Speaker Identification

Speaker 1 - Host: Jim Craine. The host identifies himself at the beginning of the live program and later spells his surname aloud as C-R-A-I-N-E, which supports the spelling "Craine" throughout.

Speaker 2 - Guest: Deana Martin. The host introduces her as Dean Martin's daughter, and she discusses her father, her family, her performances, her weekly show, and her website. The uploaded transcript filename also identifies the guest as Deana Martin.

Speaker 3 - Prerecorded Music / Announcer Voice. This label covers the opening show theme, prerecorded musical segments, station identification, and the closing theme. The individual vocalist or announcer is not identified in the transcript.

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Speaker 3 - Prerecorded Opening Theme:

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 the stage inside. Steel Pier lights and a summer sky; you learn how to laugh, how to leap, how to fly. A 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, a melody, a joke that lands right on time, a lifetime full of stories, and a voice that's still divine.

It's The Jim Craine Show, where the good times roll. Hear the stars, hear the hearts, 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 showbiz 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 that glow 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, heart and soul. Saturday at 2 Central, BBS Radio TV Station One. 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, 2:00-3:00 Central, on BBS Radio TV Station One.

Speaker 3 - Prerecorded Song:

"All of Me"

All of me, why not take all of me? Can't you see? I'm no good without you. Take my lips, I'll never use them. Take these eyes; I no longer want to abuse them. [Lyric unclear in source.] How can I get along without you? You took the part that was my heart, so why not take all of me?

All of me, why not take all of me? Can't you see? I'm a mess without you. Take my lips, I'll never use them. Take these eyes; I no longer want to abuse them. [Lyric unclear in source.] How can I get along without you? You took the part that was my heart, so why not take all of me?

Speaker 1 - Host:

Hello, everybody. Jim Craine here, live from Pleasantville Music Shop. That's my Steel Pier Remembered big band album, available here at the store anytime you want. We're at 15 East Black Horse Pike.

Welcome, everybody, to my podcast here on the BBS Radio TV Station One network. We are just going to have a party today - boys and girls, children of all ages. The fabulous Deana Martin is going to be with us, and that's going to be fantastic. We're also going to be talking to Juliette Consolo, our restaurant expert, in a little while.

If you do want to call in and say hello, it's 888-627-6008. But we've got guests, so we don't know what the heck's going on. All right, let's get to our great sponsors.

Well, pilgrims, we're back here on Saturday, and you've got to remember we've got the best sponsors in the world. We have Copiers Plus, where service is their specialty. I'll tell you what, they're the best thing yet, and Bobby Matthews and his family deserve a big round of applause.

And, of course, Joe Italiano's Maplewood Inn. Pilgrims, they've got the best Italian food in the South Jersey area, here at the Maplewood in Hammonton, in Mays Landing, and up in Vineland. They are great, great people.

And don't forget the Dr. Jonathan Pitney House and the Colonial Inn, the best bed-and-breakfasts here on the East Coast. I'll tell you what.

And the mom-and-pop music shop at the Jersey Shore, Pleasantville Music - 88 years in business and still going strong. Stop by and say hi at 15 East Black Horse Pike in beautiful downtown Pleasantville.

Pilgrims, you keep listening, and we're going to have some fun here on The Jim Craine Show. So nice to be back. Thank you for the music, Big Don.

All right. Anyway, like I said, I have a few announcements before Deana Martin calls in. It is 2:09 Central time right now, but we're on the East Coast, so it's 3:09. We don't want people to get confused.

We've got a few Craine's Picks for you before we get to our guest. She's going to be with us at the 2:30 hour today.

Heart of Surfing is going to be doing a great event in Sea Isle City on 47th Street, and they have another one. You'll have to look it up on the Heart of Surfing site. That's Cindy and Bob Furch's great thing that they do for kids with disabilities, including Down syndrome. I'll tell you, it's a great organization. If you want to take your kids or get information, it's in the local newspaper this week. You can call them at 732-278-6008.

