The Jim Craine Show

Title: Back on the Boardwalk: A Radio Return Filled with Atlantic City Memories

Summary

A Celebrated Return to Radio

Jim Craine opens the program by welcoming listeners to a new Saturday-afternoon broadcast from Pleasantville Music Shop near Atlantic City. After years away from regular radio, he describes his excitement about returning to the air in his 51st year in show business. The episode establishes a relaxed, live-party atmosphere built around comedy, music, local guests, audience interaction, and classic entertainment. Craine also previews future appearances by performers and personalities including Jon Provost, Deana Martin, Frank Ferrante, and comedians from his long career in show business.

Supporting the Jersey Shore Community

A major theme of the episode is the importance of supporting locally owned businesses. Craine highlights Pleasantville Music Shop as a long-running, family-operated store offering instruments, school rentals, vintage guitars, pianos, drums, keyboards, and vinyl records that customers can hear before buying. He also acknowledges area restaurants, Copiers Plus, Maplewood restaurants, the Dr. Jonathan Pitney House, the Colonial Inn, Smithville businesses, and other regional sponsors. His comments frame the show as both an entertainment program and a continuing spotlight on the people, restaurants, events, and small businesses of South Jersey.

Upcoming Events and Boardwalk Attractions

Craine shares several upcoming entertainment and community events, including the Happy Together Tour at the Ocean City Music Pier, Lucy the Elephant’s birthday celebration in Margate, and a Steel Pier alumni reunion scheduled for August 23, 2026. He invites former pier employees, performers, dancers, ushers, game workers, food-service workers, and longtime visitors to attend the reunion. He also discusses the Italian Festival in Smithville, where he and the Atlantic City All-Stars have performed for many years. These announcements reinforce the program’s close connection to the boardwalk, the Jersey Shore, and Atlantic City’s live-entertainment culture.

Stories from a Life in Show Business

Much of the broadcast is devoted to memories from Craine’s decades as a singer, lifeguard, entertainer, and bandleader. He recalls working with Red Skelton, opening for Connie Stevens, appearing with Rich Little, singing at a Phillies game, and participating in a 1983 juvenile-diabetes telethon. He remembers Red Skelton signing hundreds of autographs and explaining why performers must remain gracious to their audiences. Craine also directs listeners to archival performances, interviews, concerts, and career-retrospective material available under the spelling C-R-A-I-N-E.

Steel Pier and Atlantic City Entertainment History

Craine offers an extended account of his years at Steel Pier from 1963 to 1973, where he worked as an usher, cared for the diving horses, operated the Diving Bell, and absorbed lessons from generations of entertainers. He remembers seeing or encountering Chicago, Jay and the Techniques, Tommy James and the Shondells, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Pat Boone, Duke Ellington, the Bee Gees, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Chet Atkins, Herman’s Hermits, The Monkees, Sam Cooke, The Temptations, The Supremes, and a young Michael Jackson. He presents Steel Pier and Atlantic City as places where popular-music history, variety entertainment, boardwalk culture, and personal opportunity came together.

Music, Comedy, and a Personal Farewell

The episode is punctuated by musical recordings, produced announcements, audience reactions, and a series of short jokes. Craine shares performances of “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody,” “On the Boardwalk in Atlantic City,” and “Over the Rainbow,” dedicating the closing song to mothers. He thanks his wife, Joanne, for being his partner for 35 years and invites listeners to return for future guests, calls, comedy, music, and community features. The broadcast ends as a warm introduction to the show’s intended style: nostalgic but lively, rooted in Atlantic City history, and centered on enjoying the personalities and stories behind classic entertainment.