Speaker Identification

Speaker 1 - Prerecorded Announcer / Theme Voice. This label is used for the produced opening theme, promotional introductions, station identifications, and closing announcement.

Speaker 2 - Jim Craine, Host. The host identifies and spells his surname as C-R-A-I-N-E during the program. He speaks from Pleasantville Music Shop and recounts his career, Atlantic City history, sponsor information, jokes, and upcoming plans.

Speaker 3 - Prerecorded or Archival Performance Vocal. This label is used for the musical performances heard during the episode, including “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody,” “On the Boardwalk in Atlantic City,” and “Over the Rainbow.”

Speaker 1 - Prerecorded Announcer / Theme Voice:

[Opening theme music]

From the shoreline to the spotlight, from the stories behind the stars, welcome to the Jim Craine Show!

Where the boardwalk meets the rolling tide, a young dreamer found a stage inside. A Steel Pier light set in the summer sky; you learn how to laugh, how to leap, how to fly. By day on the beach, keeping watch on the blue; by night in a tux, making old songs new. From the lifeguard chair to the microphone, Jim brings every listener home. He’s got a memory and a voice that still can shine. It’s the Jim Craine Show!

Where the good times roll, hear the stars, feel the heart, let the laughter take control. From Atlantic City lights to the airwaves coast to coast, come on in, the band is hot, and Jim Craine is your host. Whoa! Everybody knows it’s the Jim Craine Show!

He shared the bill with legends of the stage, turned 50 years into a golden page. Casinos, clubs, and ships at sea; every room became a family. Now the guests pull up a chair and stay, with songs and stories from yesterday. Actors, singers, friends passing through, and Jim finds the magic hiding in the truth. With a wink, a song, a memory, he keeps the whole room bright. A little classic show business and a lot of heart tonight. It’s the Jim Craine Show!

Where the good times roll, hear the stars, feel the heart, let the laughter take control. From Atlantic City lights to the airwaves coast to coast, come on in, the band is hot, and Jim Craine is your host. Whoa! Everybody knows it’s the Jim Craine Show!

Who’s got the stories? Jim Craine! Who brings the music? Jim Craine! Who keeps Saturday swinging? The Jim Craine Show!

Some voices fade when the curtain falls; some keep it going through it all. Through changing times and changing scenes, he keeps alive the songs and dreams. There’s always room for one more friend, one more laugh before the ending. So turn it up and gather close. The show is starting. Here we go. It’s the Jim Craine Show!

Where the good times roll: celebrity conversations, classic music, art, and soul. Saturday at 2:00 Central on BBS Radio TV, Station 1. Come for the stories; stay for Jim. The celebration’s just begun. Whoa! Let the whole world know it’s the Jim Craine Show!

From the boardwalk to the broadcast, the legend carries on. The Jim Craine Show, Saturdays from 2:00 to 3:00 Central on BBS Radio TV, Station 1!

All right, then. It’s the Jim Craine Show on the BBS Radio Network. Let’s go. Here we go!

Speaker 3 - Prerecorded or Archival Performance Vocal:

[Music: “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody”]

Rock-a-bye your baby with a Dixie melody. When you croon, croon a tune from the heart of Dixie. Just hang my cradle, Mammy mine, right on that Mason-Dixon Line, and swing it from Virginia to Tennessee with all the love that’s in you.

“Weep No More, My Lady,” sing that song again for me. Sing “Old Black Joe” just as though you had me on your knee. A million baby kisses I’ll deliver the minute that you sing the “Swanee River.” Rock-a-bye your rock-a-bye baby with a Dixie melody.

[Song repeats and fades]

Speaker 1 - Prerecorded Announcer / Theme Voice:

And now, the host of the Jim Craine Show.

Speaker 2 - Jim Craine, Host:

Hi! Hello, everybody, and welcome to the BBS Radio Network and the new and improved Jim Craine Show, live!

Here’s our Saturday afternoon party. Oh, there’s the audience!

[Studio audience applause]

We’re broadcasting just outside Atlantic City from Pleasantville Music Shop on the Black Horse Pike. I want to welcome you all to our afternoon party. We’ve been away from radio for quite a while, but it is so nice to be back. This is my 51st year in show business - the Singing Lifeguard!