We also want to let you know about a great restaurant down in Cape May. My good friend Chef Mia is down there with her husband, Joe. It's called Primal, and it is a wonderful, wonderful restaurant. They are great people. They're right there on Beach Avenue in Cape May. They've been there for quite a while, and their food is absolutely fantastic, so make sure you check that out.

Sandy Fontana, my girlfriend who sings very well, and Stan Richards, my favorite guitar player, will be at the Cove over in Brigantine, at 3700 Brigantine Beach Boulevard, tomorrow from 6:30 to 9:30. They are great entertainers, and they'll have excellent food there. I'm not kidding around. The number is 609-264-5740, so go check that out.

Like I said, we're here on Saturdays now at Pleasantville Music Shop. If you want to stop by while I'm recording, you can't make a lot of noise, but it's really neat that I'm back on the radio. I spent 14 years over at the other AM station I was at, but it's nice to be back and be able to reminisce about the history of Atlantic City and everything else.

I also want to say that Pleasantville Music is now featuring vinyl. I am selling vinyl here at the store at an affordable price, and I have a pretty good collection. If you want to stop in and take a look, you can actually listen to the records I have here before you purchase them. It works out very well. We're going to have some listening events and things like that.

Pleasantville Music Shop has been here since 1938. My father-in-law's family started the business, Gasson and Ragno, back in 1938. Like I said, 88 years here on the East Coast, and we're the last mom-and-pop store. We have real pianos. We have lessons here in all instruments. We work with the schools and everything else. It works out really well here in Pleasantville at the mom-and-pop music shop at the Jersey Shore.

I also want to remind you that we have a great date coming up on August 23. A lot of you know that I worked at Steel Pier. I worked there from 1963 until 1973. I can honestly say, ladies and gentlemen, it is the only job I ever had where I never took a day off.

I just saw a post on Facebook not too long ago about Louis Armstrong's birthday. It was August 6. Louis used to always come to the Pier and work for his birthday week. Pops was really something.

When I was an usher in the Music Hall and the Marine Ballroom at the Pier, I got to meet all the big celebrities. I used to sit on the piano bench and listen to Duke Ellington practice. He was there so many times over the years.

When Louis Armstrong came, I'd always run right out, grab his bag, and everything. I think it was in '66 or '67 - I can't remember - but he got out of the car and said, "Hey, Jimmy, how's it going?" Then he said, "We knocked out the Beatles."

I said, "What do you mean, Lou?"

Pops said, "We knocked them out of first place with 'Hello, Dolly!'"

That day he did a show in the ballroom all the way in the back of the Pier. He sang "Hello, Dolly!" and 3,500 people were singing it with him. It was amazing.

It was always great to work at Steel Pier. I ran the diving bell. I know a lot of people remember that. You could actually go down in a submarine-style diving bell. It's up in Gardner's Basin at the Atlantic City Aquarium, up there in the Inlet. You can still see it.

We used to take 13 people down into the ocean for at least two and a half minutes. It was amazing. It was like being in a submarine. It had portholes, and you could look out. We took a lot of famous people on it. I took the Bee Gees down in it. I took the Cowsills.

One of my favorite memories from working at the Pier was an Easter Sunday. We used to open on Easter Sunday, and this particular Easter it was really cold. It was in March, and the back part of the Pier didn't have any heat. The front parts did, where the theaters were.

We had the Midway Theatre, where we had Tony Grant's Stars of Tomorrow, where Connie Francis got started. Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, Fabian - a lot of people. We had those theaters, and the main theater was the Music Hall. Then we had a front theater called the Casino. Those theaters were heated.

But back in that hallway, it was all wooden and over the water. We had games back there, and the diving bell was back there. The circus was all the way in the back, along with the Marine Ballroom, and the Marine Ballroom had no heat either. They used to just keep the windows closed.

