new capacity at WLS-FM in morning drive, now occupied by Brant Miller. While it appeared Volkman was sold on the idea, Colburn waffled on the decision given he sold his Chicago condo earlier this year and remodeled his home in Freeport, IL (which is in the Rockford DMA, outside of the Chicago area.) In the end, Colburn turned down the WLS offer, ending hopes of a reunion.

The decision left Volkman disappointed, where he took out his frustrations on  Twitter:

Well, that's all, folks. There will be no Eddie & Jobo anymore. The offer was there but only one of us wanted it. Hope he finds happiness.

— Eddie Volkman (@EddieVolkman) June 28, 2014

While often harsh in tone, Volkman’s Twitter feed made for some lively reading on a Saturday night. Colburn on the other hand, declined further comment on his decision.

With the WLS-FM deal dead, Volkman now says he would look for a solo position, with Colburn obviously “retired” from radio, more or less.

The Eddie-JoBo blowup even reminded some of another, well-publicized partnership implosion:  the one between Steve Dahl and Garry Meier, who ended their radio relationship in 1993. It’s an event listeners are still talking about (rather annoyingly) two decades later.

Another well-publicized breakup came in 2004, when Meier walked out on WLS-AM and afternoon co-host Roe Conn.

So what’s to make of the Eddie and JoBo breakup? Not much, only to say this:

That’s showbiz.