We’re going to have lots of guests, lots of fun, and lots of things going on here on the BBS Radio Network. You’ll be able to hear us every Saturday from 2:00 to 3:00 Central Time. Here on the East Coast, it’s a little later, but it is going to be a really good thing.

Pleasantville Music Shop is a full-line music store. We are a mom-and-pop music shop here at the Jersey Shore, and we have some other great sponsors. We’re going to bring back the Duke here. Let’s have that music.

[Music rises]

Let’s not forget Pleasantville Music Shop, our local businesses and restaurants, and, of course, the historic Dr. Jonathan Pitney House and the beautiful bed-and-breakfast properties in Absecon and Smithville, New Jersey, including the Colonial Inn. Please support our local businesses.

We love our studio audience here in the store, and you can stop by and say hi to us while we’re on the air. It is going to be a really good thing.

Here we are at Pleasantville Music Shop. Every week, we’re going to tell you about restaurants in the area. You can fade the music down now.

[Music fades]

We’re also going to tell you about the local restaurants and entertainment throughout the Atlantic City area. It is so cool to be back on the radio on the BBS Network. I was on a local radio station here for about 14 years, and we did the show on Saturday nights. Now we’re going to be on in the afternoon and have a nice party with some great guests.

We’ve got Jon Provost coming up very soon, the actor who played Timmy on Lassie back in the day. We’re going to have Deana Martin and Frank Ferrante, the fellow who performs as Groucho, among many others. We’re going to have a lot of fun here on the big show.

Let’s see. I had a piece of paper here with some notes on it, and all of a sudden it went away.

Speaker 1 - Prerecorded Announcer / Theme Voice:

Some men walk into show business. Jim Craine dove in.

Speaker 2 - Jim Craine, Host:

Dove in, buddy! He did it from 30 feet.

Speaker 1 - Prerecorded Announcer / Theme Voice:

He barked on the Steel Pier when he was nine, sat by Duke Ellington, learning perfect time. A lifeguard by day with the ocean in view; then night fell and somebody yelled, “Get that man a tuxedo!”

He sang for the stars, made the whole shoreline swing, with a joke in his pocket and a story for everything. He even led 33,000 Phillies fans. That’s not an audience; that’s a backup group!

So pull up a chair. Let the good times roll: celebrity stories, music, laughter, and soul. From the boardwalk lights to your radio, everybody’s diving into the Jim Craine Show. No swimsuit required.

Saturdays at 2:00 Central on BBS Radio TV, Station 1. And now, the only host whose tuxedo should come with a flotation device: Jim Craine!

Speaker 2 - Jim Craine, Host:

Oh, my goodness! I’ve hit the big time now, ladies and gentlemen. I’ve got to tell you.

Now for Craine’s Picks. That’s something we always did on the other show. Coming up at the Ocean City Music Pier, over there on Moorlyn Terrace and the Boardwalk, is the Happy Together Tour. That’s with Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, The Vogues, The Association, The Cowsills, Ron Dante and The Archies, and everybody else. They still have tickets available. That’s on Monday, August 3, at 7:00 p.m.

We also want you to check out the Bird Cage restaurant. This place is so cool. They have great food, a great atmosphere, dancing, and DJs, and it’s an alternative place. It’s run by Julia DeConselvo, Richie Helfant, Jason Tell, and their team. It is a wonderful place. The food is so good.

We also want to say happy birthday to Lucy the Elephant. Today is her birthday party down there in Margate, New Jersey, and that is going on until 8:00 p.m.

All right, that’s what we’ve got going here. We will be taking calls soon. I don’t know exactly when, but we will be able to take some calls here on the big show.

You’re also going to be able to come and see our shows. We have our big Steel Pier alumni reunion coming up on August 23. That’s a Sunday, right on the old, world-famous Steel Pier at the Tiki Bar. A great woman named Teddy Fusco is going to be with us, and one of the original high-diving horse performers, Terry McDevitt, will also be there.

We want all of Tony Grant’s Stars of Tomorrow, all the people who danced on Summertime at the Pier with Ed Hurst, and everyone who worked at the pier. If you worked the games, served as an usher, worked in food service, simply loved coming to Steel Pier, or performed there, we want you there.

We’re reaching out to some of the major performers. We reached out to Frankie Avalon and are trying to get him to show up. The reunion is on August 23, 2026, from 3:00 until 6:00, right on the pier.

I’m also going to have some tickets to give away that you’ll be able to pick up right here at the music shop very soon.