One year, on this March Easter, it was freezing cold. The ocean had about three inches of salt ice on it. My boss, Bart Beck, whom I admired so much, was the guy who knew I could talk on the microphone.

I used to say, "The diving bell is now at the loading platform. We have room for a full [unclear], places for ten. If you'd like to go now, if you too think you'd enjoy this most unusual ride, step right up to the diving-bell ticket booth. Purchase your tickets now. It's all aboard. All aboard for the floor of the sea."

That particular day there was a big, thick sheet of ice. Bart said, "You want to take the bell down?"

I said, "Sure. Why not? I know it's going to come back up. I ain't going to get stuck down there."

So I took the bell down. It went down to 28 feet. We went through the ice, and then the ice came over the top of the bell and made this incredible sound.

I got down to the bottom, the bell stopped, and I applied the brake to hold it to the pole. The concept of the diving bell was that it was on a pole and got drawn down by cables. We'd hold a brake to keep it on the pole, and then it would pop back up. It was like taking a cup and sticking it under the water; we'd come back up because of the air.

Bart said, "Well, you better release it and see what happens."

So I released it, and it popped up through all the bubbles and everything and hit that ice. The sound was really something. It was one of the most amazing rides on the East Coast that I ever saw. I think there's one left in California that goes into a tank. It's the same kind of bell, made by the same company.

I thank Bart Beck for giving me that job because working on the microphone when I was a kid is what got me interested in show business and in seeing all the great acts at Steel Pier.

Somebody just sent me something on Facebook today about when the Rolling Stones were there and I was an usher. That was on August 1, 1966. We had the McCoys, who did "Hang On Sloopy," and we had the Standells, the guys who had "Dirty Water." And we had the Stones.

They only did one show, as I recall. I'm pretty sure. Keith and Mick were really yelling and screaming at each other onstage. They didn't like each other, I guess, when they were younger.

Anyway, right now it is 20 minutes after the hour on The Jim Craine Show, and I've got a quick joke for you. Here it is.

An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Mexican, and a German go to a comedy club. The guy onstage says, "Can you see him?" The Englishman says, "Yes, I can." The Frenchman says, "Oui, oui." The Mexican says, "Sí, sí." And the German says, "You have all my hair."

Ba-dum-bum.

We're getting ready for our guest. Like I said, it's so nice to be back here. This is my 51st anniversary in show business, and I've had so much fun.

I went to Holy Spirit grammar school and high school up in the Inlet here in the South Jersey area. For people in the national audience, South Jersey has produced a lot of entertainers, including Frank Sinatra and a lot of other people.

I'm so glad I went to Catholic school because once the nuns find out you can sing, you're going to be in the choir. That really helped me. One of my nuns actually saw me on HBO, which was so interesting. Her name was Sister Bernardo. She told me back when I was eight years old, "You're going to be in show business."

Here I am 51 years later with my band, Jim Craine and the Atlantic City All Stars. I have my piano player, Tony DeLuca; my great drummer, Rane Nonese, who has actually been with me 51 years; Andy Lousis on bass; and Johnny Guida, who worked in the band at Steel Pier when I was a kid and an usher.

We've been working, and we still have a lot of great concerts coming up. We're doing a big celebration on September 19 in Somers Point, New Jersey. It's for the 250th anniversary of America, and it's for the veterans and the first responders. We're going to be playing there. I'm pretty sure the time is going to be around 4:00, and it's at Kennedy Park in Somers Point, New Jersey.

I am on Facebook. If you want to friend me, just go on there and punch in Jim Craine, C-R-A-I-N-E. You can friend me, and you'll have notifications for where the band is playing. We have an awful lot of fun, and we enjoy it.

Like I said, we have Deana Martin coming up at 2:30 right here on the big show. The number to call is 888-627-6008 if you want to say hi. Deana Martin's coming up in just a few minutes.

Oh, I have another joke. I recently got a pet tree. It's sort of like having a dog, but the bark is a lot quieter.

Stop by and see us sometime here at Pleasantville Music Shop - me and my lovely wife, Joanne. We've been married 35 years this year, and she's my best friend. We're here continuing the tradition of music in your life. You want to have music in your life. It's so good for you.

Yesterday was International Lighthouse Day, and I was actually born behind the Absecon Lighthouse here in Atlantic City. We're getting a rainstorm. How do you like that?

The Absecon Lighthouse is one of the oldest lighthouses on the East Coast. It's 169 feet high, and you can go up in it. I lived right behind it on Lighthouse Lane.

My wife and I went down to Florida. Whenever I go to other places, I like to see the other lighthouses. We went to the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse. We went in and were looking at pictures of the lighthouses of the East Coast, and there was a picture of my mother's house and my mother on the upstairs porch putting the laundry up. It was in the lighthouse museum. That was rather interesting, to see my mom in that picture.

If you're in the South Jersey area right now, we are experiencing some really bad thunderstorms, so try to be careful and keep your windows up or whatever.

Like I said, we're going to Deana Martin in just a few minutes, and it's going to be really nice here on The Jim Craine Show. If you want to find out about music and everything, you can go on our website, pleasantvillemusicshop.com.

Oh, now I'm getting thunder. I can hear it through the microphone. Amazing. I didn't hear it was going to rain today, but that's another story.

We are also going to be talking to Juliette Consolo. She is the proprietor of the Birdcage restaurant. It's a beautiful restaurant here in Atlantic City. It's for people with an alternative lifestyle, but it's a beautiful place to go. She knows a lot about food and entertainment, so we're going to be talking to her about what they have at their place after we talk to Deana.

I've got one other one. These are good. I wrote down the one-liners because when I do my act, I love doing one-liners. Here's local news: Our local bridge was closed today... [Punchline not captured in the source transcript.]

All right, we've got her. Are we ready for her? Then we're going to go to my girlfriend. Ladies and gentlemen, a lady whose father I loved and adored is on the radio with me. She does a TV show on YouTube and Roku and everything else. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Deana Martin.

Deana, are you there, my daughter?

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Hello, handsome.

Speaker 1 - Host:

How are you doing today, darling? We haven't talked. You're never home. You're always out shopping.

Speaker 2 - Guest:

I know. And you know what? I have to leave right when we're through with our conversation here because I've got to go get a manicure and pedicure.

Speaker 1 - Host:

You stars kill me. I'll tell you. Isn't this neat? I'm doing this, and I don't have to go to the radio station anymore. This is right from my desk in the back part of my music shop. I'm sitting with the pianos, and it's raining outside and everything else.

How did the show go? You were telling me you were at a fair or something. Where was that?

Speaker 2 - Guest:

We were in Enfield, Connecticut. We did the 100th Italian Festival in Enfield. It was unbelievable. It was so fantastic. Thousands of people came.

We had so much fun, and Tony Orlando came out and sang a couple of songs with me. We had the Little Sisters of the Poor there because we had done a show.

Speaker 1 - Host:

Sorry about the thunder, but it sounds like you're getting a timpani roll.

Speaker 2 - Guest:

It was just so much fun. They gave me an award in recognition of my unwavering support of America's military and its veterans.

Speaker 1 - Host:

Is that something? That's so cool.

Speaker 2 - Guest:

It was from the Enfield Veterans Council in Enfield, Connecticut. It was so wonderful to see all our heroes and to sing for them and perform for them. It was magical.

Speaker 1 - Host:

And you had your regular band with you. Now, you know I sell vinyl here, and we have everything all set up. I have your vinyl here. If somebody wants an autographed one, they go on your site, right?

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Yes, they can absolutely do that. And you can see it in my book, Memories Are Made of This. It's all pretty amazing.

It was funny. A lot of people in Enfield were saying, "How do you make your pasta fazool?" My grandmother taught me because that was my father's favorite meal.