Anyway, we’re rolling right along with this new radio show. I have a quick joke here. I got a whole bunch of new jokes off Facebook, and I have a couple of quick ones.

What do you call it when your dog swallows an engagement ring? A diamond in the ruff!

[Studio audience laughter]

Thank you very much. I like that.

Here’s a news item: Insurance companies are warning campers that if their tents are stolen during the night, they won’t be covered.

[Studio audience laughter]

You know, it costs a lot of money to swim with the dolphins, but if you swim with the sharks, it costs you an arm and a leg.

[Studio audience laughter]

Oh, this is fun.

Anyhow, you have to come to Pleasantville Music Shop and see us in the very near future. This is the only mom-and-pop music store in the area. We actually sell vinyl records here, and you can hear them before you buy them, which is really cool. They’re not heavily priced. We’re not looking to make a million dollars. We simply have a great collection of vinyl from over the years, and we sell it at affordable prices. You can come in and listen to it before you buy it.

We have real pianos here at the store. Most places don’t feature actual stringed pianos in their stores. We have beautiful keyboards, all types of guitars, Washburns, Takamines, used vintage guitars, and used drum sets. We have everything musical.

My father-in-law, Gaston Ragno, started this business in 1938. It has been in this location for 88 years, and we still look pretty good. My wife, Joanne, and I are the proprietors, and we handle all the school rentals.

I still say the best place to learn music is in school. I learned to sing from the nuns back in the day when I was growing up, and they taught me everything I know.

As I said, I’ve been in the business for 51 years. I’ve opened for Connie Stevens, and I’ve worked with Red Skelton. You can go on YouTube and see my material and the things we do.

We’re going to have a lot of fun here on the big show every week. You really have to support small businesses because we were hurt by everything that went on with what I call the COVID scam. Everybody took a hit from that. That little Fauci fellow knocked things down, and it was so strange. We’ll see what happens with that.

That being said, we want to keep all of our small businesses going. Bobby Matthews runs the Copiers Plus company. Those are the people who can bring you copiers and fix them. They also do car wraps and other services. They are a great company over in Egg Harbor Township here in South Jersey.

Then there is the Godfather of great Italian food. It is so good, and they can cater for you. The Maplewood restaurants are in Hammonton, Mays Landing, and Vineland. Look them up online. They are a great group of people, and the food is absolutely delicious.

Another great place in our area is in historic Absecon, New Jersey, and in the Smithville area, where I live. This is a bed-and-breakfast company run by the Fitzgerald family. They are great people: Eddie, Wendy, and Tracy.

They have two locations. The one in Absecon is among the earliest buildings constructed in this area. When you stay at a hotel, you often have only a room number. When you stay at one of these bed-and-breakfasts, it feels like staying in a home. You receive breakfast every morning, the rooms are beautiful, and the property is in a historic building.

Out in Smithville, they have the Colonial Inn. They have many different rooms, and there are beautiful little shops all around it. They also have two great restaurants: the Smithville Inn and Fred and Ethel’s Lantern Light. They have live music and festivals.

We perform at the Italian Festival with Jim Craine and the Atlantic City All-Stars, my band. This will be our 13th year at the Italian Festival. There is free parking, and it is really cool.

We want to make sure everybody knows about our sponsors and all the other good things here in the Atlantic City area. As I said, I’m so glad to be back on the radio. I’ve missed it. It is a lot of fun. It really is.

I think we have another song to play featuring me from the telethon we did on the boardwalk with Gloria Loring. “Rhoda” was also with us during this particular performance, along with Stuart Damon from General Hospital. It is a really fun version of “On the Boardwalk in Atlantic City.”

Speaker 3 - Prerecorded or Archival Performance Vocal:

[Archival performance: “On the Boardwalk in Atlantic City”]

On the boardwalk in Atlantic City, life will be peaches and cream. On the boardwalk in Atlantic City, we will walk in a dream.

Where the saltwater air brings out a lady’s charm, there in a rolling chair she’ll roll right into your arms. There along the rail, you will find someone you have waited for, in romantic Atlantic City, down on the old New Jersey shore.

On the boardwalk in Atlantic City, we will walk in a dream. On the boardwalk in Atlantic City, you can play the slot machines.

Where the saltwater air brings out a lady’s charm, there in a rolling chair she’ll roll right into your arms. There along the rail, you will find someone you have waited for, in romantic Atlantic City, down on the old New Jersey shore.