Speaker 1 - Host:

There's the thunder. It's so funny. You're talking about live radio, and it's pouring rain out right now. But anyhow, your grandmother taught you. And your dad cooked too, didn't he?

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Well, he would barbecue. That's what he wanted to do. He actually loved me to make the pasta fazool for him and take it over to him on Sunday.

I have wonderful memories growing up because there we were, all seven of us kids: Craig, Claudia, Gail, Deana, Dino, Ricci, and Gina.

Speaker 1 - Host:

I love that line when he sings the Vegas song, when they were at the Sands. Sammy Cahn wrote those lyrics, right?

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Yes.

Speaker 1 - Host:

And he says, "As much as my wife likes being pregnant..." I remember that. The audience exploded. He was funny.

One of my favorite little bits that he would do is [wording unclear in source].

I bet the best thing about growing up was doing those shows with Nancy and Frank Jr. and everybody. Then you were on The Monkees. Tell that story when you brought Davy Jones over to meet your dad. That's one of my all-time favorites that you told me.

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Well, he was so cute. It was wonderful. It was beyond cute. It was amazing.

When I opened the door and Davy came in, he was so - oh my gosh. It was a fun time because Davy and I were about the same size.

It was cute because we didn't wear shoes in the house. He had on those bell-bottoms and boots, so when he came in, he had to take off his shoes. We just have great memories of all of them.

Speaker 1 - Host:

How did your dad treat him? Did he like him?

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Oh, yeah, absolutely. He thought he was adorable. We would watch The Monkees. When I was on the show, he said, "You were great." I said, "Thank you."

There was something so wonderful about my dad. He was just kind and funny. I remember one time we were in our living room, sitting down at the bar - it was like a sunken bar - having a Coca-Cola and talking.

My dad walks in wearing his pajamas. It was around five o'clock. He said, "How are you doing, Deana?"

I said, "Dad, you know, you have on your pajamas."

He said, "Oh, I'm sorry." So he turned around to walk out, and he had stuck a roll of toilet paper in his pants. The toilet paper trailed all the way down behind him.

We laughed forever, but I was so embarrassed. I wanted to die.

Speaker 1 - Host:

Were you having a party or something? Is that what he came downstairs for?

Speaker 2 - Guest:

No. I just had a couple of people over, and we were sitting down having a little Coke at the bar. He wouldn't do that at a party.

But what he did do at my 18th birthday party - he decided that he wanted to go to bed. He called the Beverly Hills Police Department and said, "Those Martins, they're making too much noise. Can you stop that party?"

They said, "We'll be right over, Mr. Martin."

He said, "This isn't Mr. Martin. I'm an irate neighbor."

Speaker 1 - Host:

An irate neighbor. That's good. I can hear him saying that.

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Can you hear him? Jim, how have you been, dear?

Speaker 1 - Host:

I'll tell you what, we're hanging in there. Last year I had a little run-in with some colon issues and a little touch of cancer, but now I'm totally free and we're back to work. We've already done about four concerts this summer, and now I'm doing this.

This is so cool. These guys at BBS Radio really know what they're doing. I loved your show with the live band, Deana. That was great seeing that because I know you haven't done that for a while. You've been using the tracks and everything with your great audience, Johnny and Rosario.

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 - Host:

I'm having a sippy-poo right now, but it's root beer.

Speaker 2 - Guest:

I have water. I have Mountain Valley water right now - spring water.

Speaker 1 - Host:

That's good. So you should spring around.

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Exactly.

Speaker 1 - Host:

Are they still considering it? I remember we talked about this before, that they might be doing a Broadway version of Robin and the 7 Hoods. Did that ever take off?

Speaker 2 - Guest:

It's just on the back burner. I think they're still figuring it out. It takes people a long time to get things done.

But my handsome husband John and I, and Rosario, we get our shows done every week.

Speaker 1 - Host:

How many have you done so far now?

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Three hundred thirty-three.

Speaker 1 - Host:

How many years have you been doing it?

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Over six years, ever since the pandemic.

Speaker 1 - Host:

Every Friday. You just go on YouTube or Facebook or go to your website, right? And it's right there.

She looks marvelous. I'm going to send her a whole bunch of new jokes so she'll be able to use them.

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Keep them clean, young man.

Speaker 1 - Host:

Well, here's one. Why did the candle quit his job?

Speaker 2 - Guest:

I don't know. Why?

Speaker 1 - Host:

He was burned out.

Speaker 2 - Guest:

See, now that's good.

Speaker 1 - Host:

That's a Deana joke. I have some jokes that people have sent me where I said, "You know what? Those are going to be on the very last show I ever do."

There's a Rodney joke where he says, "My wife saw me naked in the light and said, 'I'm afraid of the light.'" You know, that's all.

Anyway, let's get your website out there. What is it?

Speaker 2 - Guest:

It's DeanaMartin.com. Very simple. That's the website. Everything is on there.

And, of course, all of my shows, Deana Martin Live, are there on Facebook, Roku, YouTube - all of those stations. In fact, all of my shows are on there. If you went to Facebook Live, you could go watch show number 225. I think they're all still on there.

Speaker 1 - Host:

That's great. Everything's on the website, so we can see it and get the albums. You have Swing Street. What's the other one called, the one that I love?

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Destination Moon.

Speaker 1 - Host:

Oh, God, your picture on that is absolutely wonderful. I have that one, right? So if I sell your records, I don't want to sell that one because it's autographed to me.

Speaker 2 - Guest:

But you can sell that.

Speaker 1 - Host:

No, I can't sell that one.

Cathy Rich sent me one of the vinyl records from Buddy's last album, the one he did in London, and I can't wait to play that on the air. I was really good friends with him. He used to call me "the little fat kid from Atlantic City."

I've got to tell you this story. I don't think I ever told you about when we played that baseball game over in Absecon against Frank Sinatra's team. Tommy Lucorta was in town, and your dad was there. We played Dean Martin's team. Another participant's name is unclear in the transcript.

We were all there. I came down from Playboy - I was working at Playboy - and we all came down to Resorts to hang out. That's the one thing I really miss. You don't get to go to the casinos and hang out anymore.

We just lost Tom Dreesen, and he was there. Frankie Randall was there too for this.

One of my favorite Tom Dreesen jokes - one of his stories - he said, "You know what I like? I like dating homeless women now, because after the date I can leave them anywhere."

Ba-dum-bum. Thank you.

But when they were choosing who's going to play, you know what your dad said to me? "Get the lifeguard. He's probably in shape." Those were the good old days.

Merrill and Bobby took Frank over to the Beach Patrol headquarters one time, right?

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Oh, my gosh.

Speaker 1 - Host:

My boss was there, Arthur Brown, because they'd sit up on the upper deck and get some sun. They took Sinatra over there.

My boss, Arthur Brown, was the sweetest guy in the world. He was one of the nicest men. Frank Sinatra sits down, looks around, and goes, "Yeah, that's where that bum Jimmy Craine comes to."

Everybody was a bum.

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Everybody was a bum.

Speaker 1 - Host:

I know. Like in the movie: "Are you married yet? No? Then you're a bum."

All right, my love, we've got to let you go. I'm only on for an hour this year, and it's so nice to talk to you and to have you be one of my first big guests.

I think next week I'm going to have Jon Provost on. We're going to keep him away from the well. You know how that works.

But I love you, so keep singing.

Speaker 2 - Guest:

I'm going to do it.

Speaker 1 - Host:

And I loved when you made that video for the Christmas show. That was so cool.

It's so hot here, I saw two trees chasing a dog. I'll keep that one for you.

Speaker 2 - Guest:

Oh, that's funny.

Speaker 1 - Host:

All right, my dear. You stay well. And remember the famous words of Franklin Roosevelt, who said, "I have no idea."

You stay well. I love you.

Speaker 2 - Guest:

I love you too. Good night, and God bless.