[Archival performance ends]

Speaker 2 - Jim Craine, Host:

Hey! I’ll tell you what. That was from a telethon they did in 1983 over at Harrah’s Casino. We had Fred Travalena in it, and Chuck Barris was there. The bandleader was Milton DeLugg, the fellow who was the bandleader from The Gong Show. That particular telethon was for juvenile diabetes.

You can see it if you go on YouTube and enter my name, Jim Craine - C-R-A-I-N-E. My material will come up there.

One video is my tribute to my 50th anniversary in show business. I do an interview with Elke Sommer, the world-famous movie star. She was appearing at the Claridge at that time, and I was lifeguarding right in front of the Claridge Hotel. It is a great beach. That is a really neat interview with her, and she still looks pretty good. You can check that out.

Also in that video, I perform with the great Red Skelton. Meeting him was an absolute thrill. To work with him onstage was amazing.

I did this entire bit where I sang. It was like a big game show they held at Caesars called the Thank God It’s Friday Sweepstakes. We gave away $10,000, but it was in pennies. We always gave a car away, and they asked me to work with Red Skelton. It was so cool.

When he came out, he always received a standing ovation. The line he always used was, “Well, you can’t top that. You can walk off.” I said that into his ear, and you can see it on the video.

One of the other things that really impressed me about Red Skelton happened when they gave away those sunshades people put in their cars, with the Caesars logo on them. There were almost 1,000 people in the theater, the Circus Maximus Theater here in town. He sat on a stool and signed what I think were more than 500 autographs that afternoon. It was so neat to watch him do that.

That night, I went to see the show, and he introduced me to the audience. It was really cool to work with one of my idols. That means a lot.

I said to him, “That was really cool of you to do that.” He said, “Well, if you don’t do that, they won’t come and see you anymore. You have to be nice to your audience.” That was really cool, too.

I also have other material on YouTube that you can check out. I got to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” at a Phillies game a few years ago. The Phillies are still my favorite team, and you can see me doing that.

There are also many concerts with my band, the Atlantic City All-Stars. I’ve been working with these musicians for many years. My piano player, Tony DeLuca, is going to be on the show with me very soon. He has written many great songs, including one called “In Atlantic City,” which we’re going to play on the air. He has been working with me for almost 30 years.

My saxophone player is John Guida. I first met him when I was an usher at Steel Pier at 14 years old. He has been with me for almost 30 years.

I also have Andy Lalasis, another great bass player from our area. They are all on Facebook. We’ve been doing shows throughout the area during the 51 years I’ve been in the business.

There is also footage from an HBO special with Rich Little at the Sands. You can see a lot of this material on my YouTube pages. Look under Jim Craine, C-R-A-I-N-E.

When I worked at Steel Pier, I was there from 1963 until 1973. I can honestly say, folks, it is the only job where I never took a day off. Even when I was sick, I went to work because I needed the money for school.

I would come home at 2:00 in the morning, and my mother would ask, “Why were you there until 2:00 in the morning?” I had three reasons, Mom: girls, music, free food, and money. All right, that’s four reasons, but I was making money. It was really something.

I also got to take care of the diving horses. This was a famous act from way back. All the big stars who came to the pier wanted to see the horses.

To give you an idea, in 1970, while we were doing the diving act, we had Chicago, Jay and the Techniques, Tommy James and the Shondells, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Pat Boone, and Duke Ellington. Almost everybody wanted to go backstage and see the horses because the act meant so much.

We had the Bee Gees in 1971. Over the years, I met so many great people there.

I also ran a great ride on the pier called the Diving Bell. It was like going down in a submarine. The old Diving Bell has been saved, and it now sits in Gardner’s Basin, a maritime area here in Atlantic City.

The first one was built in 1924, and it was wrecked in the storm of 1962. That is a whole other story. I ran the Diving Bell, and I also ran games and did many other jobs on the pier.

It was so much fun. The Catanoso family runs the pier now. I think this is its 128th year, since 1898. Now they have rides, games, bands, and great food. The old Steel Pier in Atlantic City is really neat.

It is nice to remain associated with the pier because that is where I learned most of what I know about entertainment. I remember the owner, George Hamid Sr., saying to me, “Jimmy, you’re going to end up in show business because you’re getting all this material.” At the time, I was an usher in the Music Hall.