Speaker 1 - Host:

Thank you so much. Give her a big applause. All right. Thank you.

And look at Deana Martin - check her out on Facebook and YouTube and everything else on Fridays. Her show is on at five o'clock.

I don't know if we have our other guest yet. I don't think so. I don't see it on the bottom there. Okay, we don't. I just found out.

So Juliette is supposed to be calling in. They have a great restaurant over there called the Birdcage. Let me get the card here so I'll give you the address right. Put your glasses on, Jim - you're blind.

Anyway, 3426 Atlantic Avenue in Atlantic City. Their phone number is 609-348-CAGE. That's cute. They have a great menu. They do line dancing there and all kinds of neat stuff.

She's supposed to be calling us. If not, you can call in and say hi to us here on The Jim Craine Show. We still have some time left, and it's 888-627-6008.

Like I said, working at Steel Pier was amazing. You name the act, I got to see them. One of my favorite stories is about Duke Ellington, sitting on the piano bench and watching him practice, with Fletcher Henderson and all those great guys.

The sun's coming out now here in the Atlantic City area. It was just so neat to be there.

The last time Duke was there was in 1969, and I got to see him. That same week we had Tiny Tim in the other theater, so I kind of volunteered to go out to the ballroom because I didn't want to listen to "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" all afternoon.

Duke was going to be on The Ed Sullivan Show that Sunday after the engagement at the Pier, which used to always end on a Thursday. That's the way the Pier worked. The headliners would re-up on Friday and start another week.

He said to me, "Jimmy, are you going to watch me on Ed Sullivan?"

I said, "No, Duke, I can't. I'm here and I'm working at the diving bell."

At that time I was learning how to take care of the diving horses on the Pier. I took care of them for three years, but watched them dive for a lot of years. It was really neat.

I never got to see Duke's appearance because I was working. I told him, "Duke, maybe I'll catch it on a rerun someday." Back then they really didn't do reruns, so you never got to see them.

Years later, after everything had changed and they were showing reruns of The Ed Sullivan Show, I was in my kitchen after getting home from work here at the store. Another thing I kind of stole from Duke was his look: he had this beautiful light-blue jacket on, like a tuxedo jacket, and I bought one because I really liked the way he looked in it.

So I'm there in my kitchen, and there he is in the blue coat, playing "Take the A Train" on Ed Sullivan. I finally got to see it. I thought that was so interesting.

Mercer, his son, actually invited me to his funeral, and I went. That was really something.

Knowing Duke and meeting all the other great people was incredible. I had people like Jo Ann Castle and the Lennon Sisters on my other show. I'm talking to them again, and we're going to try to get them on with us. It's going to be great.

Just hanging out and meeting all those great entertainers was something else. In the '70s, when I started taking care of the horses in 1970, we had one of Chicago's early tours after their album came out. They all wanted to go back and meet the horses, so I took them back.

I took Diana Ross back there, Frankie Valli, and others. It was really neat being at Steel Pier back in the day.

Please go over there. Steel Pier is still there. The family name of the current operators is unclear in this transcript. I think it's the 128th year. I believe the original Steel Pier opened in June 1898.

One of the first acts they had was John Philip Sousa's band. They had a big open-air theater, and his entire band performed - Jim recalls it as about 200 members. It only cost a dime to get on the Pier.

All the way out at the end, I think they had opera. I think Caruso was there then. I'm not sure; I wasn't there.

Another cool thing they had out on the end was a Wild West show with Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, and Sitting Bull. They did target shooting off the end of the Pier. And this was only for a dime to get on the Pier.

They were open for about two weeks, and people weren't coming onto the Pier. Frank Ravett, as the name is transcribed, was the owner at that time. He figured it out: people could stand on the beach on the Virginia Avenue side and hear the music without coming onto the Pier. So that's when he enclosed the Music Hall. It kind of forced people to come onto the Pier.