I got to see Les Paul and Mary Ford back in the 1960s, before they retired. Les Paul had recorded an album with Chet Atkins. I was standing in this large theater, which held about 3,000 people. I was stationed all the way down by the side door on the right-hand side.

The theater had two doors that closed to keep the sunlight from entering the dark room. I heard the door open and thought, “Oh, boy, who is this?” I looked over, and all I saw was a big cowboy hat. It was Chet Atkins.

He went up onstage and surprised Les Paul. It was one of the wildest things I had ever seen.

Herman’s Hermits and The Monkees were there, and I saw girls fainting over those performers. I saw Sam Cooke. I saw an early tour featuring The Temptations and The Supremes, and I saw Michael Jackson when he was just a child back in the 1960s.

I’ll tell you, the history of entertainment in Atlantic City is amazing. I even performed the national anthem at the Miss America Pageant. The entertainment history here is truly amazing. It really is.

Anyhow, we’re now here on the BBS Radio Network on Saturday afternoons, and we’re going to have a party. As I said, we’ll have many guests and all kinds of things coming up on the program.

All right, let’s see. I had a couple more jokes.

I drank a bottle of invisible ink. Now I’m in the hospital waiting to be seen.

[Studio audience laughter]

One more like that!

It is great now because I don’t really need writers.

I phoned my boss at work this morning and said, “I can’t come in today. I have a wee cough.”

He said, “You have a week off?”

I said, “Great, I’ll take a week off.”

[Studio audience laughter and rimshot]

Thank you. That works well, man.

Oh, my goodness. Anyhow, it’s the Jim Craine Show, right here.

Speaker 1 - Prerecorded Announcer / Theme Voice:

There was a time when the boardwalk was the center of the world, when the lights of Atlantic City shimmered across the ocean and every stage held another unforgettable story.

From the lifeguard chair to the spotlight, from Steel Pier to stages around the world, he has spent a lifetime singing the songs, sharing the laughter, meeting the legends, and creating a few legendary moments of his own.

Now the Singing Lifeguard is back on duty with celebrity conversations, classic entertainment, unforgettable memories, music, comedy, and the stories behind the stars.

Broadcasting on BBS Radio TV, Station 1. Ladies and gentlemen, the boardwalk is open, the band is ready, and this is the Jim Craine Show.

And now, here’s Jim Craine.

Speaker 2 - Jim Craine, Host:

All right. Welcome back to the Jim Craine extravaganza on a Saturday afternoon, live from Pleasantville Music Shop.

As I said, folks, you really have to support our local businesses. We’re going to have so much fun here on the show. I have many great guests lined up.

As I mentioned, I have Deana Martin, Dean Martin’s daughter. She is a great friend and is wonderful to have on the show. I’m going to have comedians on, too. I have my old friend Dom Irrera. I’m going to try to get him to come on, but we have to keep him clean.

We’re simply going to have a great time. Pop into Pleasantville Music and say hello. We might even sell you a guitar or something to that effect.

Every Saturday, we’re going to have a party. That’s what we’re going to do right here on the BBS Radio Network. Listen to the other shows on this great network, too. I hope you subscribe to us. I don’t know exactly how that works, but I’ll find out.

I hope you enjoy us because we do have a lot of fun. We’re going to take your calls - not today, though, because we had to prerecord some things.

We’re going to close the hour with my mother’s favorite song, “Over the Rainbow.” I’d like to dedicate it to all the mothers out there.

As I said, you listen to this program simply for the fun of it. I also want to thank my wife, Joanne, who has been my partner for 35 years, and all of you who enjoy my comedy and my fun.

This is Jim Craine saying we’ll see you next Saturday, right here from Pleasantville Music.

Speaker 3 - Prerecorded or Archival Performance Vocal:

[Music: “Over the Rainbow”]

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.

Someday I’ll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me, where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops. That’s where you’ll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly. Birds fly over the rainbow. Why, then, oh, why can’t I?

If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why, oh, why can’t I?

Speaker 2 - Jim Craine, Host:

We’ll see you next week, folks.

Speaker 1 - Prerecorded Announcer / Theme Voice:

We’ll see you next week on the Jim Craine Show. Join Jim Craine Saturdays from 2:00 to 3:00 Central on BBS Radio TV, Station 1.

Until next time, roll the music!

[Closing music]