The legacy of Steel Pier is so cool. Now they have great rides and places to go. They have little bars up there, meeting places, and the Tiki Bar right up front next to where the carousel and kiddie rides are.

We're having a big Steel Pier alumni reunion on August 23. We're trying to make sure everybody out there who used to work at the Pier or performed at the Pier tries to be there. We've done these reunions several times.

This one is on August 23 at three o'clock. I'm going to have a great local singer, Teddy Fusco, with us.

We want everybody who was in Tony Grant's Stars of Tomorrow. Tony Grant's Stars of Tomorrow was sort of like a precursor to Ted Mack and the Original Amateur Hour. Everybody who went on our show here usually ended up on his show too.

We had, like I said, Connie Francis, Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon, Fabian. They all got discovered at Steel Pier back in the day. A lot of other kids were in the show as dancers and everything, and they're invited to this event.

We also had a TV show that was on every Saturday - and I think Saturday and Sunday - with my good friend Ed Hurst, who was a local disc jockey. The show was called Summertime at the Pier. People danced on the air. It was sort of like a scaled-down version of American Bandstand. It was really cool.

I actually got to be a cameraman for that show one time. I was way up on top of the Music Hall on this platform with one of those big cameras and earphones on, like I've got on now.

The director was a guy named Frank Fulton, I think. I remember him saying, "Just find me girls in bikinis, Jim." So I'd swing around and find the girls in bikinis. It was great doing that.

We hope you'll write this down in your entertainment book and come up and see us. It's free. It's open to the public. It's for people who worked or performed at Steel Pier, were in Tony Grant's Stars of Tomorrow, were part of Ed Hurst's Summertime at the Pier, or just liked coming to the old Steel Pier.

It's right across from Hard Rock on the Boardwalk. Beautiful place. It's going to be free, and we're going to be there on Sunday. I'll remind you guys again.

Okay, I guess Juliette is not going to call us. So I'll tell you what we'll do. I'm going to play a song by my conductor and really good friend, Tony DeLuca. We've been together forever. He's been with me 35 years, I believe.

He wrote a song called "In Atlantic City," and he's done some work on it. We're going to play that, then we're going to come back and say good night - or good afternoon - and hope you enjoyed the show.

Make sure you like us on the BBS Radio TV network site. I think you can subscribe to us somehow.

I hope you enjoyed the show. It's so nice being back here with everybody. I'm sorry about the thunderstorm in the middle, but I have nothing to do with that.

All right, here's Tony's song called "In Atlantic City." Enjoy.

Speaker 3 - Prerecorded Song:

"In Atlantic City"

In Atlantic City, it all came true,
'Cause in Atlantic City, I found you.
You were on the outside and I was looking in.
Both of us were losers, but now we always win.
The birds and bees keep singing like they do,
'Cause in Atlantic City, I found you.

All at once I'm swinging, singing right out loud.
With you by my side, I'm standing tall and proud.
First time in my life, I'll see it through,
'Cause in Atlantic City, I found you.

Something had to happen.
There was magic in the air,
Something that you just can't find
Anyplace, anywhere.

In Atlantic City, I found my kind of friends.
In Atlantic City, excitement and romance.
In Atlantic City, it's all brand new,
'Cause in Atlantic City, here in Atlantic City,
In Atlantic City, I found you.

Speaker 1 - Host:

God bless. We'll talk to you next Saturday.

Speaker 3 - Prerecorded Closing Theme / Announcer:

Another story, another song,
Another hour has rolled along.
But the laughter and the memories keep shining when the lights are gone.
From the boardwalk to your radio, where old friends meet and new ones grow,
Jim Craine will leave the light on until it's time for the next show.

So long, but never goodbye.
Keep a little music in your heart
And a little laughter in your soul.
We'll meet again where the good times start
On The Jim Craine Show.

Join Jim Craine Saturdays from 2:00-3:00 Central on BBS Radio TV Station One.

Until the next time, [closing production cue unclear].

Thanks for watching!